Domestic violence lawsuit tests will of Raiders’ Davis
A 6foot8, 360pound NFL player is accused of slapping, punching and choking his livein partner, the mother of his child. Multiple times.
Police were reportedly called. Now a civil lawsuit has been filed.
Mark Davis, what’s your move?
The allegations that broke Wednesday morning that Raiders offensive tackle Trent Brown was the aggressor in multiple incidents of domestic abuse are the latest disruption for a Raiders team that has seen its share.
This particular case directly challenges the team owner. Davis, over his tenure as Raiders owner, has made clear his disdain for domestic abuse, even the hint of it.
“We have zero tolerance,” Davis told me in 2015. “To make it more Raiderslike, let’s say double zero tolerance, like Jim Otto’s number. … It’s just something we can’t tolerate.
“I don’t know how to fix it in society, but I know we can’t have it on our team.”
Now there are allegations of it on his team. With the player the Raiders signed in March
for four years and $66 million, making Brown the toppaid offensive lineman in the league.
Brown, a former 49ers starter, blossomed last season with the Patriots and was an anchor during the playoffs and their Super Bowl championship run.
“I am aware that my exgirlfriend has filed a civil suit against me. I deny the claims. They are false,” Brown said in a tweet. “I believe in the court system where I will clear my name. I will not be making any further comment at this time.”
The allegations in the lawsuit cite incidents in March, April and June, and they are ugly. Choking, slapping in the face, punching in the ribs, threatening to shoot the plaintiff in the head if she left with their son.
A lawsuit doesn’t mean domestic violence took place. A police report without charges doesn’t mean domestic violence took place. Unlike some instances, there doesn’t appear to be visual evidence.
But visual evidence is too high a bar to clear in a crime that mostly happens behind closed doors. We know that an accusation of domestic violence can mean that such behavior did take place. That a victim is taking the only recourse she has against a more powerful and more famous perpetrator, upon whom she and her children are dependent.
The league will investigate. The NFL has proved that it doesn’t need charges to be filed or a police report to suspend a player under its personal conduct policy.
But what happens in the meantime? This decision will go directly back to Davis.
Davis’ feelings about domestic violence are rooted in his relationship with former Raiders wide receiver and coach Fred Biletnikoff and Davis’ friendship with Biletnikoff ’s daughter, Tracey. She was murdered by her boyfriend. In the wake of that tragedy, Biletnikoff and his wife Angela founded the Biletnikoff Foundation. The foundation supports programs that address domestic violence, including safe housing for victims, and also funds a residential program for adolescent girls in crisis. Davis has actively supported the foundation.
Is there wiggle room in Davis’ notolerance policy? He employs offensiveline coach Tom Cable, who has faced allegations of abuse, yet has remained employed in the NFL. From all reports, the accusations against Antonio Brown of both rape and sexual misconduct surfaced only after the Raiders had already chosen to release the wide receiver.
Though the Raiders may have connections in local law enforcement, their reach may not extend to Bastrop County, Texas, where the police were reportedly summoned in one of Trent Brown’s alleged assaults (by the victim’s mother, which means there is a witness).
Still, a lack of offfield knowledge about employees that a team has invested such enormous sums in seems strange at best, and perhaps willingly disingenuous. NFL players and their problems aren’t easily hidden, and the league has ears everywhere. Perhaps the thinking is: If we don’t know about it, it never happened, and we don’t have to make a decision that could hurt us on the field.
In 2015, Davis dismissed the thought of signing defensive end Greg Hardy before it gained steam. Hardy was found guilty of battering his girlfriend, though the charges were dropped when he appealed the verdict and the woman failed to appear for a retrial.
That was then. This is now, when head coach Jon Gruden is running the show. On Wednesday, Gruden said the team was aware of the lawsuit against Brown and “looking into it” but declined further comment. Brown did not practice Wednesday because of a calf strain, Gruden said.
Gruden hasn’t had to deal directly with many cases of domestic violence in his past: his first goround as coach was at the time when such incidents were mostly swept under the rug and made to go away. Last year, Washington signed Reuben Foster just days after Foster was arrested on domestic violence charges for a second time and released by the 49ers. Prosecutors declined to file charges against Foster in January.
Could Davis’ instincts about an accused player be overruled by Gruden? The coach certainly wouldn’t want to lose an anchor of his offensive line who is helping to keep Derek Carr upright.
For many years, Davis’ notolerance stance on domestic violence has been a lone bright spot in a league that has almost always wanted to look the other way. How will he respond now?
“I am aware that my exgirlfriend has filed a civil suit against me. I deny the claims.” Trent Brown, Raiders tackle