More Legal Trouble For NFL

Roger Goodell may be the iron fist of the NFL but apparently his image isn't scaring everyone. Two Pittsburgh Steelers in the last month have been brought up in the news as subjects of assault cases against women.

This week Santonio Holmes was charged in a civil suit by a woman who said he hit her over the head with a glass. Much like Ben Roethlisbergers civil suit in Nevada I believe this case will work out for the accused. There is a discrepancy between the poloice reports and this woman's story. I believe to a jury if it gets this far and to the public this seems as a cash grab by this young lady. She got upset that charges were not going to be filed the police and an attorney in Florida was ready to help her drag an athlete's name through the mud.

However Ben Roethlisberger, Holmes' quarterback in Pittsburgh, is possibly facing criminal charges in Georgia. This comes after Roethlisberger was charged in a civil lawsuit of rape in Reno. This case is not a criminal case because the accuser did not come forward with the allegations in a reasonable amount of time. As of yet the police in Georgia are still gathering information and evidence to see if they have enough to go forward with a case.

This is beginning to get so old and tired with the NFL. I hear all this hype of how Roger Goodell takes no guff, well it certainly looks like it isn't scaring away players. They just keep getting lined up to get punished. It will be interesting to see how he habdles the Roethlisberger situation. He has two cases at once but will he get preferential treatment because he plays for the esteemed Rooney family in Pittsburgh. The Rooneys have been known to get rid of problem players to move the team forward, and maybe that will lead to some lenancy that Pacman Jones and Donte Stallworth did not receive.

As an NHL fan who is tired of seeing the NHL on CNN and PTI as a sport of thugs and goons when a fight breaks out and someone gets injured I am even more upset by this. ESPN has practically tried not to talk about the Roethlisberger case and where is the call for the NFL to become "civilized". I think Goodell is a bright guy and with the labor negotiations coming up I think he needs to make player conduct an emphasis. Maybe there needs to be stiffer contract clauses that give teams more power to punish a player who acts out of line. Training camp and Hard Knocks can't come soon enough for the NFL. The police blotter seems to be ramping up for the stretch run before it takes a break for it's offseason a.k.a the NFL regular season.