Three other recent cases:
Ray McDonald (San Francisco 49ers)
Three days after Commissioner Roger Goodell created a new NFL policy against domestic violence on August 28, San Francisco 49ers defensive end Ray McDonald was arrested on an accusation of felony domestic violence.
The
new policy imposes a six-game unpaid ban for first-time offenders and up to a lifetime ban for second-time offenders.
No charges have been filed in the incident involving McDonald, and the case was still being investigated Tuesday, said spokesman Sean Webby of the Santa Clara County, California, District Attorney's Office.
McDonald was arrested by San Jose police at 2:45 a.m. at his house, where a party was being held for his approaching 30th birthday. McDonald allegedly became involved in an altercation with his fiancee, who was 10 weeks' pregnant,
a police source told the Sacramento Bee newspaper. Several 49ers players attended the party, CNN affiliate
KTVU said.
The fiancee showed police minor bruises on her neck and arms, the newspaper said.
After McDonald posted bail, he stated he couldn't say much about the case.
"The truth will come out," he told KTVU. "Everybody knows what kind of person I am ... a good-hearted person."
On Tuesday, San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York said the team was awaiting the outcome of the criminal case against McDonald before determining whether to punish him.
"I think it's very important that we do let due process take its course," York told KNBR-AM. "I think it's very important that we don't judge somebody before, whether charges are filed or whether anything else happens. We want to make sure that everybody is afforded the right that I think Americans are afforded."
Greg Hardy (Carolina Panthers)
Defensive end Greg Hardy was convicted in a bench trial this summer of assaulting his former girlfriend and threatening to kill her, both misdemeanors.
Hardy is appealing, and the Carolina Panthers team said last month it wouldn't discipline him until his appeals are completed,
ESPN reported.
The former girlfriend accused Hardy of throwing her on a pile of guns and said he "bragged that all of those assault rifles were loaded," her motion for a protection order said earlier this year, according to
The Charlotte Observer newspaper, which posted a copy of her request online.
The woman said Hardy picked her up, threw her into the bathroom, dragged her into the bedroom, choked her, picked her up again and "threw me onto a couch covered in assault rifles and/or shotguns," her protection order request said, according to the Observer.
Hardy threatened to shoot her if she went to the media or reported the assault, the court papers said, according to the Observer.
However, the NFL website cites an Associated Press account about 911 tapes revealing a different version of events.
"Hardy can be heard on a call saying: 'My assistant is trying to restrain her, and she's trying to break free and hit me with her heel. I'm literally running around the table right now.' Hardy also alleges that the accuser could be on drugs," NFL.com reported.
Some sports analysts are urging Goodell to punish Hardy: "With Hardy, as with Rice, Goodell needs to make a statement that the league has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to how men in his league treat women,"
ESPN commentator Ashley Fox wrote.
When asked about the criminal case against him in July, Hardy said he disliked how it is a distraction.
"I hate that I have distracted my team," Hardy said,
according to ESPN. "Other than that I can't answer that question."
A.J. Jefferson (Minnesota Vikings)
In November 2013, Minnesota Vikings cornerback A.J. Jefferson was arrested on a felony count of domestic assault by strangulation,
CNN affiliate KARE reported.
His 23-year-old girlfriend claimed to have been in an early morning domestic dispute with Jefferson, who yelled and grabbed her neck,
CNN affiliate WCCO reported.
On the day of his arrest, Jefferson was cut by the Minnesota Vikings, the NFL reported. Also, after the arrest, the NFL suspended Jefferson for four games, but Goodell
lifted the suspension, the league said. The NFL website didn't say why.
Jefferson finished last season with the Cleveland Browns before being placed on the injured reserve list because of an ankle problem, according to the
National Football Post.
In March, Jefferson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of domestic assault in the 2013 case, WCCO reported. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail, which was suspended to three days times served, The Seattle Times reported. In May, Jefferson was signed as a free agent by the Seattle Seahawks, which won the Super Bowl last season.
NFL's past penalties for domestic violence 'a different story'