Ryan Braun’s Admission of Guilt will not Change Public Perception


ryan braun suspension

Benny Sieu – USA Today Sports

 

The first news of the Biogenesis scandal has officially come to the surface. It has been reported that Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers will be suspended without pay for the remainder of the season for violating the MLB Performance Enhancing Drug Policy. Braun has decided to drop his appeal and serve out his suspension with his team already out of the race.

Braun is one of more than 20 players who have been linked to the Biogenesis clinic run by Anthony Bosch where players received illegal supplements. But Braun is the first to accept his punishment and try to move on from this whole fiasco.

Braun was quoted as saying, “as I have acknowledged in the past, I am not perfect. I realize now that I have made some mistakes. I am willing to accept the consequences of those actions. This situation has taken a toll on me and my entire family and it has been a distraction to my teammates and the Brewers organization.” He also apologized to the fans of Milwaukee.

While Braun might have established the precedent by waiving his appeal and accepting his suspension, this admission of guilt will not change the public perception of the Brewers’ slugger.

The fact that Braun has the audacity to realize “now” that he’s has made some mistakes is pretty unbelievable. He was aware of his mistakes when he got caught last season and tried to cover his tracks by questioning the handling of his test sample and his 50-game suspension was eventually dropped. He had no remorse for ruining the life of the test handler that he accused of mishandling his sample.

He also should receive no credit for taking this suspension now; it should be seen as a cop-out. If the Brewers were in the race, Braun would be fighting this right until the end.

The truth of the matter is that Braun should not be looked at as any sort of good guy for taking his suspension. The public perception of him will be even worse than guys like Andy Pettitte who admitted to their wrongdoings right away. Braun got caught, tried to cover it up, succeeded and got caught even worse. Now, not only will he have to sit out this year, I can guarantee almost any MLB fan will have a tough time ever forgiving this man because of the way he has handled the entire situation.

It remains to be seen if guys like Nelson Cruz and Alex Rodriguez will follow suit and take their suspensions, but Ryan Braun’s admission of guilt will give the public a new man to hate.

Zach Slotter is a contributor for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @zslot6, Like his Facebook page or add him on Google.

 

 


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