I don't think Ray Rice is a good example of what will happen w/Hunt. He was older and there was talk he was going to be released anyway.
I think a better example is Joe Mixon. Here is a video of his brutal punch. He was drafted and is in the NFL right now and I feel his attack was much more violent than Hunt's. He actually wound up and threw a powerful overhand right that would have seriously hurt anyone.
I am not predicting what the NFL will do, but I think the Mixon comparison is better than the Rice example.
I remember being so happy when we passed on him with our first pick .. i was so happy ... figured we were safe as Dallas pick before us later in the 1st round ... then teh trade up and my heart sunk .... OH VEY (i think thats right ... no? ... thanks to whoever corrected me) ...
Two guys i really respected were running around praising the pick (not u) ... and for the life of me no matter how dang hard i tried ... I thought they were coco puffs i just couldnt see it ...
And then he was worse than i thought ... and that bar wasnt very high at all ...
Once he's eligible again, it'll only take one needy team and he'll be off the market.
People thought this about Ray Rice as well...
Ray Rice was old and not worth the grief. This kids young and talented. If they let him back in, he'll find a new home.
If there is one thing the NFL excels at, it is making exceptions to its own rules for talented players young enough to still have a few years left that have been publicly contrite enough to dispel the controversy around them.
The NFL is not in the business of being Moral and Just.... they merely tolerate holding up a facade of being Moral and Just when public knowledge and outcry force them to be so. Sans that, they want players that generate excitement and make them money.
Browns is the Browns
... there goes Joe Thomas, the best there ever was in this game.
However, there's a wildcard in all this. Things happen behind the scenes. Kaepernick sat at home while Nathan Peterman was chucking interceptions. The whole safety market dried up when Eric Reid hit free agency. Just saying.
It wouldn't surprise me if Hunt became untouchable. Any team signing him would basically be giving the rest of the league a two finger salute (that is, one from each hand.)
This opens a new can of worms. Is it collusion if teams don't want to deal with the nonsense that comes with signing said player.
It's the same reason why I think Johnny may never see the NFL again. Teams don't want the distraction. Same for Kaep in my opinion... although I've recently read the redskins might consider it...
No, that is not collusion. It would be collusion if, as Purp said, if the teams get together and agree to block that person. However, the bar is lower than that.
For example, off the cuff conversation from a league employee discouraging a team from signing him could be considered collusion.
My point wasn't to dig up that case but to bring up the idea that teams seem to have a pretty good grasp of knowing what they're supposed to do and what not to do. It's how exactly they come to that understanding that isn't clear.
The Hunt video was not good. But pales in comparison to Mixon and Rice.
There aren't videos of these, but what Adrian Peterson did to his son and what Greg Hardy did to his girlfriend are even worse than Mixon's actions. I am not going to post the pictures because I don't want to look at them again, but they are out there if you are interested.
