In Roger Goodell's kangaroo court, it doesn't matter what crime you commit, as long as you submit.
The NFL announced Thursday Jameis Winston will be suspended three games for allegedly groping an Uber driver in 2016. Or, to quote the league's press release, "touching the driver in an inappropriate and sexual manner without her consent."
In November, an Uber driver told BuzzFeed News Winston was acting unruly during the early-morning ride in Scottsdale, Arizona, shouting homophobic slurs at pedestrians. Waiting in line at a drive-thru, she says Winston grabbed her crotch. According to the driver, Winston was the only passenger in the vehicle.
Originally, Winston vehemently refuted the driver's story. "The story falsely accuses me of making inappropriate contact with this driver. I believe the driver was confused as to the number of passengers in the car and who was sitting next to her," Winston said at the time, per Bleacher Report. "The accusation is false, and given the nature of the allegation and increased awareness and consideration of these types of matters, I am addressing this false report immediately."
But on Thursday, Winston dropped his denial. Well, kind of. The Buccaneers' quarterback issued a mealy-mouthed mea culpa, in which he never specified what he was apologizing for. "First and foremost, I would like to say I'm sorry to the Uber driver for the position I put you in. It is uncharacteristic of me and I genuinely apologize," the statement reads.
The apology is bizarre for two reasons. Firstly, Winston speaks in generalities, never actually admitting guilt. At the end of the first paragraph, he says he's eliminated alcohol from his life, as if that exonerates him from previous wrongdoing. Winston spends the final two paragraphs of the three-paragraph statement meandering about how he needs to hold himself accountable, become a better teammate, and achieve personal goals.
Oh, and he credits the NFL's investigative process, saying he understands the league's decision. That's awfully contrite of Winston, considering he proclaimed his innocence when the story first broke.
The strangeness appears to stem from a negotiated settlement between Winston and the NFL. According to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero, Winston agreed to accept the three-game suspension, with the condition he wouldn't admit to misconduct.
Winston's three-game suspension mocks the NFL's self-proclaimed stringent domestic violence policy, which was initiated after the Ray Rice saga in 2014. The policy says the NFL can investigate all players who are accused of domestic violence or sexual assault. If the league finds culpability, all first-time offenders will be suspended six games.
Well, Winston got half of that. Ezekiel Elliott was suspended the full six games last season for alleged domestic abuse, but the Cowboys fought the penalty. Elliott's ban was reinstated by a federal appeals court.
It didn't matter that prosecutors and league investigators determined Elliott's accuser was lying about one allegation of Elliott pulling her from a car and assaulting her. The fact that NFL medical experts concluded many of the accuser's injuries occurred before the alleged assault was irrelevant as well.
Elliott and the Cowboys pushed back against the NFL. As a result, they received Goodell's force.
Tom Brady knows about Goodell's draconian ways more than anybody. He was suspended four games for playing with under inflated footballs, which on the surface, means the NFL took Brady's equipment violation more seriously than Winston's alleged sexual assault. But that's not what the punishment was about. Brady didn't submit to Goodell, refusing to give up his cell phone or accept the ludicrous accusation of taking part in some elaborate scheme to illegally deflate footballs.
In Goodell's eyes, the true crime is disobeying. Winston cooperated, and as a result, the accused rapist got punished less severely for "touching (an Uber) driver in an inappropriate and sexual manner without her consent" than Brady did for throwing footballs with low air pressure.
That's the NFL's personal conduct policy in a nutshell.
