Donte' Stallworth Suspended Without Pay for Season

[madinmaryland]

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/08/13/sports/AP-FBN-Browns-Stallworth-Suspended.html?ref=sports

NEW YORK (AP) -- Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte' Stallworth was suspended without pay for this season Thursday after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter in June. He cannot participate in any team activities until he is reinstated after the Super Bowl.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Stallworth placed a ''stain'' on the reputation of the league and all its players.

Stallworth struck and killed a pedestrian while driving under the influence of alcohol March 14 in Miami. He pleaded guilty to the second-degree felony June 16 and was suspended indefinitely by Goodell two days later.

Stallworth was given a 30-day jail sentence and reached an undisclosed financial settlement with the family of Mario Reyes, a 59-year-old construction worker who was leaving his job as a crane operator.

In a letter to Stallworth released by the NFL, Goodell wrote that he didn't take into account the sentence in determining the 28-year-old player violated the league's substances of abuse and personal conduct policies.

''Your conduct endangered yourself and others, leading to the death of an innocent man,'' Goodell wrote. ''The NFL and NFL players must live with the stain that you have placed on their reputations.''

Police said Stallworth had spent the night drinking at a Miami Beach club and had a blood-alcohol level of .126, above Florida's .08 legal limit.

..snip

[joeybee12]

Appropriate...and when people ask why there isn't the venom for Stallworth

that there is for Vick, for me it's about intent. Vick set out to abuse and kill those animals, I don't think Stallowrth set out to kill someone that night, although in this day in age there is NO EXCUSE for driving while under the influence.

[madinmaryland]

2. I agree with you on that sentiment.

[joeybee12]

3. NO! Then I have to take it back!

:evilgrin:

[a la izquierda]

4. Hubby and I said the exact same thing. NT

[joeybee12]

1. Appropriate...and when people ask why there isn't the venom for Stallworth

that there is for Vick, for me it's about intent. Vick set out to abuse and kill those animals, I don't think Stallowrth set out to kill someone that night, although in this day in age there is NO EXCUSE for driving while under the influence.

[DaveinMD]

5. he should be in prison

for at least three years. Its a travesty that he isn't.

[Auggie]

6. Compare that sentence to what Plaxico Burress is facing...

3.5 years on 3 weapons charges.

[madinmaryland]

7. And to think that Plaxico only shot himself!

[dakota_democrat]

8. Part of me wanted a lifetime ban

But I think a single season ban is a good decision from the NFL's perspective.