*FAN SUBMISSION by Sports Crazy Anne of Northern, Virginia. Follow her on Twitter @PS5826.*
Courtesy: CNN
Jerry Richardson, the owner of the Carolina Panthers, made news the other night when he became emotional addressing the issue of domestic violence during an awards ceremony honoring his contributions to the Charlotte community.
“When it comes to domestic violence, my stance is not one of indifference,” he said. “I stand firmly against domestic violence plain and simple. To those that would suggest that we’ve been too slow to act, I ask that you consider not to be too quick to judge. Over the course of our 25 years, 20 years, we have worked extremely hard to build an organization of integrity and earn the trust of our community. I’ll work hard to continue to earn your trust and I thank you for this award.”
Richardson was referring to the case of Greg Hardy, defensive end and star player of his team. Hardy was convicted in May of domestic violence. According to the ESPN show Outside the Lines, Hardy attacked his girlfriend; Nicole Holder, after finding out she had previously dated the singer Nelly. In a complaint and motion for domestic violence protective order filed by Holder, she describes what happened;
“On May 13, 2014, Greg Hardy attacked me in his apartment. Hardy picked me up and threw me on the tile tub area in his bathroom. I have bruises from head to toe, including my head, neck, back, shoulders, arms, legs, elbow and feet. Hardy pulled me from the tub by my hair, screaming at me that he was going to kill me, break my arms and other threats while I was lying on the floor. Hardy picked me up over his head and threw me onto a couch covered in assault rifles and/or shotguns. I landed on those weapons. Hardy bragged that all of those assault rifles were loaded. Landing on those weapons bruised my neck and back. Hardy screamed for his “administrative assistant” (Sammy Curtis) to come into the room and hold me down. Curtis came into the room, grabbed me from behind and held me down. Hardy and Curtis then took me into the living room area. I wasn’t nearly strong or fast enough to escape. I begged them to let me go and I wouldn’t tell anyone what he did. They took me out into the hall, pushed me down and went back inside his apartment. I crawled to the elevator and ran into CMPD. (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department)
There is no video of this attack. But then again, based on this description, would you be able to stomach watching the entire thing? Mr. Richardson, these words make it very plain and very simple what happened that night.
A judge found Hardy guilty and placed him on probation but Hardy is appealing the ruling. Because of that appeal, the NFL and the Panthers consider the case still open and refuse to render any type of ruling on Hardy’s position on the team. The case will not be heard until probably after the NFL season is over. So Hardy gets to play and get paid for the Carolina Panthers.
While your tears may have been genuine, Mr. Richardson, why are they louder and receive more air time than Nicole’s?
And why should they overshadow the other tears shed almost 15 years ago. Tears shed by Shaundra Adams. Who is that you ask? She’s the grandmother of Chancellor Lee Adams and the mother of Cherica Adams. Sound familiar yet? If not, quick refresher Mr. Richardson
Courtesy: NY Daily News
Cherica Adams’s ex-boyfriend and the father of Chancellor Adams is Rae Carruth. Carruth was a wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers. Your Carolina Panthers. The team you’ve owned for the 20 years you mentioned in your speech. Carruth no longer plays for the Panthers. Nor does he play football for any team. His career didn’t end due to injury. There wasn’t a tearful press conference where he announced his retirement. Rae Carruth’s career ended when he was waived by the Panthers after skipping bail for the murder of Cherica.
In her own words to the 911 dispatcher, she stated that while following Carruth’s car in her car, he stopped. Another car pulled up alongside Cherica’s car and shot her 4 times. She was 8 months pregnant with Carruth’s son Chancellor. Carruth was against Adams having the baby and asked her to have an abortion. She refused. Cherica was rushed to the hospital where she fell into a coma. Chancellor was delivered and miraculously survived. But due to the lack of oxygen he received after his mother was shot, Chancellor was born with cerebral palsy. Cherica later died.
This was not the first time Carruth had been in this situation.
According to Thomas Lake, in his Sports Illustrated article, “The Boy They Could Not Kill”,
“Cherica was not the first woman he’d impregnated. Carruth already had a four-year-son but provided no child support until the woman took him to court, the story tells us.
“Even then, after a judge issued a temporary order requiring him to pay $5,550 a month, he met with the mother and she agreed to accept just over half that amount on condition that he be a better father,” Lake writes. “Spend more time with the kid. And after he had failed to do that, according to her testimony, she called him and they had a spirited discussion and he told her not to be surprised if she got into a fatal car accident. Then he said he was only joking.”
The second girl was 17 years old. “[W]hen she told him she was pregnant, he told her she couldn’t have the baby,” Lake writes. “She later testified that he said, ‘Don’t make me send somebody out there to kill you.’”
Lake adds, “She got the abortion.””
Courtesy: Sporting News
You’ve seen this script before Mr. Richardson. And because of that you can be very quick to judge. If you still need help in making your decision though, call Nicole. Better yet, contact Shaundra and spend time with Chancellor. They will show you what happens when people take an indifferent stance.
Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. The right decision has been forced upon the Carolina Panthers after reactions to running backs Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson. Greg Hardy has been placed on the exempt list, voiding him of all team activities until the justice system plays out. But the real concern is would Richardson and the Panthers organization have made this move without the fallout from other star players around the NFL?
