Cardinals sign Chris Rainey, whom Steelers cut over domestic violence allegation

[Azlen]

Bickley wrote a column about this today.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/spor...sions-in-pursuit-of-super-bowl-ring/15469869/

Most troubling, however, is the recent signing of running back Chris Rainey to the practice squad. In 2010, Rainey was dismissed from the University of Florida after he was charged with felony aggravated stalking. In that incident, he allegedly sent a chilling text message to an ex-girlfriend that read, "Time to Die B---- u and ur???"
Rainey eventually rejoined the team, becoming the Gators' ninth-leading rusher all-time.

 

[seesred]

Should never have signed him. We have our own problem child d. Wash.

GBR
40

 

[Mainstreet]

again, facts are the guy has been adjudicated by the courts... TWICE and been found to be a scumbag towards women. AND facts are he's been CUT by TWO teams because of these actions and other "unspecified" reasons. Not sure what other facts that are important.

Says the man who preaches about others teams/players lack of morality, but turns a blind eye to their when someone's morality on their own team is blatantly show to be just as bad.

I'm not getting pushed into the position of defending Rainey. It is what it is. However, if Arians wants to give him a look, I'm willing to accept it and not get on some moral high horse.

 

[Cardiac]

I don't think anybody is saying throw him away but the reality is he's apparently already gotten a second chance, if not two second chances. IMO people like that are almost always given 2nd chances because they're good at football and when it happens all it teaches them is as long as I'm good enough someone else will take a chance on me.

I don't know if the comment on ESPN yesterday was accurate but they said the perception around the NFL was the Cards fully expected Rainey to get suspended at some point they were just picking him up for a few weeks until Ellington was better and hoped to be able to cut him before the NFL took action and suspended him. That's the part that irritated me, if true it means the Cards know damn well he did something wrong they're just trying to exploit the time period between it coming out and the NFL punishing him over it.

I should have qualified my point better since this thread is about Rainey. I'm not against the Rainey signing even though the timing is very bad. I was speaking more to the Rice and Hardy situations. First time offenders (well at least to the public) who haven't been given a chance yet to reform.

Yes Rainey's text was improper but not the first time a jilted lover has uttered such nonsense. Does it really make him an abuser of women? Obviously should not have texted that message and I can see where his ex might be stressed out over it but it's not the same level as what Rice did in that elevator.

No slapping a girlfriend after physically removing her from a car is abuse. So the pattern is there and yes Rainey needs counseling and to grow up but is he truly a scumbag abuser who has no chance of becoming a quality man and human being?

My concern is not that he was signed but that I doubt the Cards have stipulated that he ve in some kind of anger management counseling.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I'm not getting pushed into the position of defending Rainey. It is what it is. However, if Arians wants to give him a look, I'm willing to accept it and not get on some moral high horse.

And I believe you'd be proudly trotting on that horse if it was another team based on previous experience with your moral outrage.

Thank you for your contribution to this thread. It has crystallized a phrase for me to use in the future when I see fans criticizing other teams for things while turning a blind eye when their own team does the same:

Selective Moral Outrage Syndrome

 

[Mainstreet]

And I believe you'd be proudly trotting on that horse if it was another team based on previous experience with your moral outrage.

Thank you for your contribution to this thread. It has crystallized a phrase for me to use in the future when I see fans criticizing other teams for things while turning a blind eye when their own team does the same:

Selective Moral Outrage Syndrome

I'm sure you believe you are a legend in your own mind.

 

[Covert Rain]

I'm not getting pushed into the position of defending Rainey. It is what it is. However, if Arians wants to give him a look, I'm willing to accept it and not get on some moral high horse.

I will only say that for me it's not about some moral high horse. For me it's about setting some standards when it comes to this organization and recognizing the state of this current issue. I mean you have to be an idiot to not think this move would raise some eyebrows. It's not like this guy is a huge difference maker. Seems like a serious lack of judgment on the Cards part for some guy in which you could easily get an equivalent out there somewhere.

As for those talking about second chances, this guy has had multiple. Just because the NFL has showed piss poor judgement in letting some other guys who have done heinous things back in the league doesn't mean it's not time for the NFL to change directions.

The fact that these guys stay out of jail or get out of jail IS their second chance. That doesn't mean they deserve to comeback to play a game where they get paid a ton of money. I just wish there was a stringent standard for playing and committing crimes that wasn't so all over the map. Make it clear, make sure players know it as they come into the league and enforce it.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Guys are always going to get 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th chances if they have talent and can help a team win. That's just the way it is. Lawrence Phillips was a top 5 pick and he threw his girlfriend down a flight of steps.

Whatever happened to the outcry over Pacman Jones and him causing the guy(think it was an off duty police officer) to be paralyzed at the Vegas strip club? Even though they're both terrible, to me, that's every bit as bad, probably worse, than what Rice did.

