FanPost

Aldon Smith: A fan's perspective on the suspension.

As a San Francisco 49er fan, I love watching Aldon Smith play. He is a force on the defense. He is a valuable asset to the team. I state these things to let you know that I have an inherit bias in this. I want Aldon to be playing.

As a husband and father, I despise drunk driving. It is a selfish moment saying, "I can drive, and I don't care who I may hurt!" You want to drink? Fine. Do it with safety of others if not yourself in mind. There are these things called "Designated Drivers" and things called "Taxi's" to help. Use them. I state this to let everyone know my position.

Today, the NFL commissioner said Aldon Smith was suspended for nine games; four for violation of the substance abuse policy and five for the personal conduct policy.

I am going to try to be unbiased and fair in my analysis of the suspension. Earlier in the same day that Smith was suspended, Vikings Jerome Simpson was suspended for a DUI for three games. This is his second suspension, the first one for mailing two pounds of marijuana, a felony conviction. This too was a substance abuse suspension.

So, if we assume Aldon is being punished for a second DUI (and for sake of argument we will agree to that) then he got one more game than Simpson. That would be OK since Simpson had his first, but it ignores the fact that this is Simpson's second violation of the substance abuse policy. Precedence has shown in the NFL that one equals another as far as the "three strikes" and you lose a year.

This is also on top of the alcohol treatment that he got last year, missing five games. He was paid during the treatment. However, it looks like this meant nothing in the summary judgement.

Let's go to the second part of the suspension: the personal conduct issue. Aldon Smith was charged with felony weapon charges, but convicted of misdemeanor weapons charges. (Full disclosure: I think this law is idiotic. However, it's still the law.) He was arrested on a "bomb threat", but no charges were ever filed. There was a report that he had drank some alcohol, but no verification or evidence was provided for this report. For all of this, he was given five games.

On August 28th, the NFL came out with a new discipline policy for domestic violence and sexual assault. This policy, states, in essence, the first violation gives you a six game suspension and the second kicks you out of the league for good with a possibility of applying for reinstatement after a year.

Congratulations Aldon, your conduct was one game above sexual assault. This is ignoring the fact that Aldon's transgressions happened before the new policy came into effect.

Ray Rice got suspended for two games for something that is now worth six games. Does that mean that Aldon's conduct was worth 15 games under the new policy?

So, looking at these recent cases, I contend that he should have been suspended for five games. Three for substance abuse (that's without any credit for rehab) and two games for personal conduct.

Now, the argument can be made that this punishment is not enough. Taken purely on merits, there is a valid argument for that. But past precedence must be accounted for as well. And factoring in past precedence, this punishment is over the top.

Now, what sort of precedence will this punishment serve for future suspensions? Here is a quick list of what could happen.

  • The more popular you are, the bigger your punishment will be.
  • Rulings will be arbitrary.
  • If you go to rehab, your punishment will be increased. However, you just may be allowed to use facilities while you are suspended.

This is a PR move to bring down a heavy hammer after an embarrassing episode with the Ray Rice suspension. This also brings to the forefront the lie that the substance abuse policy is to help the players. For the reasons I have stated above I believe that Roger Goodell is wrong in his punishment.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.