The Pittsburgh Steelers are having a busy offseason, but it has nothing to do with free agency or the draft. For the second time in 11 days, a player was charged with domestic abuse of a woman.
The first player, starting linebacker James Harrison, was able to keep his job. The second, reserve receiver Cedrick Wilson, was immediately bounced from the team after he allegedly smacked his girlfriend around in a restaurant.
On the surface, the two incidents both make the individuals -- and the organization -- look awful. Unfortunately, though, owner Dan Rooney tried to draw a misguided distinction between the two domestic disputes.
You see, Harrison, who has undergone anger counseling in the past, broke down the door to his girlfriend's house, then ripped apart her cell phone as she tried to dial 911, according to a police report. He then allegedly slapped her across the face, knocking her glasses to the floor.
But in what had to be one of the worst PR moments in club history, Rooney attempted to explain that Harrison's heart was in the right place.
"What Jimmy Harrison was doing and how the incident occurred, what he was trying to do was really well worth it," Rooney told reporters about Harrison's intent. "He was doing something that was good, wanted to take his son to get baptized where he lived and things like that. She said she didn't want to do it."
Perhaps the club's PR staff was taking a long Easter weekend, but someone needed to talk Rooney -- one of the most honorable men in the league -- off the ledge. Whether or not he meant to, Rooney sounded as if he was justifying domestic abuse in certain situations.
It didn't take long for the director of a local women's shelter to become aware of Rooney's gaffe.
"There is no excuse for domestic violence. Nothing justifies abuse. Nothing, nothing is worth violence," Shirl Regan told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I hope that we continue to hold the Steelers, the Steeler organization and all professional athletes to the same standards we hold ourselves to."
Adam Schefter wrote yesterday that the Steelers sent a strong message when they released Wilson without waiting for his day in court. In my mind, the only message the Steelers sent was that they have a double standard when it comes to dealing with off-the-field behavior. And I'm not naive enough to think other teams would've handled this situation any differently.
Before his breakout season in 2007, Harrison was best known for decking a fan who ran onto the field. We all laughed at that because it felt as though the man deserved his fate.
If Harrison had remained a relatively obscure player for the Steelers, he'd be on the street right now. Fortunately for him, the Steelers adhered to the same double standard you see in a lot of professions.
In fairness to Rooney, he did later try to clean up the mess.
"To clarify the comments made earlier regarding the conduct of our players, in no way do we condone domestic violence of any kind," read his statement. "Each incident must be considered on a case-by-case basis. In the situation with James Harrison, he contacted us immediately after his incident and has taken responsibility for his actions. "In today's decision with Cedrick Wilson, we determined the situation was severe enough to warrant the player being released immediately. We trust that today's roster move will indicate our intentions and send a message that we will not tolerate this type of conduct."
Mr. Rooney, I'm afraid we got the message loud and clear.
