Punishment for Porter

[Ryan Mc]

From PFT:

PORTER TO BE POPPED FOR THREE GAME CHECKS?

Adam Schefter of NFL Network reports that Commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to fine Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter three game checks for pleading no contest to battery against Bengals left tackle Levi Jones at a Las Vegas casino.

The incident occurred not long after Porter signed a contract with the Dolphins, which includes $20 million in guaranteed money.

At a base salary of $800,000, a fine of three game checks equals more than $141,000.

But the good news for the Dolphins and Porter is that no suspension will be imposed. Frankly, we think that the team lobbied the Commish aggressively to refrain from parking Porter, citing the fact that the Fins are giving up a home game this year in an effort to advance the league's European experiment.

[Iago313]

Huh? So it's ok to go around mugging fellow NFL players as long as your team is willing to give up a home game and play overseas? This Roger Goodell tough on the Conduct Policy is starting to look a little like favortism to me. Porter who has a history of aggression with fellow players loses 3 game checks, and Jared Allen was nailed for a second DUI (not a first but a second) gets his suspension reduced from 4 games to 2 because he was a good boy for 4 months. So if you play for one of the big clubs old Rog has got your back. Were the players not supposed to learn a lesson after coming down hard on those guys? It seems to me that every week more players get in trouble, and Goodell is easing up.

[Bengal Dude]

Three game checks is ridiculous. I can't believe video tape evidence is good enough to not even receive a 1 game suspension. What is Goodell thinking?

[D_E_X]

it is a tad hypocritical that he hasnt punished porter..... I guess if you change teams and the team didnt think you would be suspended then you somehow get off scott free......

[mad river]

If I was Henry, I'd have my lawyers all over Goodell for his 8 game suspension. If Goodell isn't going to be consistant, then Henry needs to get his suspension reduced, just like KC's player did (oh I feel very remorseful, so reduce my suspension--------yeah, right ! ) . If I was Levi, I'd sue Porter in civil court for damages. All of Bengaldom should be in an up roar over the Porter ruling!!!

[Jasonew6]

Not exactly scott-free. I don't think many of us would take losing almost 20% of our pay lightly. But he should have been suspended.

[jj22]

Rumor had it on PFT that the Dolphins may have been in Goodells ear asking for a "favor" for playing a game overseas....I just don't like the man honestly. I also thought it was funny (albeit disrespectful) when Troy Smith had words with him over his negativity at the rookie symposium. Did he forget he slipped to the 5th round and may not even make the roster?....I digress.....It's going to be impossible to punish everyone equally, but I fault him for setting the standards so high acting tough with the Pac and Henry punishments....

[jj22]

[quote user="Jasonew6"]Not exactly scott-free. I don't think many of us would take losing almost 20% of our pay lightly. But he should have been suspended.[/quote]
I woulda just paid it out of my 10 million dollar signing bonus and went on about my business......

[CTbengalfan]

he definately is a hypocrite. He vows to be this rightous figure in the NFL and set things straight, but he's not just. He only goes after those that are in the spotlight. He has showed no consistency in all of this. It amazes me how you don't suspend a player who intentionally tried to hurt another by assaulting him with his thug friends and also robbing him of his jewelry, all of which are a crime. Give me a break, Joey Porter is a punk, and Goodell is no better. Now I wonder what he's going to do with Mike Vick.

[Show-your-Stripes]

It costs a few cents, but I think there should be a concerted effort to mail displeasure to the commish.
Roger Goodell
280 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017

Further, the player's union is supposed to make it a point that players aren't punished differently due to their status. With the likes of Tank Johnson, AJ Nicholson, etc. having action taken due to their charges (neither were found guilty) why is the union not questioning why Mike Vick isn't getting the same treatment? And beyond that, Vick and Porter both have had charges levied against them previously so they should be just as much repeat offenders as Adam Jones, why is the league commish allowed to distribute punishment differently based upon player profile and celebrity?

[fredtoast]

GoOdell is being consistent. He has NEVER suspended a single player for his first brush with the law. Tank, Henry, Allen, Pacman, and all the other suspended players have had prior convictions or criminal charges where they did not contest their guilt.

If you are going to critcize the guy get your facts straight first.

[jj22]

[quote user="fredtoast"] GoOdell is being consistent. He has NEVER suspended a single player for his first brush with the law. Tank, Henry, Allen, Pacman, and all the other suspended players have had prior convictions or criminal charges where they did not contest their guilt.

If you are going to critcize the guy get your facts straight first.
[/quote]
Fred I normally agree with ya, but this isn't Vicks first brush with the law, and it isn't Porters either if i'm not mistaken. Henry atleast plead guilty to an offense, but Pac was suspended when he had never been found guilty of anything...Also how do you justify Jared Allen?

