Heim Time: Hardy's situation shows domestic abuse a joke to the NFL

Most football fans know Hardy’s story. Arrested in May 2014 for domestic violence, Hardy was accused of assaulting Holder by grabbing her, strangling her and threatening to kill her. Oh, and he also allegedly threw her on top of a piece of furniture that was covered in assault rifles. Hardy started the first game of the 2014 season for his then-team, the Carolina Panthers. But on Sept. 17 of that year, Hardy was deactivated by head coach Ron Rivera and would not see the field for the remainder of the sea- son. On April 22, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Hardy for 10 games, but on July 10, Hardy’s suspension was reduced to four games by an arbiter. I do not need to get into the complete joke that is the NFL’s disciplinary system. Before getting his suspension overturned in a court of law, Tom Brady was once suspended for the first four games, the same amount of Hardy’s reduced penalty, for “more probably than not” knowing about deflated footballs in the playoffs last season.

That is an embarrassment. But the real problem is coming from the Dallas Cowboys - Hardy’s current team. I’m all for second chances - when they are deserved. People make mistakes. People also have the ability to show remorse for their actions and make up for any wrongdoings. But Greg Hardy has not done any of that. In fact, he has done the exact opposite, making a mockery of his past in interview sessions with the media. But he is still out there on Sundays. Throughout the season, there has been a ton of outcry around the NFL community complaining about the fact that Hardy is still on the field. Last week, Hardy took to Twitter to talk about the uproar, which is always a good idea. For a few hours, Hardy’s Twitter bio read, “Innocent until proven guilty-lack of evidence & information is just ignorance- the unjust/prejudicial treatment of diff(erent) categories of people is discrimination.” These are the excuses of a man - and I use “man” lightly - that just doesn’t get it.