Greg Hardy Crime

Hardy was convicted last summer on assault on a female and communicating threats in a case involving a former girlfriend. The Associated Press generally does not name victims of abuse. Greg Hardy returned to football during the 2015 season after serving a suspension for an alleged incident of domestic violence. He immediately caused a stir. Before his matchup with the Patriots. Controversial former NFL player Greg Hardy was back in action on Saturday night (Oct. 31, 2020) at UFC Vegas 12, earning a technical knockout win over Maurice Greene in the second round.

This year, three National Football League players -- Adrian Peterson, Ray Rice, and Greg Hardy -- have either admitted to or been convicted of domestic violence. Their stories coalesced into a storm this past week with the release of a damning new video of Ray Rice punching his wife (then fiancée) and the indictment of Adrian Peterson, debatably the NFL's best running back, for child abuse.

1. 3 of 9 4 of 9 Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy (76) looks on from the sidelines during an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015, in Arlington, Texas.
2. In 2014, Hardy was arrested for assault after he was accused of attacking and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend. The woman testified that Hardy threw her on a futon filled with guns and placed.

The media onslaught of updates, analysis, and opinion on what has been called the National Football League's 'worst week ever' leaves a distinct impression: the NFL is a league stocked full of criminals.

Evidence, however, doesn't bear that out.

Back in 1999, leading criminologist Alfred Blumstein teamed up with author Jeff Benedict, who has written five books focused on crime and athletics, to compare rates of criminal violence among NFL players to that of the general population. Controlling for age, they found that the annual rate of assault and domestic violence among NFL players was less than half that of the general population.

Greg Hardy Crime

But Blumstein and Benedict's analysis is fifteen years dated. Perhaps things have changed in that time?

It doesn't appear they have. Back in July, FiveThirtyEight's Benjamin Morris tallied up the incidents in USA Today's NFL Arrests Database to discern crime rates among NFL players. He then compared those numbers to the national averages among 25-29 year olds, and found the rate of domestic violence in the NFL to be 55.4% that of the general population. And the overall crime rate was a mere 13% of the national average.

So why then do 69% of Americans believe that the NFL suffers a 'widespread epidemic of domestic violence problems'? The answer is rooted in how we think. Humans are prone to rely on examples and experiences that can be easily recalled. The idea is that if we can remember it, it must be important. This mental shortcut is termed the availability heuristic. A key drawback of the heuristic is that it leads us to overestimate the prevalence of memorable events. Here, you can legitimately blame popular media. Because plane crashes are widely covered, many erroneously view flying as more dangerous than driving. Thanks to Shark Week, people are wearier of sharks than deer. Because 91% of people have seen, read, or heard something about Ray Rice's domestic violence, they overestimate the problem of domestic violence in the NFL.

That's not to say that domestic violence isn't a problem in the NFL. By type of crime, domestic violence is the closest the NFL comes to the national average. Moreover, Morris noted that NFL players do seem to commit acts of domestic violence at a higher rate than individuals with a similar socioeconomic status, though a direct comparison wasn't available.

As public figures, football players must hold themselves to higher standards, and be punished appropriately when they fail to meet them. But more quintessentially, as human beings, they need to recognize that unprovoked violence against others, particularly those not able to defend themselves, is utterly reprehensible.

(Image: AP)

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Greg Hardy Crimes

Ray Rice was caught on tape punching his future wife. He’s indefinitely suspended from the NFL. Greg Hardy, a Pro-Bowl defensive end for the Carolina Panthers, was arrested on May 13 for assaulting an ex-girlfriend. On the arrest warrant, a police officer made the following statement. The capital letters appeared in the document.

“I, the undersigned, find that there is probable cause to believe that on or about the date of the offense shown [May 13, 2014] and in the county named above [Mecklenburg County, North Carolina] the defendant named above [Hardy] unlawfully and willingly did assault [redacted], a female person, by GRABBING VICTIM AND THROWING TO THE FLOOR, THROWING INTO A BATHTUB, SLAMMING HER AGAINST A FUTON, AND STRANGLING HER. The defendant is a male person and was at least 18 years of age when the assault occurred.”

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On the “complaint and motion for domestic violence protective order,” the accuser described the incident.

“On May 13, 2014, Greg Hardy attacked me in his apartment. Hardy picked me up and threw me into the tile tub area in his bathroom. I have bruises from head to toe, including my head, neck, back, shoulders arms, legs, elbow and feet. Hardy pulled me from the tub by my hair, screaming at me that he was going to kill me, break my arms and other threats that I completely believe. He drug me across the bathroom and out into the bedroom. Hardy choked me with both hands around my throat while I was lying on the floor. Hardy picked me up over his head and threw me onto a couch covered in assault rifles and/or shotguns. I landed on those weapons. Hardy bragged that all of those assault rifles were loaded. Landing on those weapons bruised [my] neck and back. Hardy screamed for his “administrative assistant” (Sammy Curtis) to come into the room and hold me down. Curtis came into the room, grabbed me from behind and held me down. Hardy and Curtis then took me into the living room area. I wasn’t nearly strong or fast enough to escape. I begged them to let me go & I wouldn’t tell anyone what he did. They took me out into the hall, pushed me down & went back inside his apartment. I crawled to the elevator and ran into CMPD (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department)

In court, the accuser testified: “He looked me in my eyes and he told me he was going to kill me. I was so scared I wanted to die. When he loosened his grip slightly, I said just,`Do it. Kill me.”

On June 15, a judge found Hardy guilty of assaulting a female and communicating threats. She sentenced him to 18 months probation; a 60-day jail sentence was suspended. Hardy appealed, and since he was convicted of a misdemeanor, under North Carolina law he’s entitled to a jury trial, which is set for Nov. 17. In court, Hardy and Curtis denied that Hardy assaulted the victim, or communicated threats.

The world hasn’t seen this incident on tape. Hardy played in Carolina’s first game. He didn’t practice on Wednesday for what the team said were “personal reasons” — he met with his attorney. But Hardy returned to practice Thursday and as of right now, he is slated to play on Sunday, as the Panthers host the Detroit Lions. Pressure is building on the team to change that and the Charlotte Observer called for Hardy’s suspension in an editorial.

On Wednesday night, hours after Hardy missed practice, Panthers owner Jerry Richardson received a humanitarian honor in Charlotte: The Echo Award Against Indifference.

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