[34inXXIII]

[quote user="jj22"]Fred I normally agree with ya, but this isn't Vicks first brush with the law, and it isn't Porters either if i'm not mistaken. Henry atleast plead guilty to an offense, but Pac was suspended when he had never been found guilty of anything...Also how do you justify Jared Allen?
[/quote]
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I cannot find where either Vick or Porter have faced criminal charges prior to this year's issues. Yeah, they've had a string of stupidity, but not criminal activity (at least nothing that they have been charged with anyways). If this is accurate, then that has to be considered by the commissioner when administering the punishment to these players. Now, I'd still like to have seen a 1 or 2 game suspension for Porter, but this is hardly a slap on the wrist. I don't care how much money he makes, players don't like losing that kind of money.

As for Vick, he has to be very careful with this scenario. The Bears were criticized for releasing Johnson - a player recently released from prison - before learning the final results of the blood alcohol test following a traffic stop. Imagine the uproar if Goodell suspends Vick for some time - especially a lengthy period - only to see Vick vindicated and cleared of all charges. Then there's the players union to deal with as well. Besides, fans of other teams should love to see Vick on the field because his presence with this indictment hanging over him essentially dooms the Falcons season before it begins

Jared Allen? Not sure what's going on there actually. Doesn't make sense at face value. Nonetheless, part of the problem with the reaction to these issues is that people want consitency from Roger Goodell on matter that themselves are not consistent. There are so many different factors and variables in each player's issues, yet so many people think there should be some simple formula for handing down punishment.

[Show-your-Stripes]

[quote user="fredtoast"]GoOdell is being consistent. He has NEVER suspended a single player for his first brush with the law. Tank, Henry, Allen, Pacman, and all the other suspended players have had prior convictions or criminal charges where they did not contest their guilt.

If you are going to critcize the guy get your facts straight first.
[/quote]
Joey Porter has never had a run in with the law? He was charged in Sept. 06 for his dog junk; and don't forget he was shot in the *** for his part in a bar incident in Denver (an exchange that left one man dead). A person was arrested in a multi-state drug sting in late 2005 while driving Joey's truck. He also has history with assaulting other NFL players (William Green)
Mike Vick took a plea deal to get away from his battery charge in the Ron Mexico ordeal. I'm sure we don't forget the water bottle incident (though there were no charges), and there's also the obscene gesture made to the fans.
So both Joey (for dogs) and Mike (for herpes) have accepted guilt via plea-deals. And they both have longer histories of breaches of the player conduct policy, some that include run-ins with the police and some that simply fall withing the activities which are not condusive for the league's image (which is what got Adam Jones in trouble).
The truth is they are both getting away with it for now because of their celebrity. If Scooter Libby was forced to step down the day his federal indictment came in I see no reason why Vick shouldn't (again, this is the big-leagues where they don't levy charges they can't get you hooked for).

If Joey's second assault of a player, and 3rd run-in with the law directly don't merit a suspension perhaps the policy needs a revision. Sure, blame his posse for the drug hit in his car, but he didn't learn his lesson since his posse was with him to jump Jones.

It's pitiful.

[Wolpie]

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much more than a fine. I would've been surprised to see anything more than a 1 game suspension.
I thought this bit tacked on to the end of Schefter's NFL.com article was interesting, though: "Porter's fine comes months after the NFL fined Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher $100,000 for wearing a Vitamin water hat to NFL media day."
Shows you where the NFL's prioritie$ are (in case you were under any delusions about that).

[calell83]

[quote user="jwolper"]Honestly, I wasn't expecting much more than a fine. I would've been surprised to see anything more than a 1 game suspension.
I thought this bit tacked on to the end of Schefter's NFL.com article was interesting, though: "Porter's fine comes months after the NFL fined Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher $100,000 for wearing a Vitamin water hat to NFL media day."
Shows you where the NFL's prioritie$ are (in case you were under any delusions about that).
[/quote]

The fine to urlacher was rediculous...
I don't wanna sound liek I am defending Porter...but The Dog thing was against Porter, but not like see set the dogs on the horses and he got shot, can't really hold that against him.
While there is no excuse for him punching Jones, it is really his first arrest, where as Henry has had mutliple, so has Pac Man.

[Show-your-Stripes]

So Porter's plea for his dogs don't count because that criminal act doesn't have to do with personal conduct? How does that compute?

How does his history with multiple assaults of NFL players not indicate a pattern?
How does his history with being around people doing illegal acts (drug bust & shot in butt) differ from Pacman's excuse if it wasn't him, it was his friends?
Further, conduct policy doesn't require criminal charges to be filed for it to be an offense. In fact, it was the conduct policy that was used to give Porter a $10k fine from the Green incident. That was a couple weeks after he was fined (conduct policy infraction AGAIN) for shoving an injured Todd Heap to the ground.
That's multiple offenses of the conduct policy (per NFL) prior to this most recent... repeat offender?
I guess a better definition of 'Repeat Offender' is "2nd string or lower".

