I'm with you one THOUSAND percent here. I think ScotsJet has the rest of my position in this thread. The guy makes a real nice living playing a game, and all he has to do for the privilege of continuing to do that is to avoid people, places, and things like this (heh . . . avoid nouns. . . funny). The best thing that could happen to Justin Miller right now is that he spend 30 minutes in a room with Lawrence Phillips and Maurice Clarett to get their thoughts on personal conduct and the National Football League, and what happens to those who can't control themselves.
Interesting point...a leopard doesn't change its spots, right? It would be interesting for some enterprising reporter to see whether the percent of incidences occuring in the NFL currently is higher/lower/in-line with the level of legal run-ins that occur in the general population. I mean, while NFL players should know better, they are human after all and have common faults. Let's say that there are about 1700 players in the NFL (53*32). Let's say at any given time that there are 10 players in trouble to some degree or another with the law. How does a 0.6% "infraction rate" compare vs. that of the U.S. population in general. If there are 300 million people in the U.S., that rate would equate to 1.8 million people in trouble to some degree at any given time. If I'm not mistaken, we have at least that number of people in jails across the country, no less being charged with crimes or awaiting trial. My numbers may be off on one side or the other, but I wonder if the NFL is creating a bigger story than it really needs to explain away based on the averages. And your point, Abyzmul, may be spot on in that Goodell is fueling an image by addressing these transgressions continually.
Winston, I agree with just about every one of your positions in the above exchange. 1) No one is "rushing to judgement." The facts so far are, Miller managed to punch a female in the face. Inexcusable no matter what the circumstances are. 2) Miller is a Pro Bowl NY Jet. He should have found a way to extricate himself from the situation. Running away and hiding in a parking garage afterwards only worsened the situation. He could have initially walked away and he chose not to. 3) Females have a right to be on the street at 4:30 AM and to even confront someone verbally (if that's what happened) without being termed "asking for it." This has to be the most lame "the victim is to blame" excuse I've heard in a long time, probably since the Central Park Jogger rape. Think about it... if this happened to your daughter, you'd be pissed beyond belief. 4) This is not Miller's first scrape with the law. It's only natural to question whether or not we have a guy who has a propensity for this kind of thing. Either way, when all the facts come out, I don't think much will come of it. But it's exactly this kind of distraction that Mangini is trying to avoid when he talks of "intangibles." Instead of working on his cover skills, Miller has to spend the rest of the summer primarily worrying about the outcome of this incident. Ridiculous!
No, Cimini is talking out of his ass on this one. Every standard player contract contains a clause that allows a team to terminate a player whose off-field conduct negatively reflects on the team.
He's not a violent offender, but throw Ricky Williams in the mix for good measure. Let him get inside the mind of a guy who totally threw away an NFL career because of stupid personal lifestyle choices.
I'm not big on saying Miller or any one else shouldn't be out having a good time at any hour, they should that's what life is about living it and enjoying it. NYC is one of the few places that you can do it 24 hours a day, which is one of the reasons both I and my wife loved living there both as single and married adults. Unfortunately the thing most men don't get is how many women, have been and continue to be verbally, psychologically and physically assaulted just going out and living their lives. The numbers are staggering and for the most part they go un-reported and these women just silently take it. Men are used to getting away with it and when they don’t they often resort to violence. What’s shocking is how typical this really is and how so few think it’s typical. Beyond that, the thing I don't get is if Miller was in fact defending himself, why apologize at all?
And why run away and hide in a parking garage? I have both a daughter and a son. I tried to raise both of them with no preconceived biases, sexually, racially or religiously. I always felt my daughter could be anything she ever wanted to be and told her so continually. Above all, I instilled in her that she was never to accept the situations you describe above and to this day, she doesn't take any crap off of anyone. I'm happy with that. Guys who think they can abuse women are Neanderthals. She's a college grad, a school teacher and loves her job. I think if somebody punched her in the face you'd be reading about me in the morning paper.
Has anybody thought that maybe Justin was hitting on the guy and his girlfriend got hot and took a swing? I hate to say it but that might be the only scenario in which this isn't just Miller taking a swing at a girl...
It could also be that Tagliabue saw the handwriting on the wall here with the rise in evil behavior and decided to punt to the next guy with his otherwise well-deserved reputation intact. Don't get me wrong, I like Paul tagliabue and I don't mean to imply he did anything here. Goodell will get this straightened out in a hurry. Just watch.
Yep. I'm thinking Miller whistled by the graveyard on this one because the Jets have not fired him yet, but they'd certainly have been within their rights to do so.
I love the rush to judgement here. Has anybody considered the possibility, that J. Miller was outmanned here, and the broad was hitting on him?
There are many possibilities that I have considered in this case but not one of them involved Justin Miller laying a broad out because she was hitting on him. I just can't wrap my head around that idea.
Justin Miller and alcohol dont seem to be a good mix. Maybe he should quit boozing all the time and work on his cb technique because it is pretty bad.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! I can see it now... [JUSTIN MILLER sits alone at the end of a bar after a long night of saving babies from fires and laying his coat down over puddles for fair damsels. Enter BIG BERTHA, Stage Left, who immediately confronts JUSTIN] BIG BERTHA: Hey Thexy, whatcha doin' thittin' here all by your lonethome? JUSTIN: (shy and nervous) I was just thinking about going home and feeding my cats, this place scares me. BIG BERTHA: I've got a BIG CAT that you can feed, baby. Why don't you let me show you what a real woman ith like? JUSTIN: Thank you for the offer, ma'am, it surely is nice of you, but I think I want to be alone tonight. I have a lot of praying to do. There's so many starving children in the world. BIG BERTHA: (visibly angry) Maybe you don't get it, LITTLE MAN, you're going home with me tonight whether you like it or not. I'll let you thay a prayer to my almighty meat drapeth. [JUSTIN MILLER tries to stand up and leave] JUSTIN: I really need to be going, thank you for talking to me, ma'am. [BIG BERTHA grabs JUSTIN MILLER by the collar and shakes him like a doll, and her FELLOW BIG MEAN WOMEN surround the scene] BIG BERTHA: You're outgunned, midget man, we have you thurrounded! [JUSTIN MILLER closes his eyes and swings his fist blindly, clearly in SELF-DEFENSE. His punch lands on BIG BERTHA's chin, forcing her to drop him. The FELLOW BIG MEAN WOMEN erupt in anger.] JUSTIN: Feets don't fail me now! [JUSTIN MILLER exits stage left in a hurry, to the sound of police sirens. This is a great misunderstanding and tragedy. Curtain.]
In general innocent people do not flee the scene or hide in parking garages from the police. If it makes you happy though, I will jog to judgement instead of race. :up: