May 27, 2015 4 min read

“I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!”

Captain Louis Renault, “Casablanca”

That’s pretty much the reaction of Chicago Bears management when they found out that their recent free-agent signee, defensive end Ray McDonald, had found himself in trouble not for the first, nor the second, but the third time in the past year in an incident involving violence against a woman.

McDonald was first arrested last August, accused of domestic violence against his pregnant fiancee. But, as often happens in these cases – especially in cases involving high-profile athletes, it seems – the fiancee decided she no longer wanted to cooperate with authorities, and the case was dropped. Things were looking up for McDonald, at least until December, when he became a suspect in a sexual assault case. There have been no charges, though the case remains open. That second incident, however, was enough for the San Francisco 49ers to cut ties with McDonald.

Enter the Bears, who claimed they did their due diligence before signing McDonald. Would you guess that team officials talked with the women who had made the accusations against the lineman? You would be wrong. At the time of the signing, Bears Chairman George McCaskey said the women weren’t interviewed because “an alleged victim, I think much like anybody else who has a bias in a situation, there’s a certain amount of discounting what they have to say.” So, who were the “unbiased” sources tapped by the Bears? They would be McDonald’s mom and his college coach, who were in agreement that Ray’s a good guy.

Then came the latest arrest, in which McDonald is charged with domestic violence and child endangerment for allegedly striking a woman holding a baby in Santa Clara, Calif.

Apparently that was finally enough for the Bears to determine that maybe McDonald wasn’t such a great person, and that they should cut him.

But many are questioning what possessed the team to sign him in the first place. McCaskey said the franchise believes in “second chances.” That’s code for, “This guy’s a real problem child, maybe even a criminal, but he can help our team win.”

It’s pretty much a carbon copy of what the Dallas Cowboys did recently when they signed defensive end Greg Hardy. Hardy, then playing with the Carolina Panthers, was found guilty by a judge of domestic violence for allegedly choking a woman, throwing her down on a bed covered with guns and threatening to kill her. Hardy appealed and was set to have a jury trial earlier this year, but lo and behold, the woman who accused him disappeared – after having reached a “civil suit agreement” with the player.

With that “unpleasantness” disposed of, the Cowboys stepped up and signed Hardy to a one-year deal worth more than $11 million, even though they knew he was still facing a lengthy NFL suspension (a 10-game ban later was handed down). Why did they do this? Because in the last season in which Hardy played, he had 15 sacks.

It’s much the same with Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. He’s a Hall of Fame talent, so the Vikings are welcoming him back with open arms even though he whipped his 4-year-old son with a stick until the child was bruised and bloodied.

But you might ask why there’s been no interest in former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice. Unfortunately for Rice, by the time he sucker-punched his then-fiancee into unconsciousness, his talents already were in decline.

Had he been coming off a 1,500-yard season, he’d be getting ready for training camp somewhere. But he wasn’t.

Despite all the lofty talk of caring about women and wanting players to be good citizens, NFL teams prove over and over again that they’re more than willing to throw millions at guys who are terrible human beings, some of them a threat to others, as long as those players can help them post victories.

And the NFL is worried about a missing pound of air.