As accounts emerge of Seahawk-on-Seahawk violence, with former Seattle receiver Percy Harvin fighting separately with former Seattle receiver Golden Tate and current Seattle receiver Doug Baldwin, an obvious question arises: What will the NFL do about this?
A source with direct knowledge of the league’s current thinking says that no investigation or discipline is planned.
But the personal conduct policy expressly encompasses incidents between teammates. “Violent or threatening behavior among employees, whether in or outside the workplace” appears in the policy as one of the specific circumstances that could trigger discipline.
The league isn’t inclined to intervene, in large part because the players involved in the altercations with Harvin didn’t complain or cause any other problem about it. Likewise, the league views Seattle’s decision to unload Harvin on the Jets as an appropriate sanction for the player (who’s now quite possibly on his last chance in the NFL) and the the team (which gave up $19 million for eight games and wasted a first-round, third-round, and seventh-round pick to get him).
Another possible reason for staying out of the Harvin situation arises from the current efforts to revamp the conduct policy. Action taken against Harvin could be viewed as an effort to take full advantage of power that soon will be modified via discussions with the NFL Players Association.
Thus, while the policy as written specifically covers situations in which a player hits another player in their workplace or elsewhere, the league won’t be doing anything about it, any time soon.