What sickened me was that Ray Lewis got away with killing a guy and he's on ESPN talking about Rice.

 

[Mainstreet]

I will only say that for me it's not about some moral high horse. For me it's about setting some standards when it comes to this organization and recognizing the state of this current issue. I mean you have to be an idiot to not think this move would raise some eyebrows. It's not like this guy is a huge difference maker. Seems like a serious lack of judgment on the Cards part for some guy in which you could easily get an equivalent out there somewhere.

As for those talking about second chances, this guy has had multiple. Just because the NFL has showed piss poor judgement in letting some other guys who have done heinous things back in the league doesn't mean it's not time for the NFL to change directions.

The fact that these guys stay out of jail or get out of jail IS their second chance. That doesn't mean they deserve to comeback to play a game where they get paid a ton of money. I just wish there was a stringent standard for playing and committing crimes that wasn't so all over the map. Make it clear, make sure players know it as they come into the league and enforce it.

This is the key. The NFL has an effective drug policy. They need to get a clear policy on moral and criminal behavior that can be enforced consistently. Often there is a delay in the criminal justice system in enacting guilt and punishment. It seems that a clear morals clause needs to be defined in the NFL if they want to move more quickly in regard to behavior unbecoming the game.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

This is the key. The NFL has an effective drug policy. They need to get a clear policy on moral and criminal behavior that can be enforced consistently. Often there is a delay in the criminal justice system in enacting guilt and punishment. It seems that a clear morals clause needs to be defined in the NFL if they want to move more quickly in regard to behavior unbecoming the game.

That's almost impossible to do because there are different levels of crimes. Take the Carlos Hyde video I posted. There's another more clear video where it looks like he didn't touch the girl and walked away. Still, he was accused DV but that was later dropped. Would he deserve 6 games automatically for that? I think it's hard just to have a blanket statement for criminal activity. Every case is different.

Whereas drug testing is pretty straightforward. Either you're above the limit or you aren't. And, even with clear limits established, there are still questions that arise like in the Josh Morgan case where 1 test was over the limit and a 2nd supposedly wasn't.

 

[Russ Smith]

Guys are always going to get 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th chances if they have talent and can help a team win. That's just the way it is. Lawrence Phillips was a top 5 pick and he threw his girlfriend down a flight of steps.

Whatever happened to the outcry over Pacman Jones and him causing the guy(think it was an off duty police officer) to be paralyzed at the Vegas strip club? Even though they're both terrible, to me, that's every bit as bad, probably worse, than what Rice did.

What sickened me was that Ray Lewis got away with killing a guy and he's on ESPN talking about Rice.

It's even worse than that or at least has been in the past. Different sport but google Thomas Payne the basketball player some time. Guy played 1 year at Kentucky and 1 year for the Hawks in the NBA and has now spent over 40 years in jail for a series of rapes. he's apparently still in jail. He committed or tried to commit something like 5 rapes after the ones while he was at Kentucky because the police in Kentucky simply couldn't believe A UK basketball star would be a rapist so they ignored the evidence against him.

Finally convicted in Atlanta the Kentucky victims identified him and he got convicted for those rapes too. Guy should have been in jail before he ever got to the Hawks and raped the women there. Sport magazine did a huge story on him in jail at the time where they presented this huge case that he was innocent and had been framed.

nobody wants to believe an athlete is a bad guy, they're human some of them are in fact bad guys.

 

[daves]

What sickened me was that Ray Lewis got away with killing a guy and he's on ESPN talking about Rice.

OK, if enough people keep repeating that Ray Lewis is a murderer, i guess more and more people will believe it, but just as it's important not to forget the crimes people have committed, it's important not to attribute crimes to people that they didn't commit.

I was a Ravens season ticket holder and former Atlanta resident when all of this went down, so i've always followed it pretty closely.

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2013/01/24/5-common-misconceptions-about-ray-lewis-murder-trial

...dbs

 

[Russ Smith]

That's almost impossible to do because there are different levels of crimes. Take the Carlos Hyde video I posted. There's another more clear video where it looks like he didn't touch the girl and walked away. Still, he was accused DV but that was later dropped. Would he deserve 6 games automatically for that? I think it's hard just to have a blanket statement for criminal activity. Every case is different.

Whereas drug testing is pretty straightforward. Either you're above the limit or you aren't. And, even with clear limits established, there are still questions that arise like in the Josh Morgan case where 1 test was over the limit and a 2nd supposedly wasn't.

I actually read a bit on that last night, it seemed like the defense of Hyde, which included a story by a Social Worker, was how can you be accused of DV when the punch he threw missed. The argument was he threw the punch, that he missed is irrelevant, he tried to punch her.

