Bears DE Ray McDonald's second domestic violence-related arrest in the last nine months prompted the team's "new regime to release him," and the club is now "left to contend with the fallout from their unreciprocated trust in McDonald’s vow to end his legal troubles," according to a front-page piece by Rich Campbell of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. McDonald early yesterday morning was "arrested on charges of misdemeanor domestic violence and child endangerment" in Santa Clara. Bears Chair George McCaskey "initially vetoed" GM Ryan Pace’s request to sign McDonald in March "because of what he perceived to be a pattern of behavioral problems." However, McCaskey "changed his mind after McDonald flew to Chicago and met with him, and after he spoke to McDonald’s parents by telephone" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/26). Bears G Kyle Long "supported the team’s decision" to release McDonald. He wrote on his Twitter account, “Good riddance" (N.Y. TIMES, 5/26).
POOR DECISION MAKING? In Chicago, David Haugh writes it "should have been McCaskey taking responsibility when it all went predictably wrong," as this is "on McCaskey." It was a "mistake then for the Bears that looks even worse now -- for everybody associated with the decision: particularly McCaskey." The Bears now "owe everybody an apology for the brief but memorable embarrassment the McDonald episode created" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/26). Also in Chicago, Rick Morrissey writes the Bears' decision to release McDonald was "too late," as the "damage had already been done." The arrest has exposed McCaskey "either as a disingenuous owner who talks about character and knowingly goes the other way, or as someone who is as naïve as a puppy" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 5/26). ESPN CHICAGO's Jeff Dickerson wrote, "This is embarrassing on many levels, but at least the Bears released McDonald quickly." There was "simply no way for the Bears to allow McDonald back into the building" after he made McCaskey and the front office "look foolish for supporting him" (ESPNCHICAGO.com, 5/25). THE MMQB's Robert Klemko writes McCaskey's decision not to reach out to the representation of McDonald’s accuser before signing him "looks like a pretty poor decision at the moment" (MMQB.SI.com, 5/26). In Chicago, Mike Imrem writes under the header, "In Terms Of Credibility, This Was Costly For Bears." Apparently, McDonald "fooled McCaskey into thinking that he hadn't done anything wrong" following the first arrest. But the Bears "didn't execute due diligence" in signing him. In McDonald's case, the Bears "chose to ignore that there was a real chance that the smoke he was blowing would set Halas Hall on fire." The signing "exposed the Bears as a team that would hire a problematic player suspected of domestic abuse just to be a bit better" (Chicago DAILY HERALD, 5/26). In Chicago, Brad Biggs writes in retrospect, Pace "should realize it was a bad time for the Bears to gamble on McDonald." Biggs: "You want a GM who is willing to take risks, but this one was unnecessary. Pace forgot where he was and what he was working with" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 5/26).
PUNISH THE TEAM? USA TODAY's Nancy Armour writes NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell "ought to slap" the Bears with a "hefty fine and dock them a draft pick or two." He should also suspend Pace "for four games" and ban McCaskey from the stadium "for the first half of the season while he's at it." Armour: "It was McCaskey's enlightened decision to blow off the alleged victim when he gave the OK to sign McDonald." She added, "If the NFL wants the good work it's done over the last year to combat domestic violence to actually mean something, it has to go after the owners and GMs who have long enabled them" (USA TODAY, 5/26). Meanwhile, ESPNW's Jane McManus wrote McCaskey "doesn't appear to be qualified to sit on the NFL's new code of conduct committee, a position he now holds." What McCaskey "failed to do during the laughably one-sided due-diligence process, was to talk to anyone who was an attorney for one of the alleged victims in the domestic violence or sexual assault cases in the months before." He "needs to be held accountable" and should be "removed from that committee." McManus: "He appears to lack the basic respect for alleged victims of assault and domestic violence and seems to have no understanding of a legal process that often results in no charges" (ESPNW.com, 5/25).
