Now that the first cow is out of the barn, and they only still love that cow in Baltimore, the NFL is thinking about building a fence.
According to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, the NFL is considering stiffer penalties in the future for domestic violence cases.
The report said potential punishment would be four to six games for a first offense, and a possible one-year ban for a second offense.
“We need to have stricter penalties,” said one source. “I think you will see that. I believe the commissioner and others would like to see stricter penalties. We need to be more vigilant.”
Of course, this comes after the league was almost unanimously pilloried for its two-game suspension (plus a fine of a week’s worth of his much-lower 2013 salary) of Ravens running back Ray Rice for knocking his wife unconscious.
Commissioner Roger Goodell cited precedent for that level of punishment, which seems comically light in light of collectively-bargained drug and PED suspensions.
“A lot of us were disturbed by what we saw [regarding Rice],” the person said. “I think you will see something in probably the next few weeks. A first offense could be four to six games, definitely more than two. A second offense might be a year.”
If the suggested toughening of the policy actually happens, it will be interesting to see if Panthers defensive end Greg Hardy is grandfathered into the old precedent or the new one. He’s been found guilty of assault and communicating threats for an incident involving a former girlfriend. He has appealed his conviction, and his jury trial is scheduled for Nov. 17.