Caldwell On NFL In Wake Of Recent Events: 'We Have More Great Stories Than Bad Stories'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, Ray McDonald and Adrian Peterson dominated NFL news for the wrong reasons last week, marking the time period as one of the worst ever in terms of off-field issues involving players.
It all started Monday, when video emerged of Rice knocking his wife unconscious, an offense for which he had received just a two-game ban. Hardy has already been convicted by a judge of attacking and threatening an ex-girlfriend. McDonald was arrested after police found bruises on the arms and neck of his pregnant fiancée. Peterson was charged with child abuse after spanking his son with a tree branch to such an extreme degree that doctors felt compelled to report the injuries to police.
While the NFL suspended Rice indefinitely following release of the video, both Hardy and McDonald were scheduled to play Sunday.
Though Hardy had played the first week of the season, he ended up sitting Sunday, but McDonald played for a second week in a row.
Peterson sat out Sunday, but it has been announced he will practice this week and be available to play this coming weekend.
Needless to say, it was a brutal week for the NFL's public relations team and a disappointing week for many fans.
Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, however, said that incidents like those discussed last week are the exception, not the rule.
"In terms of the overall perception of the league, there has been a lot of talk about that, but I do think that when you look at this league as a whole and the men that play this league, we have more great stories than bad stories," Caldwell said in his press conference Monday. "The ones that get highlighted are the ones that have been issues lately, and they are an issue and a concern. But I think overall this league is built of men that have character and integrity, that are family men and do a tremendous job carrying out their daily routine."
