Albert Haynesworth was released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, so football won’t get in the way of Tuesday’s scheduled hearing in the District to determine whether the former Redskins defensive lineman can be a law-abiding citizen.
Haynesworth has to show in D.C. Superior Court that he has made some progress in the 160 hours of community service and court-ordered psychological-social and alcohol abuse assessments he agreed to do.
These are the conditions that Haynesworth agreed to in a plea deal to avoid a trial in August, when he faced an assault charge from allegations that he fondled a waitress at the W Hotel in February 2011.
If Haynesworth does demonstrate enough evidence of progress, the charges could eventually go away.
If not, he could go to jail.
Haynesworth himself may not have to appear Tuesday, but he must supply proof in court that he has refrained “from engaging in any assaultive, threatening, harassing or stalking behavior against anyone,” according to the terms of the plea deal.
It’s no wonder Haynesworth lost his job with two teams this year — New England and Tampa Bay. How can anyone play football under those conditions?
His legal plate has been full.
Haynesworth was scheduled to go to trial March 19 to defend himself against a lawsuit in Tennessee from a December 2008 car crash that, according to the lawsuit, left a Nashville man permanently disabled.
But just last week Haynesworth — who reportedly had been traveling at more than 100 mph when he passed Corey Edmondson, whose car crashed into a concrete median — settled the case.
“The parties have reached a settlement,” said Jon Perry, Edmondson’s attorney. “The terms are confidential, and I can’t comment on them.”
See, Haynesworth can be a very agreeable fellow under the right circumstances.
He settled last summer with the man he was accused of punching in a traffic dispute in Reston.
He settled with the man he was accused of injuring in the car crash in Nashville.
And he agreed to a plea deal in the case in which he was accused of groping the waitress.
Not the Redskins, though. Haynesworth is still holding a grudge against the franchise that paid him $32 million to roll around on the field and read texts on his cell phone during meetings.
He told the Tampa Bay Times in January that he had a poor season because “it was just me not having a good offseason, worrying about whether I was going back to the Redskins, all that stuff.”
Some injustices you don’t settle.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
