Sometimes, justice barges in the back door.
When Ken Starr couldn’t bust the Clintons on a suspect land deal, he came up with Monica Lewinsky. After the grand jury wouldn’t indict Barry Bonds on perjury charges involving steroids, the prosecutor shifted to tax evasion.
Hey, it worked on Al Capone.
Now the NFL is fining Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor $71,764 after a plea bargain knocked down 46 years imprisonment on gun charges to donating $10,000 to high schools.
If you can’t punish one way, find another.
That the NFL discourages thug behavior is commendable even though the league hypocritically markets the game’s violence. Players in court is bad for business, much less poor role models for children lacking parental oversight. (Like your kid playing the Grand Theft Auto II video game.)
But four game checks when the courts decided Taylor could essentially walk on the charges? It’s way too heavy handed. If Taylor’s crime was so bad, why didn’t the NFL just suspend him?
Taylor is not a thug. Beating up someone to regain stolen property — which started this whole mess — is something many of us would have done. Not that it would have been the right choice. Recovering stolen property is the police’s job, but many men would have punched the guys for stealing two all-terrain vehicles. And if you wouldn’t, start watching Olympic figure skating instead of the NFL.
Taylor’s big mistake was brandishing a weapon. OK, there’s no way to sanitize that. It was beyond stupid. But a recent conversation with former Maryland basketball star Ernie Graham gave me a new slant on inner city violence. Asked why he kept in touch with former Terps teammate JoJo Hunter, who has spent the last 10 years in prison after robbing two District jewelry stores, Graham said everyone in his neighborhood knows someone in prison.
Guns are part of the everyday fabric of many urban neighborhoods like Taylor’s in Miami. That doesn’t excuse Taylor flashing one, but it does explain why he did it.
Why didn’t Miami prosecutors — the ones not using the case to hype their deejay business — put Taylor in prison? Because they understood 46 years was overkill for what has sadly become a normal response in their town.
The NFL needs to reconsider. One game check would have been enough. The NFL needs to spend more time reviewing each instance than issuing a one-sentence press release if it wants to be taken seriously.
“I’m a good person,” Taylor said. “I’m an easygoing guy. I like to joke around a little bit. When it’s time for business, I handle business. I love football. I love my family.”
Most people would say Redskins coach Joe Gibbs is a pretty good judge of character. He endured the colorful antics of players like Dexter Manley, John Riggins and Gary Clark because Gibbs believed they were good people. And Gibbs was right.
Now Gibbs stands behind Taylor. That’s good enough for me no matter what price the NFL decides is justice.
Rick Snider has covered local sports for 28 years. Contact him at [email protected].
