Former Broncos cornerback Perrish Cox, less than two weeks removed from being acquitted of rape charges, is back in the NFL, as a member of the 49ers. In short, Cox denied to police having sex with a woman who claimed she was violated after she passed out. But the woman was pregnant, and Cox’s DNA matched the DNA of the fetus.
Setting aside for now whether a “second chance” (it’s not really a second chance if the guy was never convicted) meshes with the privilege of playing in the NFL, the question is whether the 49ers or any other team should be comfortable doing business with a player who denied to police having sex with a woman who ended up pregnant with his child.
Some teams (like the 49ers) are fine with that. Others surely wouldn’t be. The question for now is how coach Jim Harbaugh will reconcile this move with his general attitude toward the subject of players who find trouble off the field.
“He said that we can do anything in the world and we can come and talk to him and he’ll forgive us except put our hands on women,” safety Donte Whitner said earlier this year. “If you put your hand on a woman then you’re done in his book. So other than putting your hands on women, you can do anything and come talk to him, and it’s true.”
If that’s true, why would Harbaugh want a guy who denied to police having sex with a woman who ended up pregnant with his child?
It makes even less sense that pairing up Randy Moss with Alex Smith.