The Aldon Smith thread

Originally posted by Paul_Hofer:
Is the time taking for an announcement a positive sign? Is Goodell surveying possible negative feedback for a lesser penalty?

He has the Josh Gordon case and Aldon's on his plate which are both relatively complicated. And they're both potential superstars who are very important to their teams. Considering all of that a long with how he effed up the Ray Rice case, rushing his judgement isn't going to do any favors especially considering the players can still participate.

Originally posted by AmpLee:
Someone mentioned a few pages back that the NFL will reveal controversial news right before the weekend when the backlash is the least. I wonder if this is actually good news. Everyone in the media has been calling for 6-8 games so I don't see much of a media backlash if Goodell were to levy such a punishment, even though Niner fans would be screaming our heads off. But if it's something less than 2 games, all of the sudden the media is gonna be very wrong about there prediction of 6-8 games and will be questioning the softness of the commissioner on one of NFLs biggest 'thugs'. I think it's a good thing that this wait is happening. The more one carefully considers everything, the only reasonable conclusion would be 4 games or less. I'm starting to think it might even be two. Or maybe I'm just reading way too far into it and Godell is preparing to drop the hammer.

Good points. I think he gives Aldon a 4 game suspension and reduces it to two. I'm not sure how you argue a seven game suspension which includes a 5 game stint in rehab. Sends a good message to the league about treatment while still treating his DUI seriously. And when you consider the terrible state of the Cowboys defense, that isn't too bad.

Originally posted by OregonNiner87:

Originally posted by Paul_Hofer:
Is the time taking for an announcement a positive sign? Is Goodell surveying possible negative feedback for a lesser penalty?

He has the Josh Gordon case and Aldon's on his plate which are both relatively complicated. And they're both potential superstars who are very important to their teams. Considering all of that a long with how he effed up the Ray Rice case, rushing his judgement isn't going to do any favors especially considering the players can still participate.

I think a harsh penalty handed down to Aldon would actually cause greater backlash on the Rice issue. Does he really want to deal with the perception that knocking a woman unconscious and dragging her down a hallway is less severe a misstep than drinking and driving? I'm not saying I'm cool with drinking and driving, but if all of the fans who ever did and got away with had to stop commenting on the issue, it'd be a pretty quiet debate.

edit: to sum up my thought, drinking and driving is most commonly a passive decision that generally puts people at risk, while domestic violence/spousal abuse is a deliberate decision to cause severe physical and psychological/emotional harm to someone who (evidently) trusts you.

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

I think a harsh penalty handed down to Aldon would actually cause greater backlash on the Rice issue. Does he really want to deal with the perception that knocking a woman unconscious and dragging her down a hallway is less severe a misstep than drinking and driving? I'm not saying I'm cool with drinking and driving, but if all of the fans who ever did and got away with had to stop commenting on the issue, it'd be a pretty quiet debate.

It's a lose-lose either way after he went soft on Rice.

Originally posted by PrisonOfGlass:

Originally posted by WRATHman44:
I think a harsh penalty handed down to Aldon would actually cause greater backlash on the Rice issue. Does he really want to deal with the perception that knocking a woman unconscious and dragging her down a hallway is less severe a misstep than drinking and driving? I'm not saying I'm cool with drinking and driving, but if all of the fans who ever did and got away with had to stop commenting on the issue, it'd be a pretty quiet debate.

It's a lose-lose either way after he went soft on Rice.

I could see a lot of women's groups losing their very public sh!t, comparing the two rulings and the apparent values attributed to each.

Originally posted by PrisonOfGlass:

Originally posted by WRATHman44:
I think a harsh penalty handed down to Aldon would actually cause greater backlash on the Rice issue. Does he really want to deal with the perception that knocking a woman unconscious and dragging her down a hallway is less severe a misstep than drinking and driving? I'm not saying I'm cool with drinking and driving, but if all of the fans who ever did and got away with had to stop commenting on the issue, it'd be a pretty quiet debate.

It's a lose-lose either way after he went soft on Rice.

I don't think that is true. The guy that he needs to drop the hammer on is Greg Hardy, who was convicted of beating his gf. If he wants to make a statement after dropping the ball on a domestic violence case, Hardy is his opportunity to do so. Aldon's case is completely different than that of Rice/Hardy.

