As more answers are provided regarding Sunday’s incident involving Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley, more questions arise. The league office officially will be among those seeking answers.
According to NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy, the league is conducting a “routine follow-up” regarding the situation, which initially was described as a “fall” by the team before morphing into a shove outside a Pittsburgh bar and, as of Thursday, progressing to a report that Haley suffered a “shattered pelvis” that caused him to be hospitalized for two days.
Although a “routine follow-up” is better than no follow-up at all, what would the league be doing if a player had been involved in a situation like this? While there is no suggestion (yet) of any wrongdoing by Haley, every puff of smoke on this one has led to thicker and thicker smoke.
For Haley, it’s the latest in a pattern that spans the past several years. There was a Pittsburgh bar incident in 2012, and another bar incident in Kansas City in 2011. There also have been multiple lawsuits involving Haley in recent years, including one alleging damage to a rental home and another alleging failure to pay a man who had taken care of Haley’s four dogs.
None of these events, in isolation, suggest any type of problem or issue. The history (especially of bar incidents) would seem to justify something more than a “routine follow-up” as to the latest altercation. Although there’s no indication that Haley did anything wrong, it seems prudent to find out what, if anything, prompted Haley to be shoved so hard to the ground that it reportedly shattered his pelvis.
Actually, Haley should welcome a full and complete investigation. With a contract expiring in Pittsburgh, the sooner the latest red flag is folded up and thrown away, the better his chances of securing another job will be.