Greg Hardy is not Thomas Davis. Thomas Davis caused a room full of tough men to shake their head in agreement. They said amen. They could have passed an offering plate after Davis finished his speech for accepting the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year Award. People were moved, not just by what Thomas Davis said, but because they could tell his words were from his heart, not from the pen of a publicist. Thomas Davis reminded the world of all the great men who play in the NFL. He inspired those great men, while also challenging them out.
Greg Hardy is not Thomas Davis. Greg Hardy, unfortunately, reminds us of the images of fame and money that make us feel like we need a shower.
Today, the case against Greg Hardy was officially dismissed. Dismissed does not mean innocent. As you really look, and think, about what has happened, innocence is the last word that would come to mind. The reality is nausea inducing. It's why middle class people are cynical. It's why conspiracy theory nut jobs think their phone is tapped. It causes us to doubt the goodness of humanity, and to question our society. At least it should.
I'm not going to recap the details of the story. I will do my best to summarize. Two morally questionable people got drunk and had a disagreement. They both acted poorly. The male, who was considerably stronger than the female, acted in an aggressive way toward the female. Cops were called. Eventually, a judge said that Greg Hardy was guilty of assault on a female and communicating threats. The law says that Hardy could appeal and have a trial before a jury. So we have been waiting for that.
The problem, at least for the prosecution, is that in order to have a trial, you have to have a witness. The woman that Hardy alledgedly assaulted, can't be found. We have no reason to suspect she has been harmed. We do have reason to suspect that she has been paid off to remain hidden, until the trial is officially over. There are reports that she has reached a civil settlement with Hardy. Translation: Hardy paid her to stay away until after the trial. The police staked out her residence. They went to her job. They talked to family. For months. Her lawyer will not comment on where she is.
And all this is legal. She can't be punished for not showing up at the trial because she could not be found to be given a notice. There won't be any significant punishment for hiding because she can claim ignorance. The pay off is legal, because it is connected to the threat of a civil suit. So the "victim" in this case gets paid, and more than likely has been on a vacation out of the country, paid for by Hardy, for the last several months. Hardy, who was found guilty by a judge, gets to claim innocence, avoid jail time and all other punishment and resume his NFL career. He's crazy talented so some team will give him a shot. It may take a year or two, but he will be back.
On a monday when most of the local sports radio shows are highlighting the incredible legacy of Dean Smith, this story is at the other end of the spectrum. As I drove around today I heard numerous people comment on Smith's life. Not one of them talked about basketball. Multiple people talked about the Coach's drive to always do what was right. No matter what.
Greg Hardy is not Thomas Davis. He is not Dean Smith. He is also not innocent. Neither are his lawyers, his ex-girlfriend, or any of the people in his life refusing to hold him accountable.
As Thomas Davis said in his acceptance speech "Let's dare to be different. Let's change this world". We, as humans, are better than this.
Monday, February 9, 2015
Friday, February 6, 2015
With the 25th Pick in the Draft...
Is there any way we could package the 25th pick in this years NFL draft with Marty McFly and a hoover board to be named later, and go back in time to not trade Steve Smith? Am I the only one who really wishes we could have seen Smitty, Benjamin, and Olsen together? That could have been fun.
The reality is that it happened and there is nothing that Dave Gettleman or Marty McFly can do about that now. But I sure hope this offseason is better than last years.
Just to re-cap, last year the Panthers used the offseason to get worse in the secondary, worse in the recieving group, and worse on the offensive and defensive lines. I personally hold Gettleman accountable for the Hardy fiasco. There is a good reason they didn't sign Hardy to a long term deal. Those same reasons are why it's dangerous to franchise tag a player you can't trust. I don't blame Gettleman for franchising Hardy, but he can't say he was shocked that things went sour. He took a gamble and it didn't pay off.
As a fan, I am really hoping that he didn't really take a gamble on the WR's, DB's, and Offensive Linemen he brought in. I hope that he knew they stunk. I hope that he purposefully bit the bullet, knowing they may take a step back, with an eye on the future. Obviously he couldn't say that. Rivera couldn't say that. You can't have a pre-season press conference where you say "We brought in some below average talent. If we make the playoffs with this group, then Rivera may be the second coming of Lombardi". Rivera is not the second coming of Lombardi, although I really like him as a coach. The reality is the Panthers won what ended up being arguably the worst division in the history of the NFL.
