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Lions President Says Team Followed Law In Patricia Hiring

Lions were not allowed to ask Patricia about any felony or misdemeanor arrests that didn't lead to convictions GETTY IMAGES

Lions President Rod Wood said that his team "followed the law when it came to how it approached the hiring process for first-year head coach Matt Patricia earlier this year, even if they didn't uncover a 22-year-old aggravated sexual assault indictment that has since come to light," according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com. Wood said, "We always err on the side of hiring a firm who understands all the laws, follows them, state and federal, so that we don't happen upon something that we're not entitled to have nor would we be able to use." In this case, it meant "following both federal law and the state laws of Massachusetts and Michigan." The Fair Credit Reporting Act "does not allow felony arrests that did not result in convictions beyond seven years old to be considered in possible employment, so most search firms do not include that information on the background checks they provide to employers -- and that includes the Lions." Wood declined to say what firm the team used for the background check other than to say it is a "well-regarded, national professional background screening company." Because the Lions were "following both Massachusetts and Michigan law, they were not allowed to ask Patricia about any felony or misdemeanor arrests that didn't lead to convictions" (ESPN.com, 5/12). In Detroit, Tresa Baldas noted the prosecution's witness list in the sexual assault case against Patricia "included a nurse, a doctor, a police detective, a police officer and a college friend of the alleged victim." The charges were "dropped 10 months after the alleged incident" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 5/13).

DECISION MAKING: Former Eagles and Browns Exec Joe Banner, who ran coaching searches for both of his previous teams, said, "My reaction when I saw it was, ‘Oh my God, this could have happened to me.' This could have happened to almost anybody." Banner and other current and former league execs who have been involved in similar searches in the past said that pre-employment background checks are "rarely, if ever, handled by the executives who make the actual hiring decisions." Banner: "In our instances, we’re kind of depending on the depth to which the security guy went to feel comfortable that there was nothing that we needed to know. And if either it was really hidden or he wasn’t super thorough, I could see how this could happen" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 5/12).

DUE PROCESS: THE MMQB's Peter King writes because Patricia was "not convicted of a crime, and because it never resurfaced with any additional evidence in the 22 years since, he deserves to be allowed to coach the Lions with the presumption of innocence next to his name." Wood immediately said that the franchise "backs Patricia '1,000 percent.'" But King asks, "What does that say to women who would root for the team? Wood should have said the team would do an exhaustive investigation into the story" (SI.com, 5/14).

NOT BUYING IT: In N.Y., Pat Leonard wrote it is "absurd and hard to believe that NFL teams vet college kids so meticulously for the NFL Draft, often holding the smallest nugget of negative information against them; and that the league is motivated to conduct sweeping investigations into issues as trivial as deflated footballs." However, a coach can "rise through the league's ranks without even a whiff of an issue this serious, despite the dismissal of the case." It "isn't acceptable that the Patriots and Lions did not know; these organizations cannot be beyond reproach" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 5/13). In Detroit, Dave Birkett noted some observers have "wondered whether revelations about Patricia’s arrest could undermine his credibility in the locker room," especially since he and GM Bob Quinn have "emphasized bringing high-character players into their program." Birkett: "What happens, for instance, if a player is accused of a serious crime and denies his involvement?" Banner said, "It will add to the players’ sense of unequal treatment in terms of how coaches and owners are treated by the leagues versus how players are treated by the league. Fair or unfair, it will create a discussion" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 5/13). ESPN.com's Rothstein wrote under the header, "How Lions Might Have Missed Matt Patricia Allegation" (ESPN.com, 5/11).

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