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The National Football League’s summer of misanthropes took another turn Thursday, when Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth for the entire 2009 season without pay. Stallworth, a member of the Cleveland Browns, will be reinstated after the 2010 Super Bowl.

Last March, Stallworth, while driving drunk, struck and killed a pedestrian near Miami Beach, the morning after he had received a $4.5 million roster bonus from the Browns. He pleaded guilty to D.U.I. manslaughter, a felony, and spent less than a month in prison, a relatively light sentence given in part because of claims of contributory negligence by the pedestrian, who was not in a crosswalk when he was struck.

But after suspending Stallworth indefinitely and then meeting with him twice this month, Goodell took a harder line — he noted in his letter to Stallworth that he believed “further consequences are necessary.”

Stallworth was suspended under the league’s substance abuse and personal conduct policies, which offer the commissioner wide latitude in dealing with players who commit crimes involving alcohol. Stallworth is not allowed to participate in any team activities during the suspension.

“You are clearly guilty of conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the N.F.L.,” Goodell wrote in a letter to Stallworth. “Legal arguments that focus on criminal liability under Florida law do not diminish that damage or your responsibility for your conduct.”

The letter concluded: “Your conduct endangered yourself and others, leading to the death of an innocent man. The NFL and NFL players must live with the stain that you have placed on their reputations.”

Goodell’s decision comes a few weeks after he reinstated quarterback Michael Vick, who has yet to find a job after missing two seasons following his role in a gambling operation centered on dogfighting.

Goodell met with the players, and wanted to see remorse for their actions, something Stallworth had offered since the time of the incident, when he stopped and immediately told police officers he had struck the pedestrian. Stallworth has reached a financial settlement with the family of the victim, Mario Reyes, and is now serving two years of house arrest, which will be followed by eight years of probation.

Stallworth is allowed to work out with trainers during his house arrest. After meeting with Goodell, he said he would live with whatever punishment Goodell meted out. Goodell will make a final determination on when Vick can return to regular season games before the sixth week of the season.

Goodell has cracked down on off-the-field misconduct since becoming commissioner. Stallworth will miss twice as much time as Leonard Little, the St. Louis defensive end who killed a woman while driving drunk in 1998 and was suspended by Goodell’s predecessor, Paul Tagliabue, for eight games.

With Vick and Stallworth settled, Goodell might now turn his attention to Plaxico Burress, the former Giants receiver who shot himself in the leg last November with an unlicensed handgun he carried into a New York nightclub. The Manhattan district attorney’s office has been adamant that Burress will serve some time in prison. Burress is currently a free agent, while teams await his fate.

By JUDY BATTISTA
Published: August 13, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/14/sp...tallworth.html

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