Brown has done a lot worse.Kap on the other hand has never been accused of beating women or hitting police officers.
http://www.cleveland.com/naymik/index.ssf/2014/09/before_ray_rice_there_was_jim.html
Before Ray Rice, there was Jim Brown and the NFL's indifference toward off-the-field behavior
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Like former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, Cleveland Browns legend Jim Brown earned a reputation for being explosive on the field -- and off.
The off-the-field history of both men includes allegations of violence against women that deserve attention if the National Football League is serious about self-examination.
The Ravens dumped Rice on Monday and the NFL suspended him indefinitely after video surfaced showing him striking his then-fiancée in a hotel elevator in February. The team and league initially decided the incident warranted a two-game suspension.
But that was before celebrity news website, TMZ, released a hotel surveillance video showing Rice knocking out his fianceé – now his wife -- with a brutal left hook that sent her bouncing off the wall and to the floor.
The video has ignited a firestorm of protest against the NFL, which is now re-examining its policies regarding player behavior toward women.
That examination should include people like Brown. The Cleveland Browns pay Brown to stand on the sidelines as a role model for young players.
While acquitted of the most serious charges brought against him over the years, Brown, 78, is hardly a role model and never has been.
The Hall of Famer has long been dogged by accusations that he physically abused women. Perhaps the most notorious charge came after his football career, in 1968, when police say Brown threw model Eva Bohn-Chin off the second-floor balcony of his Los Angeles home. Charges against Brown were dropped after Bohn-Chin, who was found on the ground below the balcony, insisted she slipped. Brown did pay a small fine for hitting a deputy sheriff investigating the incident.
Fewer people remember 18-year-old Brenda Ayres, a high-school dropout who in 1965 accused Brown of assaulting her in a Howard Johnson motel near Cleveland's University Circle. Brown testified during his trial that he knew her and she visited his room. But he said he never assaulted her or had sex with her as she alleged. A jury acquitted Brown.
There have been more accusations that Brown demonstrated violent behavior off the field. CNN.com has a
timeline about Brown's life that notes many of his troubles, including a 1999 domestic disturbance with his wife, which led to Brown's arrest. He was accused of making threats toward her. On the 9-1-1 tape from the incident, his wife said Brown threatened to kill her, a claim she later recanted, according to the CNN timeline. A jury found Brown guilty of hitting his wife's car with a shovel during the incident. He was fined $1,800 and sentenced to three years' probation and one year of domestic violence counseling, according to CNN.
Over the years, Brown has dismissed the accusations as largely a creation of the media.
"I don't always claim to be the person who's done the right thing, but the media's singled me out as the most brutal cat that ever lived," Brown told
People Magazine in 1991. "I try to treat women with respect. The ones that know me like me and trust me."
In a 1994 interview, A Plain Dealer Publishing Co. reporter asked Brown about his treatment of women.
"I'm not going to go over all that dried-up s--- about women I supposedly beat up. ... Anything I did regarding the law is part of the record," Brown responded.
Brown never had trouble getting past the accusations – a benefit of the era when football was still largely just a sport, not the family-friendly entertainment and cultural juggernaut it tries to be today. He also never faced social media, which could have exploited the accusations against him and forced the NFL's reawakening sooner.
Brown became a Hollywood actor, won attention for his work with inner-city youth and reconnected with the Browns franchise. Then-Browns owner Art Modell paid him $50,000 in 1993 to talk to players. He also worked for the team in the mid-2000s. New team owner Jimmy Haslam brought him back last year as special adviser.
I asked the Browns organization how it views Brown's past in light of the league's tough talk about Rice.
"As we said when we brought Jim back last year, we have seen his dedication and his commitment to positive change in the community," the team said in a statement issued through spokesman Peter John-Baptiste. "His experience and perspective, especially with the valued benefit of time, can positively impact our organization as we continue to evolve and grow. We welcomed him back as a special adviser and appreciate his contributions."
But at the moment, the message remains the same: NFL and the Cleveland Browns care only about Brown's on-the-field exploits -- his championship and his 12,312 yards in nine seasons.
