Raiders coach Tom Cable has issued a statement in response to ESPN’s Outside The Lines report regarding allegations that Cable had committed violence against a former wife and a former girlfriend.
“On only one occasion in my life have I ever touched a woman inappropriately,” Cable said in a statement read on the air by ESPN SportsCenter anchor Bob Ley. “More than 20 years ago, during my first marriage, I became aware that my wife, Sandy, has committed adultery. I became very angry and slapped her with an open hand. What I did was wrong, and I have regretted and felt sorrow about that moment ever since. . . .
“The incident involving Ms. Lutz in which she came to my home uninvited was fully investigated by the Alameda police department and I cooperated fully with that investigation. I never battered her in any way. The police concluded correctly that I had done nothing wrong and that was the end of the matter. It is most unfortunate that ESPN has given Miss Lutz this forum to revisit this incident when I did nothing wrong and . . . ESPN further chose not to provide me with an appropriate opportunity to respond.”
The allegation in the last sentence is significant. If true, ESPN failed to follow one of the primary principles of investigative journalism -- giving the subject of damaging allegations a chance to tell his side of the story.
The alleged failure of ESPN to give Cable an appropriate chance to respond becomes even more curious in light of the specific history between the Raiders and ESPN. Last year, Chris Mortensen admitted that he failed to seek a comment from the Raiders regarding a story relating to the potential sale of controlling interest in the team.
“The Raiders have lost the privilege with me of running stories past them for comment,” Mort said at the time. “This stems from their history of denials to most stories I have reported -- as well as others in the media -- when those stories have eventually proven to be true.” Mortensen later admitted that he was wrong, and he apologized to the Raiders.
Meanwhile, Mort now reports that the league will soon issue a statement soon regarding the situation. In the statement, the league will commit to reviewing the allegations to determine whether Cable has committed any violations of the Personal Conduct Policy.
As Mort points out, Goodell still hasn’t spoken to Cable regarding the allegations made by Raiders defensive assistant Randy Hanson. Mort assumes that Goodell hasn’t spoken to Cable because he has been cleared by authorities of any criminal responsibility.
Still, and as we’ve pointed out a few times, the fact that Cable won’t face criminal punishment doesn’t mean he didn’t do something to result in the fracturing of Hanson’s jaw, and we continued to be astounded by the fact that the league has, by all appearances, failed to conduct its own thorough, in-person investigation of the situation.