So what happens this offseason really matters. What's up with Cam's contract? Do we keep all the running backs? Who replaces Greg Hardy? Who replaces Roman Harper? Roman isn't going anywhere, I just wish he was. No disrespect to the man. He just can't run. They don't even need a stopwatch to time him. They just need a cloud on a windless day. That may be a race Harper could win. In reality, Harper would probably take a bad angle and let the cloud get by him.
There is really only one question I need answered this offseason. Who is going to play Left Tackle? Byron Bell is not an acceptable answer. I love Byron Bell. From all accounts he is a great man. He gets every thing possible from his large body. I love his story. I love his work ethic. I love everything he says in the press. I love that he brought his family in for his first start a couple of years ago. I just don't love his talent. He just doesn't have the tools to play Left Tackle in the NFL for a title contending team. I would love for him to be they guy who comes in when someone is hurt. The Panthers always end up playing that guy. And that guys backup. I would much rather Byron Bell be our emergency starting LT instead of David Foucault, who is another good story, and another poor LT.
What I really hope is that Roger Goodell stands up on draft day and says "with the 25th pick, aquired in a trade from Carolina..." because Carolina has traded up to get a Tackle that can play right now. Unless something crazy happens there will not be any Tackles worthy of the 25th pick available. And Gettleman is not going to reach for a player. I'm keeping my eye on TJ Clemmings, out of Pittsburgh. According to what I have read, this guy has the best chance to be special, and has the best physical gifts.
Let's see what Cam can do when he isn't getting hit all the time. Let's see what our defense does when they aren't on the field all the time. Let's see what Jonathan Steward can do when he has lanes to run in and a Tackle that can get out and block on screen plays. We need a really good Left Tackle to be able to see that. I want to see that. Will you let us see that Dave Gettleman? Please?
The reality is that it happened and there is nothing that Dave Gettleman or Marty McFly can do about that now. But I sure hope this offseason is better than last years.
Just to re-cap, last year the Panthers used the offseason to get worse in the secondary, worse in the recieving group, and worse on the offensive and defensive lines. I personally hold Gettleman accountable for the Hardy fiasco. There is a good reason they didn't sign Hardy to a long term deal. Those same reasons are why it's dangerous to franchise tag a player you can't trust. I don't blame Gettleman for franchising Hardy, but he can't say he was shocked that things went sour. He took a gamble and it didn't pay off.
As a fan, I am really hoping that he didn't really take a gamble on the WR's, DB's, and Offensive Linemen he brought in. I hope that he knew they stunk. I hope that he purposefully bit the bullet, knowing they may take a step back, with an eye on the future. Obviously he couldn't say that. Rivera couldn't say that. You can't have a pre-season press conference where you say "We brought in some below average talent. If we make the playoffs with this group, then Rivera may be the second coming of Lombardi". Rivera is not the second coming of Lombardi, although I really like him as a coach. The reality is the Panthers won what ended up being arguably the worst division in the history of the NFL.
So what happens this offseason really matters. What's up with Cam's contract? Do we keep all the running backs? Who replaces Greg Hardy? Who replaces Roman Harper? Roman isn't going anywhere, I just wish he was. No disrespect to the man. He just can't run. They don't even need a stopwatch to time him. They just need a cloud on a windless day. That may be a race Harper could win. In reality, Harper would probably take a bad angle and let the cloud get by him.
There is really only one question I need answered this offseason. Who is going to play Left Tackle? Byron Bell is not an acceptable answer. I love Byron Bell. From all accounts he is a great man. He gets every thing possible from his large body. I love his story. I love his work ethic. I love everything he says in the press. I love that he brought his family in for his first start a couple of years ago. I just don't love his talent. He just doesn't have the tools to play Left Tackle in the NFL for a title contending team. I would love for him to be they guy who comes in when someone is hurt. The Panthers always end up playing that guy. And that guys backup. I would much rather Byron Bell be our emergency starting LT instead of David Foucault, who is another good story, and another poor LT.
What I really hope is that Roger Goodell stands up on draft day and says "with the 25th pick, aquired in a trade from Carolina..." because Carolina has traded up to get a Tackle that can play right now. Unless something crazy happens there will not be any Tackles worthy of the 25th pick available. And Gettleman is not going to reach for a player. I'm keeping my eye on TJ Clemmings, out of Pittsburgh. According to what I have read, this guy has the best chance to be special, and has the best physical gifts.
Let's see what Cam can do when he isn't getting hit all the time. Let's see what our defense does when they aren't on the field all the time. Let's see what Jonathan Steward can do when he has lanes to run in and a Tackle that can get out and block on screen plays. We need a really good Left Tackle to be able to see that. I want to see that. Will you let us see that Dave Gettleman? Please?
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