[Show-your-Stripes]

Haha, this is great. While typing out that last post I decided to see what grounds multiple fines against Porter were based upon.

Porter's comments to KWinslow resulted in a fine for violating the personal conduct policy.
And during the loss to Oakland Porter threatened a game official and was fined for violating, you guessed it, the personal conduct policy.
Nice to see he's a first time offender and all.
How many violations (per NFL) of the personal conduct policy is Joey working on for his 'First Offense'?
1)Green assault
2)Todd Heap shove
3)KWinslow
4)Oakland Official
5)Levi Jones.
Heck, Porter might have more punishments from the Conduct Policy (albeit no suspensions) than any of the people who got multiple game suspensions.

[Ryan Mc]

[quote user="Show-your-Stripes"] Haha, this is great. While typing out that last post I decided to see what grounds multiple fines against Porter were based upon.

Porter's comments to KWinslow resulted in a fine for violating the personal conduct policy.
And during the loss to Oakland Porter threatened a game official and was fined for violating, you guessed it, the personal conduct policy.
Nice to see he's a first time offender and all.
How many violations (per NFL) of the personal conduct policy is Joey working on for his 'First Offense'?
1)Green assault
2)Todd Heap shove
3)KWinslow
4)Oakland Official
5)Levi Jones.
Heck, Porter might have more punishments from the Conduct Policy (albeit no suspensions) than any of the people who got multiple game suspensions.
[/quote]
Great work on this thread Stripes. Clearly there is no obvious definition from Goodell of what constitutes a "repeat" offender.

[Iago313]

I understand the first infraction policy but the thing about Porter is the way he set this whole thing up. Porter sees Levi in the casino and does he rush Levi there? No, he goes back gets his thug friends and then confronts Levi so they can jump him from behind and then rob the guy when he's down. This confrontation was planned by Porter, this wasn't a spur of the moment thing and that's what makes this worthy of at least a one game suspension. As for the Vick thing I agree with the wait and see, this is so serious to me that it goes beyond a few games suspension. Wait till the trial and see what comes out. If all this is true then hammer him.

[Show-your-Stripes]

[quote user="Iago313"]As for the Vick thing I agree with the wait and see, this is so serious to me that it goes beyond a few games suspension. Wait till the trial and see what comes out. If all this is true then hammer him.[/quote]
There's no need to discipline him after the trial. Spending 5-6 years in prison will already be stronger than a 1 year suspension from the league. After 6 years in prison he'd never get back in the league anyway. And that's only the conspiracy charge, not the RICO charge, not the Local charges.

For charges this large, the 'wait and see' method is a moot point.

[34inXXIII]

I see your point on Porter's on-the-field issues, but consider this (hopefully) fictional scenario....

Chris Henry comes back from his suspension in the second half of this season and, while on the playing field, does something - gets involved in a pregame fight with William Green, for example - that gets him ejected from the game and fined. Knowing that he has already served an 8-game suspension for multiple violations of the conduct policy, what suspension - if any - would you hand out to Henry in this hypothetical situation? Keep in mind, I'm not asking what you think Goodell would do and I'm not interested in any scenario which factors in why you may think his 8-game suspension was unfair.

[Who Dey 84]

i hate roger goodell

[34inXXIII]

[quote user="West TX Bengal Fan"]So here's how I would handle this very unique, delicate situation if I were Goodell:
* Have a meeting with Vick and explain that he won't play until the ruling on the situation is made
* If the ruling finds him guilty, he will not be paid for his time off but he will get consideration after serving his sentence for a return to the game
* If the ruling finds him not guilty, he will be paid for the time he missed and allowed to resume his career
* Let Vick know that he must sign a written agreement to this as an offer -- if he rejects this, then explain that he will be gambling a permanent ban from the game if he is found guilty or pleads to any lesser charge stemming from this indictment

Conclusion
These seemingly contradictory actions by the commish illustrate that he is realizing that a strong arm won't be a long-term solution to the problems that are occuring day in and out with professional athletes. He is backtracking now -- perhaps on the advice of league attorneys -- on a policy that WILL one day be challenged by someone and could have retroactive shock waves that, under an adverse ruling, could topple the leagues finances.For now, however, let's remember that Chris Henry is a bad boy that may just find salvation whiile Joey Porter is a thug who is facing a squashing on the gridiron just prior to New Year's.[/quote]
Great job coming up with what would probably the best possible scenario.

Yes, the policy and Goodell's enforcement will inevitably be challenged by someone and likely with the blessing of the player's union. Despite the union being on board with the new policy, some people seem to think the commissioner is a dictator, able to make any ruling he so pleases with no recourse. There are reports the union wants to ensure Vick gets paid is he is encouraged to take a leave of absence from the team this season. If they want to see him get paid while this case is being tried, they will most certainly challenge any kind of lengthy suspension unless and until and kind of guilty plea or verdict comes down.