"The conduct reflected in your guilty plea resulted in the tragic loss of life and was inexcusable. While the criminal justice system has determined the legal consequences of this incident, it is my responsibility as NFL commissioner to determine the appropriate league discipline for your actions, which have caused irreparable harm to the victim and his family, your club, your fellow players and the NFL."
- - - Roger Goodell
NFL Commissioner
In his letter to Cleveland Browns WR Donte' Stallworth
on his league suspension
June 18, 2009
Finally! A commissioner of a professional sports league that has a set of some BIG STEEL ONES. This decision was handed down to Donte Stallworth, wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Stallworth is responsible for the death of 59 year old Mr. Mario Reyes, a Miami construction worker, who was running to catch a bus after his shift at about 7:15 AM. That's right I said AM, as in the early morning. Stallworth was driving while under the influence of alcohol because he had been drinking all night at the Fountainbleu Hotel in Miami Beach.
However the real tragedy came when the judge in Stallworth's case sentenced him to, are you ready for this, just 30 DAYS IN JAIL! To say this sentence is outrageous is a gross understatement. Stallworth also had his drivers license in Florida suspended for life, must undergo drug and alcohol testing, and must perform 1,000 hours on community service.
Stallworth signed a seven year, $35, 000, 000.00 contract with the Cleveland Browns and the night before he got drunk and killed Mr. Reyes he earned a $4,500,000.00 roster bonus. So Stallworth had plenty of money to get himself such a light sentence. Funny, all he would of have to of done is take maybe $500 that night to invest in the services of a limousine. Hell, maybe even just $30 for a cab, or Jeez, he could even of just stayed at the hotel.
Stallworth has the option to meet with Commissioner Goodell, and Stallworth's attorney, Mr. David Cornwell, states that he hopes that the Commsioner will take this opportunity to review "the unique facts involved" to help reduce Stallworth's suspension.
Mr. Cornwell, the only "unique facts" that the Commissioner or anybody else in this country has to know is that you have to be a complete and total brain dead moron to not know that drinking and driving anywhere in this country is illegal and deadly.
There was a unique case here in Illinois some years ago where a woman, who was taking a nap on the sofa in her own living room was killed by a drunk driver who swerved off the road and plowed his car right into her house. The ironic thing about the situation was that the woman was a high ranking member of the local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, (M.A.D.D.).
I am so overjoyed to finally have a commissioner of a professional sports league finally stand up to these overpaid, over spoiled self made divas who have been allowed to denigrate and destroy the integrity of the sports world and give them the long overdue spanking they deserve. And I'm am so proud that it is coming from the commissioner of the league that is my favorite sport.
I don't want to hear about how "hard" they work and the "pressure" that they are under. They dare try to compare their "hard work and pressure" to the everyday Joe, (and Josephine), white or blue collar, who is out there everyday busting their butts? Especially in this economy? I would gladly love to get paid millions of dollars to work out, lift weights, study my upcoming opponent and play a game.
Why am I so passionate about this? Well the answer is that this deals with something that I personally have experienced. You see, I am one one the rarest survivors of a head on collision with a drunk driver. About eleven years ago I was on my way home from one of the locations of my family's business. It was just past 9:00 PM and I was taking the usual path home. The road I usually took was under reconstruction and had been narrowed down to a single two way blacktop. I was traveling at 35 MPH, up ahead I saw some headlights appear and they were swerving, I believed at first that the driver was trying to avoid debris in the road. It turned out that he was extremely intoxicated and at that moment he was traveling at 65 MPH. He swerved in front of me in the last 20 yards his car was traveling and we met head on with the combined impact of over 100 MPH.
I was knocked unconscious for a couple of minutes. But what made me state that I am one of the RAREST survivors of a head on DUI incident is you see, even though I had to be cut out of my car, and even though I had to go to the emergency room, I got to go home two hours after the incident. I walked out of the hospital with minor bruises and some aches and pains; and of course now minus a car.
The other guy? Well that's another story. He had to have his blood alcohol level tested intravenously and the results were that he was THREE and ONE HALF times over the legal limit in the state of Illinois at that time, (it was LOWERED some months later). His car was split in four pieces. He suffered two broken legs, a broken arm, eight broken ribs, a skull fracture and over 400 stitches.
But my point is that there are other victims in DUI more than the sober party and their family. There is the family of the DUI driver themselves. I found that the man who struck me had a wife and children at home and he made his living working for a local landscaper. This man could of been killed himself and he had a family at home that depended on him to support them. Yes, he is the one who chose to get totally hammered that night, and he is the one that is at total fault in my situation. However, if he were killed that night, do you think that I could live easily knowing that I was involved in that?
When you drink and drive, you put your own family and loved ones at risk also. If you take the life of someone because of your DUI, in my opinion it's murder. You might as well take a gun and fire randomly into a crowd, it is the same thing.
I'd love to hear from anyone who can argue with that.
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