The issue of player discipline has been one of the hottest topics in professional sports over the past several months. Recent conversations have focused on Ray Rice and the physical assault against his then-fiancée, now-wife in an Atlantic City elevator, Adrian Peterson’s child abuse charges, domestic violence charges (separate incidents involving Greg Hardy, Brittney Griner and Hope Solo, to name a few), Josh Hamilton’s drug relapse and Tom Brady’s deflated footballs. Through it all there has been ample discussion on how the system of disciplining players should operate. Recently, the Sports Business Journal asked four noted sports lawyers to weigh in on a number of issues regarding player discipline. Perhaps the most intelligent comment in an article filled with thoughtful responses, came from David Cornwell, a partner at Barnes & Thornburg. In response to the question, “What does the future hold for player discipline?” Cornwell said: “We are seeing a cultural shift take place before our eyes and we do not know it or we are ignoring it. A dirty little secret is that the growing significance of youth and amateur sports in our culture has reached the point where there is too often an inverse relationship between […]
This is the part of the domestic violence story too few want to talk about. The part where the female victim recants the story. In the aftermath of Ray Rice and other high profile incidents, the clarion call in professional sports has been to develop or strengthen domestic violence policies in the game. While that, in the main, is absolutely right, the need for players and their unions to be involved in the discussion (hear this out NFL), is vital, because agree with it or not, high-profile, highly-paid athletes may well be targets of unfounded accusations. Given that, there is a real need to ensure that any reported incident of domestic violence is credible before players are suspended and careers forever tarnished. Staking out that position may not be politically correct, but it’s right. The unfolding story of Jonathan Taylor stands as the most recent Exhibit A. Taylor, a former defensive lineman for the University of Alabama football team, was accused this past weekend of physically assaulting a woman and causing injuries to her neck and damage to her property. Following his arrest, Alabama Coach Nick Saban dismissed Taylor from the team. But now comes the news that on March […]
