Seth Vigdor
We’ve been covering all of the recent news on Greg Hardy’s domestic violence problems and just when you think that you couldn’t be more outraged by everything involving this story, from Hardy himself, to the pass he gets from Jerry Jones, to the sheer lack of grapefruits from Roger Goodell, now we have this.
George Atallah, NFLPA Assistant Executive Director of External Affairs, penned an op-ed on USA Today to respond to recent columns by Christine Brennan, where she rightfully takes issue with the recent events that have transpired with the Greg Hardy saga. In one of Brennan’s columns, she took issue that Greg Hardy is unapologetic, but will still be cheered by some. In the other article, Brennan calls for Greg Hardy to be kicked out of the NFL after the controversial photos of Hardy’s ex, Nicole Holder surfaced, where she was battered and bruised, as a result of Greg Hardy’s fists. I must be living on another planet. I am watching grown men continuously try to justify their actions (or in-actions) that have allowed this shiteater Greg Hardy to be allowed to play in the NFL after what he did to Nicole Holder. Clearly, Jerry Jones, Roger Goodell and now this scumbag, George Atallah have no clear understanding of what they’ve allowed to transpire – nor do they know when to shut the f— up. Take a deep breath everyone. Here’s what Atallah had to say in his op-ed.
“At a minimum, we expect our sports columnists to provide opinions rooted in fact and reality. The truly gifted opinion leaders use their access to write things that force us to think about complicated issues in a dynamic and multi-dimensional way, tying in what happens in sports to broader social dynamics. It is disappointing when one of the trailblazing sports columnists of our time fails to achieve either.
Christine Brennan’s two recent columns on Greg Hardy can be summed up in a few unimaginative simple phrases: “Greg Hardy, bad; Union, bad; Dallas Cowboys, bad.” What I find to be even more intellectually dishonest is the expression of such opinions with a lack of fundamental understanding of the role of a union in these situations. I will explain it in simple terms: The NFL Players Association is a labor union. We have a Federal Law fair duty of representation to our members. Unions protect rights, not conduct. Collective Bargaining Agreements have to be enforced. We do not condone misconduct.
Does Brennan think that we are enabling concussions when we represent a player appealing a fine levied for an on-field hit? Does she really believe filing a grievance to enforce a contract clause on behalf of Aaron Hernandez means we condone murder? These actions do not mean we “enable” behavior that violates the playing rules or the law, but they are the union’s obligation and grounded in principles of collective bargaining and workers’ rights that have served both labor and management well both in our business and in countless others.
When Brennan asks, “Why the league didn’t kick Hardy out for life?” she not only ignores certain facts about the relationship between labor and management but eschews the complicated issues related to violent conduct, prevention, due process, discipline, counseling and rehabilitation that our union considers. When she writes, “Something is very wrong when sports officials such as the leaders of the NFL players’ union look at pictures of a battered and bruised woman and think it’s a good idea to lessen the perpetrator’s punishment,” it is without understanding that yes, we can simultaneously be horrified by the images while also defend what our CBA dictates about precedent, due process and discipline.
Finally, this: “Perhaps someday, the union will have the fortitude to tell a monster like Hardy that he’s on his own.” Every NFL player, past, present and future, should be glad that their union has the fortitude and resources to defend their rights and that not one of our members is on his own. We have too many recent examples of what happens to a worker’s rights when management, in our case the NFL, thinks it has the ability to arbitrarily apply standards or discipline that violates the CBA.
It is easy to take the position that what Greg Hardy did was wrong, but unlike Brennan, we have a responsibility to consider things beyond the moral outrage.”
Are you shitting me? Besides, the fact that Atallah sounds like a dick, how many people have written articles on Greg Hardy, that would fall in line with Brennan’s thoughts and opinions? I find it sad that this big, tough guy Atallah singled Brennan out. I think he chose her for reason, but I’ll leave it up to you to guess why that is.
I understand why the NFLPA needs to stick up for Hardy. But, in this instance, JUST THIS INSTANCE, maybe, JUST MAYBE, they can have some f—ing common sense.