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Ray McDonald‘s recent arrest marks the second time within a year that he has been brought into custody on charges of domestic violence and child endangerment. Now the NFL is all about giving second chances to players when they slip up, but by the time they need a third they’re usually on their way out of the league for good; and this is exactly why the Chicago Bears decided to cut ties with the talented defensive end.
It doesn’t matter how many sacks you can rack up in a season — at some point you must be held accountable for your actions. Now I would like to believe that this is the reason why McDonald was let go by the Bears, but in all likelihood it was because of the huge public relations hit they’d take if they decided to hold on to him; plus, at some point these heinous actions and constant distractions can tear a locker room apart, so you must get rid of the liability as soon as you possibly can.
Dallas Cowboys legend Roger Staubach even came out and said this weekend that he wouldn’t want newly signed defensive end Greg Hardy to be his teammate because he had zero tolerance for domestic violence. And while he is probably the most important and recognizable Cowboys player in the history of the franchise and has every right to say whatever he wants, whenever he wants, the timing of what he said couldn’t have been any worse. Why say these things right before the team is coming together for OTAs? The last thing they need is a distraction of this magnitude as they head into what could possibly be a big season for them.
Now having said all of that, I do not believe that what is happening with McDonald right now should affect Hardy in any way. I am not saying that Hardy is a better person than McDonald, but I am saying that the Cowboys should ignore all of the talking heads out there calling for the team to cut ties with him because of McDonald’s latest offense. Hardy should be given the same opportunity to get his life back on track as McDonald was, and with the support system and more importantly the counseling programs the Cowboys have in place, he should succeed in becoming a better person off the field.
This country believes in second chances, and the actions of one person shouldn’t stop others from getting the same opportunities that they were once afforded. And if Hardy slips up again, then by all means the Cowboys should let him go, but if he is able to stay on the straight and narrow, you could be looking at another success story like we’ve seen in Brandon Marshall and Michael Vick.
Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.
