Letroy Guion and the Packers shouldn’t get a pass because they are “our team”.
In an
article published this week in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel by Michael Cohen and John Diedrich, details of Letroy Guion’s tumultuous past emerged. These details are far beyond the marijuana and gun charges that precipitated Guion’s suspension to open the football season.
They are, in a word, disturbing.
Details surfaced that show Guion has a history of domestic violence charges, the worst of which involve accusations that he pushed his former girlfriend to the ground and
struck her in the jaw.
Amidst the outcry over the behavior of unrepentant domestic abuser and all around scumbag, Greg Hardy, and his behavior in a game this weekend where he
physically confronted a coach on the sideline, the response to the Guion article has been puzzling.
People have questioned why the article was even written? Why bring this up now? It’s water under the bridge, isn’t it?
No. It’s not.
While the details are not as clear as the Greg Hardy or Ray Rice case, the investigation reveals several years of issues that Guion has had. He has sent
threatening text messages. He has gotten in
altercations with his cousin and his ex’s boyfriend. He has physically assaulted people.
“But why now? It’s a few years later?”
Because Guion, while not as dramatic and clear cut as other domestic violence (and indeed, just plain violence) cases of recent repute, is symptomatic of the problem facing the NFL.
The Packers either did not investigate Guion’s past record, or didn’t care once they found the unsavory incidents in his past. A multimillion dollar operation like the Packers certainly has the resources to do an investigation, and could have had the cooperation of Guion, but they didn’t turn up the results, or ignored them once they did.
The immediate reaction of some fans was just as bothersome. While my aim is not to call out individual people posting on social media, some responded to the piece by asking why this was a big deal. After all, a few years have passed.
It’s a big deal because he is alleged to have struck a woman, the mother of his child, in the jaw.
Maybe the accusations are unfounded. Maybe he’s completely innocent and the unfortunate victim of unfair allegations. Maybe not.
He’s clearly a person who has found himself on the wrong side of the law several times. Not just smoking pot or jaywalking, but actual violent crimes, one of which he paid restitution for. In an era where the NFL is facing consequences for the blind eye it has turned toward players accused of violence, the league, and its teams, must do better.
The Packers should immediately respond publicly to the accusations. We should hear about what they did in their investigation (if they conducted one). They should be held accountable. If they believed the accusations were without merit, tell us. If they failed to investigate, tell us.
This should be a wakeup call. No team is immune. For all of the talk of “Packer People,” let’s not fool ourselves. This is about winning football games. But until we get over the reaction that “My team can’t be as bad as others,” it won’t change.
In defense of many Packers fans, there were responses that were less dismissive.
Guion should be cut. And that’s the best thing that should happen to him.
— Badger BOO!-nan (@BadgerNoonan)
October 24, 2015
And very succinctly:
I am not, maybe hypocritically, going to suggest an NFL boycott. The games, and my Packers fandom, mean a lot to me and to my family. It brings us together. I know many share that sentiment. And I think we, as fans, can do more from inside than from outside. We can demand change.
We can, at the least, speak up when things like this happen. Fan involvement has actually been encouraging. High profile cases, like Greg Hardy and Ray Rice, have caused fan outcry and have forced the league to at least pay attention.
But when less high profile incidents occur, like this, we can demand answers. We can speak out and ask the teams to be held accountable. When we speak as fans the league is more likely to listen. And when we speak to teams, and we ask tough questions, on social media or elsewhere, we find out where we really stand.
We can’t and shouldn’t demand that every player facing allegations be subject to punishment. But we should demand that the league and teams handle accusations seriously. If the NFL and teams had handled violence accusations in the past in a more meaningul way, maybe they could decide with more credibility when accusations were without basis. Until then, fans will fear the worst when charges are brought (even if they are eventually dropped).
Did the Packers know? Were they negligent in their investigations of Guion? Did they determine the accusations were baseless? These are the questions we should have answers to.
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