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Greg Hardy Wants to Play? Not so Fast…

By John Woodcock

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Greg Hardy wants to play. Me too, Greg, I want to play too.

James Walker of ESPN reports that Greg Hardy uttered those words or something similar to them as he was visiting agent Drew Rosenhaus in Miami. Hardy mentioned the fact that the Panthers were losing and he felt frustrated. He also confirmed that he has been working out.

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Hardy’s situation has not changed, however. The Panthers, the NFLPA, and the League negotiated Hardy’s way onto the Commissioner’s exempt list as a compromise deal where nobody had to act/not act. Hardy could still be paid, but it did not look like the NFL was advertising the onfield performance of a judge-convicted domestic violence committer.

On Halloween, Coach Ron Rivera came out and said that Hardy should be allowed back to play since his trial had been delayed. Rivera’s reasoning was that Hardy’s suspension with pay for eight weeks would meet the new standard of six games (without pay) for a first offense.

That was not the deal that the Panthers, NFLPA, and NFL made though. They deal was for when the case was finally heard. Hardy’s attorneys knew the case was likely to be delayed way back in the summer. In fact that was their initial strategy, hoping that neither the League nor the team would take action until after the delayed court case played out. The delay of the case does not speak to Hardy’s guilt or innocence, merely to the logistics of a busy court docket.

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    • The Court says that the matter is still scheduled for November 17.

    Hardy’s move to the exempt list was made after the Adrian Peterson situation was resolved in a similar way. It might be educational to look at that. Peterson just pled to a misdemeanor and received community service. The Vikings coach Mike Zimmer and his teammates started making noises about his reinstatement. What was the NFL’s move?

    Fox Sports’ Mike Garofolo reported that the NFL had shot down the first request for reinstatement. The Vikings are off this week, and the NFL is in the throes of the Ray Rice appeal. Yet that refusal suggests that the NFL is not done with the Peterson situation yet.

    That should tell you any Hardy return on less than a full acquittal will probably be handled the same. There is still a chance that things get going November 17. Don’t count on any return of Greg Hardy this season.

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