Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jonathan Dwyer slips through the hands of Baltimore Ravens free safety Ed Reed on his way to a touchdown during the second half of their game in Baltimore, Maryland, on Sunday, December 2, 2012. The Steelers pull out a 23-20 win over Baltimore. (Photo Courtesy of Doug Kapustin/MCT)When Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer was arrested on charges of aggravated assault, head coach Bruce Arians immediately cut him from the team.
Arians told USA Today the Cardinals “take (domestic violence) extremely seriously” and showed that he was a strong-willed head coach, provided positive press for his team and created light in an all-around dark couple of weeks for the NFL.
This decision is going to come back to bite him.
It’s easy to release a backup. Dwyer averaged only eight carries a game and a career-low 3.2 yards per carry. The Cardinals have last year’s fifth-round pick Stepfan Taylor, a RB who has shown promise. Additionally, Arians may have seen a chance to bring ASU alumnus Marion Grice back to the desert (Grice signed with the Cardinals last Monday).
It is not easy to release a star player, even when the crime is heinous. It took the Ravens a long time to cut running back Ray Rice after his charge of domestic abuse against his wife, and the Vikings are holding on to running back Adrian Peterson, who was indicted for child abuse.
Those teams are being ridiculed for not coming down hard on their players while the Cardinals have been applauded for their quick and decisive response to Dwyer's troubles.
However, the Cardinals also happen to have a star player who pleaded guilty to assault charges in April, and they had a very different reaction.
Star Cardinal linebacker Daryl Washington grabbed his child’s mother by the throat and pushed her, breaking her collarbone, many media outlets reported.
Again, this was five months ago. Dwyer, arrested on Sept. 17, was deactivated from the Cardinals’ activities one day later.
A big reason Washington has not been released is the financial ramifications. The Cardinals “have the option” to not pay Dwyer (hint: they probably won’t pay him). Washington’s case is completely different. If he had been immediately released, the Cardinals would owe him $11.5 million instead of $3.1 million.
But there is likely more to it. The league is heading in a different direction. There has undoubtedly been a trickle-down effect in terms of research and handling of the cases of assault charges since Rice’s initial arrest and suspension. More players are being punished, and there is more media involvement in the crime.
When Washington was arrested, there was very little press regarding his case.
You can say that this is about money all you want. Cardinals general manager Steve Keim made it sound different.
“He has got to be a model citizen this off-season,” he said in August, according to the Arizona Republic. "He’s got to do everything the right way before he gets reinstated by Commissioner Goodell. If, in fact, he does (get reinstated).”
That sounds like the complete opposite of what Arians said about Dwyer in the USA Today article: “Until (Dwyer) is exonerated, he will not be a member of this football team.”
This guilty-until-proven-innocent attitude is the antithesis of the way the Washington case is being handled. Washington has been proven guilty, and yet he is still a member of the Arizona Cardinals.
Perhaps it is solely about the money. Maybe, this offseason, the team will release him before the inevitable media backlash arises and at a time when the cost to do so will be cheaper.
Maybe he will change over the next year. Maybe he’ll cut down his drug habits, receive counseling and help the community as he shows he’s sincerely sorry for his actions against his son’s mother. I’m not opposed to second chances.
Nonetheless, the Cardinals’ organization’s hypocritical side is showing when it releases a backup and provide an opening for a star. Once Washington’s drug suspension concludes, a new, more serious suspension will begin, and the Cardinals will have to be careful how they handle Washington and the media exchange that will ensue.
Reach the reporter at logan.newman@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Logan_Newsman
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