I would have not have called it a punch, he clearly tried to hit her but I don't think it was a punch. I also don't know the prior background had he been in trouble before etc.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

I actually read a bit on that last night, it seemed like the defense of Hyde, which included a story by a Social Worker, was how can you be accused of DV when the punch he threw missed. The argument was he threw the punch, that he missed is irrelevant, he tried to punch her.

I would have not have called it a punch, he clearly tried to hit her but I don't think it was a punch. I also don't know the prior background had he been in trouble before etc.

He hadn't been in any trouble that I had heard of prior to that incident. Urban the enabler, that some like to call him(don't know why he's responsible for Hernandez murdering 2 people), originally kicked him off the team permanently but, after the video surfaced, he allowed him to return but still made him sit 3 games. In this case, the video actually helped Hyde.

I don't have a problem with Hyde having to sit 3 games. It's unclear what exactly happened, and you still can't be swinging at a woman, but my point was that it clearly isn't on the same level as Rice.

 

[MrYeahBut]

Didn't re-read the whole thread so I don't know if it was mentioned, but didn't scumbag Leonard Little kill some poor lady while driving drunk and then he was let back into the league?

 

[Dback Jon]

Didn't re-read the whole thread so I don't know if it was mentioned, but didn't scumbag Leonard Little kill some poor lady while driving drunk and then he was let back into the league?

Yes he was. Any many of us are still upset about that.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Didn't re-read the whole thread so I don't know if it was mentioned, but didn't scumbag Leonard Little kill some poor lady while driving drunk and then he was let back into the league?

Donte Stallworth too. There just wasn't any video of it. At least none that we were able to see.

Rice will be a hot button issue until about Tuesday morning. Then ESPN will go back to talking about how the Giants or Cowboys can turn their season around. Either that or what LeBron had for breakfast.

 

[Mainstreet]

That's almost impossible to do because there are different levels of crimes. Take the Carlos Hyde video I posted. There's another more clear video where it looks like he didn't touch the girl and walked away. Still, he was accused DV but that was later dropped. Would he deserve 6 games automatically for that? I think it's hard just to have a blanket statement for criminal activity. Every case is different.

Whereas drug testing is pretty straightforward. Either you're above the limit or you aren't. And, even with clear limits established, there are still questions that arise like in the Josh Morgan case where 1 test was over the limit and a 2nd supposedly wasn't.

You make a good point, however, businesses and government agencies seem to be able to have some type of morals clause in their contract that can be enforced. I imagine it is the way they are written and accepted by the employee prior to hire. Needless to say, I think the players association would want huge input in this matter so it couldn't be arbitrary. Suspension or termination would be based upon behavior and not just proven violation of the law. In most instances I like to let the courts settle the matter but I can see the need for immediate action.

 

[8ndkorner]

And he was on the 2009 Florida Gator team with:

Aaron Hernandez (murderer)
the Pouncey Twins - all around idiots, Hernandez associates
Riley Cooper - racist
Deonte Thompson - drug arrests
Janoris Jenkins - drugs, assaults

I'm sure that he had nothing to do with that.

 

[Dback Jon]

This was the quote from Kent Somers article at azcentral dated 9-10-14.

"We did our due diligence," Arians said. "I know everybody in Pittsburgh and everybody in Indianapolis, two teams he's been (with)."

Arians also consulted two current Cardinals players, linebacker Larry Foote and running back Jonathan Dwyer, teammates of Rainey's with the Steelers.

"Larry Foote stood up on the table for the guy, as did Jonathan Dwyer," Arians said. "I put a lot of stock in that."

Yes a couple of players were consulted but I'm sure more research was done. I will go with Arians judgement until proved otherwise. For the most part, I believe in second chances unless someone has gone beyond redemption. I don't think this is the case here.

http://www.azcentral.com/story/sport...iney/15426819/

I guess Jonathan Dwyer wasn't the best character witness after all...

 

[dreamcastrocks]

I guess Jonathan Dwyer wasn't the best character witness after all...

lol

 

[Mainstreet]

I guess Jonathan Dwyer wasn't the best character witness after all...

This would be funny if it wasn't a serious matter.

 

[Kel Varnsen]

I guess Jonathan Dwyer wasn't the best character witness after all...

Geez. The NFL is going to have to start shelling out for private investigations.

 

[Azlen]

Geez. The NFL is going to have to start shelling out for private investigations.

Don't they already have a whole investigative unit that is supposed to do just that? They obviously haven't put a whole lot of concern into domestic violence. It looks like that is about to change.

 

[Bobcat]

Who was that thug we drafted in the 3rd round last year jeez I forget his name.

Sorry so far he has been a good citizen. His college coach did him a favor and saved his life by cutting him. Then the Peterson's Family took him in for that year and really taught him what a real family life should be like. Now he has grown up and is a credit to himself, the Cardinals, the NFL and our community.

So before calling him a Thug. get your story straight.

BOBCAT