Hardy is facing a de facto 15 game+ suspension for being a first-time misdemeanor offender

[Sam Mills Fan]

Has this ever happened in the history of pro sports?

 

Why do I say 15 game+? I don't see a scenario where the Panthers can bring him back before his trial. The trial will almost certainly be during the offseason. So Hardy is looking at 15 games plus any playoff games getting to sit. Cool upside for him I guess is that he gets to be paid $770,000 every week to do nothing (a great job to have if you can get it.) Problem is that, since the Panthers are just deactivating him and not suspending him for conduct detrimental to the team, he would THEN be subject to Goodell's new 6-game suspension for first-time offenders if he's convicted by a jury. I don't see how he could say the 15+ games he was deactivated for counts as time served since he would be paid for all of those weeks, unlike suspensions that are unpaid.

 

And that's not even getting into what would happen if we deactivate Hardy for the rest of the season and he's then found not guilty during the offseason. We will have sat a guy for an entire year of his pro career just so he could end up acquitted on first-time misdemeanor charges.

 

Am I the only one getting just how batshit crazy this whole thing is? What a huge mistake it was to deactivate Hardy on Sunday. You've essentially committed to sitting him indefinitely. If someone else can think of any player in the Big 4 sports leagues getting suspended that long as a first-time misdemeanor offender, I'm all ears.

[Panthro]

Plenty of hardy threads already. Feel free to post your opinion in there