Originally posted by English:
I want the 49ers to be quality guys. I want them all to be team-first guys who give 95% of their earnings to charity and spend all off=season helping little old ladies across roads.
I also want them to win.
Lets be clear, there is a line. Murder, rape, serious spousal abuse, child abuse, all this stuff and more is beyond the limit and anyone, even Montana or Rice in their heyday could not expect to stay with the team after anything like this.
So I guess it depends where you draw the line. For me, until the police have decided if this is a felony, a misdemeanour or a non-event, it is too early to form a view.
But for those of you who have already judged him, think along these lines. Charles Haley was a key part of our D in the late 80's. Yet his reported exploits, in a team which had a very clean reputation, were certainly beyond a drunken fight. He eventually got traded, reportedly, because of conflict with Seifert, then head coach, and a fight of some description with Steve Young. But prior to that, his activities made Brooks look like a choirboy.
So where DO you draw the line?
What Brooks did was messed up, and I as a fan am very disappointed,however it's a far cry from spousal abuse, murder, rape etc. I would even place drunk driving and cheating as worse.
He got in a fight with a teammate. Granted it was extreme and there was a weapon, but trust me I have seen a person after they got hit hard with a beer bottle in the head and it would not have taken more than 1 swing, nor would the victim have been telling the cops what happened shortly after, if Brooks was swinging to really injur. My guess is they were messing around, which escalated into something a bit more physical than it should have with the more aggressive person of the two being just that.
[ Edited by WINiner on Jul 4, 2013 at 7:28 AM ]
