When the Carolina Panthers decided that defensive end Greg Hardy’s domestic violence case made him more trouble than he was worth, the Dallas Cowboys swooped in and signed him to a one-year deal. Now, a month after the release of several pictures showing what he did to his girlfriend, one fan thinks Hardy doesn’t belong on any NFL roster. He started a petition calling for Hardy to be kicked out of the league–one that has garnered over 74,000 signatures.
In May 2014, Hardy was arrested for assaulting and threatening his then-girlfriend, Nicole Holder. In a July bench trial, a judge convicted him of assault on a female and communicating threats. He was sentenced to two months’ probation, in lieu of a 60-day suspended jail sentence. Hardy appealed the sentence and requested a jury trial. The appeal was still working its way through the system when the 2014 season began.
In the wake of a national outcry over the NFL’s mishandling of the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson cases, Hardy was deactivated after only one game. He was ultimately placed on the commissioner’s exempt list, and never played another down that season. By the time the case was finally ready for retrial in February, Hardy had agreed to an undisclosed civil settlement with Holder. As a result, Holder stopped cooperating with prosecutors, leaving them with no option to throw out the domestic violence charges.
Nonetheless, Hardy’s Panthers career was over. He was an unrestricted free agent, but Panthers owner Jerry Richardson personally decided not to resign him. He told ESPN that he made this move in the face of numerous requests to give Hardy another chance because “we do the right things.” Speaking as a Panthers fan, this was the only acceptable response. However, Hardy wasn’t unemployed for long. The Cowboys signed him to a one-year deal, amid harsh criticism from several quarters.
The criticism ramped up anew on November 6. One day after the charges were officially expunged from Hardy’s record, Deadspin got its hands on pictures that Charlotte-Mecklenburg police took of Holder’s injuries, as well as a raft of documents related to the domestic violence case. The pictures make for horrifying viewing. They show numerous bruises and injuries on Holder’s arms, legs, back, and neck.
The documents make for equally horrifying reading–particularly Holder’s interview with police. They were sitting in Hardy’s apartment when Hardy attacked her from out of nowhere. He shoved her into the bathroom, where she landed in the bathtub. He then threw her onto a futon with several pictures of guns on it, then tried to strangle her. He actually told Holder that he was going to kill her. Through it all, he had what Holder described as a “crazy” look in his eyes; his pupils appeared completely dilated. Hardy then called 911 and tried to make it appear that Holder assaulted him.
The NFL had access to all of this evidence, and used it to justify suspending Hardy for the first 10 games of this current season–a sanction that was reduced to four games by an arbitrator. It’s a near-certainty the Panthers had access to this as well. It’s inconceivable that the Cowboys didn’t see this either. It also makes Hardy’s earlier vow to return to the field “with guns blazing” sound particularly chilling.
The fact that Hardy is playing at all doesn’t sit well with Freddy Martinez of Roy, Utah. Martinez, a self-described fan of one of the Cowboys’ division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles. Shortly after the release of the pictures and documents, Martinez launched a petition on Change.org calling for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to release Hardy immediately, and for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to take steps to ensure that Hardy never plays another down in the NFL again. As Martinez sees it, Hardy’s continued presence on the Cowboys roster is proof that the powers that be in the NFL “still aren’t willing” to take domestic violence seriously. He isn’t the only one. As of Friday night, more than 74,000 people have signed.
In the wake of last year’s wave of domestic violence incidents involving NFL players, league officials repeatedly claimed that they had an obligation “to get this right.” The fact Hardy is still drawing an NFL paycheck makes this ring hollow. In light of what is now known, Hardy should have been suspended for at least one year, with the stipulation that he undergo counseling and anger management. Hopefully the Cowboys will have the decency to cut ties with him–if not now, at the end of the season. And if that happens, hopefully the other teams will have the decency to stay away from him.
