ESPN's Howard Bryant (allegedly) pulls a Jay Mariotti

[Mizzougrad96]

ESPN would not have run a story that lengthy if it wasn't keeping him or trying as hard as it can to keep him.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I hope everyone has seen the most recent story with comments from Howard and Veronique, which should soundly dispel the idea that Howard committed assault. This sounds very much like an overreaction by the police, with hints of racial bias. I hope this all blows over very quickly.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6167142

Just asking, I don't know...does this part not make you wonder?:

Witnesses said they saw a man choking and pinning a woman against a parked car, according to police. A customer inside the Buckland Pizza House called police just after noon on Saturday. Police said they have five witness statements.

Yup. Makes me wonder.

But my "what can you bet really happened here" barometer tells me that a black guy was having a heated argument with his wife outside a pizza place in a small town. Someone in the pizza place called the police. The police pulled him over down the road, saw a black guy in a car and got all chippy with him. The black guy didn't stay all quiet, got threatened with a taser and then got really pissed off. And he ended up with a resisting arrest charged tacked onto the domestic assault charge. The police, meanwhile, found four other people who "saw" the assault take place. You know, after the people in the pizza place -- who probably all know each other -- had some time to discuss what had happened and confirm the details with each other and get their memories all crystal clear.

Do I know that to be true? Nope. Is it way too often true? Yup.

Those are a lot of steps in between your theory and the simplest explanation.

Not sure what the simplest explanation is. But yeah, I took a lot of steps I don't know to be true.

I do know those kind of steps do occur. I am not friends with that many black guys, yet I still somehow know a disproportionate number who have ended up harassed by cops, and in cuffs in the back of a police car over things that wouldn't get me a second look.

Anyone playing judge and jury or comparing this to Marriotti. ... Marriotti pled guilty. Bryant pleaded not guilty, and has vigorously asserted his innocence -- what you'd expect someone who is innocent to do (even if lots of guilty people do too). His version is completely at odds with the cops. But it is equally as plausible. And the victim of the alleged crime, is protesting his innocence as loudly as he is.

This is a fairly potent quote:

"This is all so unfair," Veronique Bryant said. "There was no investigation. The police made assumptions about my husband that weren't true. I was never abused or in fear of Howard on that day or any other day. I wasn't running from him or trying to get away from him. The police weren't listening to me and they attacked him with violence with our 6-year-old watching."

Does that mean he's not guilty? Nope. But I suspect the truth is closer to his version of events. Just intuition, I guess.

 

[NickMordo]

Pulling out the race card makes him look a lot worse. Sad that he and his wife went that route, not to mention saying the cop was being aggressive while his son was watching. Yeah, now we believe you. Puhlease.

 

[Azrael]

Because the police are never wrong.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Did he play the race card or did his lawyer?

The denial from his wife was a strong one. Sadly, it means nothing when it comes to Bryant's innocence.

It does mean that he almost certainly will not be convicted.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

i certainly hope this isn't true. but if it is, we have yet another example of how little we reat truly know about some people.

and i know there are some who take the position that, 'so-and-so IS a great guy and this is just more proof that ALL OF US can be provoked to violence.'

um, no, not ALL of us can. MOST of us know when to walk away. or that under NO circumstances (short of self-defense) should a man act violently towards a woman or child. the 'ALL OF US...' defense is b.s., a rationalization for the a--holes who actually do react this way.

again, i hope this turns out to be untrue; i've always been impressed by howard's on-the-air/in-the-workplace persona. but that in and of itself does not mean someone is incapable of such an act.

WFW.

 

[Azrael]

It's never about race.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Anyone who wouldn't use the "race card" post-O.J. is a moron.

 

[Azrael]

So the "race card" is merely tactical? Rhetorical? There's no actual difference in the way police treat white people and people of color?

 

[cranberry]

Damn.

Here's hoping it's not true. I always liked the guy...

Me, too. I've become pretty friendly with Howard over the years. I guess you never know but he just doesn't seem like the typical kind of person (aggressive, macho) who gets into these situations. In fact, he always seems like kind of a gentle person. I'm definitely going to wait for the dust to settle on this one.

 

[Dick Whitman]

So the "race card" is merely tactical? Rhetorical? There's no actual difference in the way police treat white people and people of color?

Overall, yes, the criminal justice system treats black people differently than white people.

 

[oscaroscaroscar]

Ragu's take is a fair one.

We don't know what happened, but this business of "pulling the race card" dismisses the fact that in too many cases, it's not a card or a trick, but a frustrating reality.

People wonder what the big deal about diversity on news staffs is sometimes. This is an example of it. If you come to this type of story with the perspective that a black person claiming racist behavior by a police officer -- especially a well-respected black man with no known history of violence -- is simply pulling the "race card" then you are lacking in fairness and knowledge.

It doesn't mean you can assume his story to be true. But it's certainly a valid possibility that it's what happened and not something that should just draw a roll of the eyes. And as Ragu said, the comments from his wife are strong and reasonable. Could she be covering up? Sure. But they don't read that way.

I've also found it interesting that from the beginning it was claimed "five witnesses saw a man" ... not "five witnesses identified Bryant."

I hope it's not true. And what shockey said is correct -- we don't know anyone all that well when it comes down to it. But my limited knowledge of Bryant would allow me to believe his story here. The bitter irony is the man has done excellent work on sports and race.