Will the Carolina Panthers avoid Greg Hardy?
Thomas Davis has a feeling about playing Greg Hardy, he would rather not do it. On face value that would seem impossible since the Carolina Panthers were due to play the Dallas Cowboys this year no matter what.
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The NFL Schedule will be released tonight at 8:00 PM on ESPN. That will tell the Panthers when they have to meet the Cowboys this year. The Panthers play Dallas for two reasons. One is because the NFC South and NFC East meet each other in the rotation this year. Even they did not, Dallas would still play the Panthers because both teams finished first in their divisions.
This means that the Panthers get to play the Cowboys, a New York Giants team that struggled this year, a Washington team that can’t decide if Robert Griffin its future, and a Philadelphia Eagles team that just signed Tim Tebow. The East is a kinder assignment than the North was last year.
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Yet that brings us back to Greg Hardy. The former Panthers defensive end signed with the Cowboys in the off season after Hardy’s second trial for domestic violence went nowhere. Hardy’s fate is still unknown as the League has been gathering information to make a disciplinary judgment. The first time domestic violence offender now gets six games.
This is what Davis is referring to when he says he would rather not face Hardy. There is a chance that a Panthers-Cowboys game could fall into the suspension period, allowing the Panthers to avoid their former pass rusher.
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Now let’s enter conspiracy mode. The NFL has conflicting goals with a potential Panthers-Cowboys matchup. First they have the chance of pairing two playoff teams from last season. That would seem to favor a later season matchup when both teams might be looking at playoff runs.
The other consideration is the press buildup to such a game. Hardy is going to be an integral part of the game coverage even more than a normal game. The NFL really does not want to be reminded of its punting on domestic violence that happened last year. That would favor an earlier matchup, when Hardy would not be on the field.
All gets revealed tonight at eight.