Originally posted by Hoovtrain:
I don't think that is true. The guy that he needs to drop the hammer on is Greg Hardy, who was convicted of beating his gf. If he wants to make a statement after dropping the ball on a domestic violence case, Hardy is his opportunity to do so. Aldon's case is completely different than that of Rice/Hardy.

deinitely different cases, but as these are being tried in the court of public opinion, Goodell's rulings will still be viewed as a statement of the league's values.

Originally posted by Pillbusta:

Originally posted by 49AllTheTime:
How did the job find out about his DUI

Wrecked the company car. LOL!

Obviously that is different. If you commit a crime during work hours or using company equipment, the company has every reason to meet out punishment including termination.

Originally posted by NinerSickness:

Originally posted by fryet:
The NFL is an employer not a court of law. It isn't their job to judge their employees or meet out punishment. If I get a DUI, my employer does nothing.

Of course it's the NFL's job to judge players & punish them. That's in the collective bargaining agreement. It's NFL policy to do so. Aldon signed up for just that when he signed his NFL contract.

I once had a manager who got a DUI, and my work fired him before he could ever come back. Just because your job wouldn't do anything about a DUI doesn't mean other jobs won't.

I am not doubting that the NFL has the power to do so, I am questioning whether it should. How many masters do adults need? We already have police/courts to deal with things like DUI, why does the employer need to get involved (obviously if your job is driving, then I would understand a company's concern)?

Originally posted by WRATHman44:

Originally posted by Hoovtrain:

I don't think that is true. The guy that he needs to drop the hammer on is Greg Hardy, who was convicted of beating his gf. If he wants to make a statement after dropping the ball on a domestic violence case, Hardy is his opportunity to do so. Aldon's case is completely different than that of Rice/Hardy.

deinitely different cases, but as these are being tried in the court of public opinion, Goodell's rulings will still be viewed as a statement of the league's values.

This is the point I've been trying to make.

Originally posted by fryet:

I am not doubting that the NFL has the power to do so, I am questioning whether it should. How many masters do adults need? We already have police/courts to deal with things like DUI, why does the employer need to get involved (obviously if your job is driving, then I would understand a company's concern)?

Part of Aldon's job as a public figure is acting in a manner that reflects positively on the organization he represents and he clearly failed.

Originally posted by fryet:

I am not doubting that the NFL has the power to do so, I am questioning whether it should. How many masters do adults need?

Masters? Really?

Yes of course they should suspend him. Everyone on planet earth who isn't a 49er fan knows that.

Originally posted by PrisonOfGlass:

Originally posted by fryet:
I am not doubting that the NFL has the power to do so, I am questioning whether it should. How many masters do adults need? We already have police/courts to deal with things like DUI, why does the employer need to get involved (obviously if your job is driving, then I would understand a company's concern)?

Part of Aldon's job as a public figure is acting in a manner that reflects positively on the organization he represents and he clearly failed.

Agreed. I did address this in my original post. The NFL response should be based on the amount of bad PR they get out of an incident. Aldon going to rehab, actually helped them (and him) a great deal. I think NFL gets even better PR by emphasizing that the Aldon approach is what they want to see in the future as opposed to meting out there own punishment as well.

Originally posted by NinerSickness:

Originally posted by fryet:
I am not doubting that the NFL has the power to do so, I am questioning whether it should. How many masters do adults need?

Masters? Really?

Yes of course they should suspend him. Everyone on planet earth who isn't a 49er fan knows that.

Yes really. How many people do you need to tell you what to do and punish you when you don't? Government? Employer? HOA? Sanitation Department?

Originally posted by fryet:

Yes really. How many people do you need to tell you what to do and punish you when you don't? Government? Employer? HOA? Sanitation Department?

All of those things you mentioned are different aspects of government control (even HOA). So you mentioned Government & employers.

Employers aren't "masters." If he doesn't like his employer he can leave & go sell insurance. If he wants to stay he has to pay the piper for being a dummy. That's the agreement on which he signed in his contract (which nobody forced him to do).