As the NFL grappled with the fallout from allegations of child abuse levied against Vikings star running back Adrian Peterson on Wednesday—just days after the suspension of Ray Rice for domestic violence—one might reasonably wonder: How could things get worse for the league?
Here’s how: Greg Hardy and Jonathan Dwyer.
Carolina Panthers defensive star Greg Hardy, like Peterson, was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list Wednesday, making him, in effect, no longer part of the team—other than he still gets paid—until the legal system runs its course. “Hardy has a Nov. 17 date set to hear his appeal of a July 15 guilty verdict for assaulting and threatening ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder,” ESPN reports. “Hardy’s arrest warrant and testimony at his preliminary trial paint a pretty horrible picture,” Deadspin notes, as “Hardy is accused of hitting, throwing, and strangling girlfriend Nicole Holder, slamming her into the floor and into an empty bathtub.”
And then there’s Arizona Cardinals running back Jonathan Dwyer, who was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of aggravated assault. Here’s more from the Arizona Republic:
Police said Dwyer was arrested Wednesday at the team’s training facility in Tempe on allegations stemming from two incidents that occurred on two days in late July at a southeast Phoenix home involving a 27-year-old woman and an 18-month-old boy. The woman did not report the incidents until Sept. 11, said [Phoenix police spokesman Trent] Crump.
Dwyer was booked into the Fourth Avenue Jail on suspicion of aggravated assault against the woman for fracturing a bone and aggravated assault against the child for throwing the shoe toward the toddler, Crump said. The Cardinals back also faced allegations for preventing the use of a phone and criminal damage for property that was damaged or destroyed during the July incidents, he said.
The Cardinals immediately deactivated Dwyer from all team activities and released a statement Wednesday evening: “We became aware of these allegations this afternoon when notified by Phoenix police and are cooperating fully.
