Aldon Smith pleads no contest to 3 felonies...

[mykc14]

So, any updates on this suspension yet? It seems like this is taking a long time to come down, same with Gordon's appeal. Didn't Smith meet with 'old Rog' over 2 weeks ago?

[RiverDog]

So, any updates on this suspension yet? It seems like this is taking a long time to come down, same with Gordon's appeal. Didn't Smith meet with 'old Rog' over 2 weeks ago?

It makes you wonder, doesn't it? The law has run its course and all the facts have been disclosed for months. Or have they? Smith supposedly told Goodell and others that he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since his DUI. If I recall, when he was arrested at the airport for his bomb threat, didn't some of the TSA personnel and police state that he appeared to have been drinking? I wonder if Goodell is checking up on Smith's claim, which could explain the delay. Something's causing it to take this long. It's not really fair to the Niners or Smith to keep him in limbo. But if he lied to the Commish about being on the wagon, it could earn him a couple extra games.

According to PFT, the Niners are anticipating a 6-8 game suspension. Earlier we were led to believe that it would be much less, like a 2 game suspension. What's changed?

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... don-smith/

Take a look at some of these comments from Niner fans:

https://twitter.com/MaioccoCSN/status/4 ... 6614829056

Those idiots actually believe that one DV incident trumps multiple violations of both the personal conduct AND the substance abuse policy, not to mention the bomb threat.

[Futureite]

So, any updates on this suspension yet? It seems like this is taking a long time to come down, same with Gordon's appeal. Didn't Smith meet with 'old Rog' over 2 weeks ago?

It makes you wonder, doesn't it? The law has run its course and all the facts have been disclosed for months. Or have they? Smith supposedly told Goodell and others that he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since his DUI. If I recall, when he was arrested at the airport for his bomb threat, didn't some of the TSA personnel and police state that he appeared to have been drinking? I wonder if Goodell is checking up on Smith's claim, which could explain the delay. Something's causing it to take this long. It's not really fair to the Niners or Smith to keep him in limbo. But if he lied to the Commish about being on the wagon, it could earn him a couple extra games.

According to PFT, the Niners are anticipating a 6-8 game suspension. Earlier we were led to believe that it would be much less, like a 2 game suspension. What's changed?

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... don-smith/

Take a look at some of these comments from Niner fans:

https://twitter.com/MaioccoCSN/status/4 ... 6614829056

Those idiots actually believe that one DV incident trumps multiple violations of both the personal conduct AND the substance abuse policy, not to mention the bomb threat.

So you honestly think the sum of what Aldon has done is worse than smashing a woman in the face and dragging her out of an elevator unconscious?

The problem with saying one trumps the other when it comes to the personal conduct policies is that Goodell is wildly inconsistent. If money is the driving force behind these decisions, then Goodell already knows he made a huge PR mistake by offending a good percentage of his fanbase (women) by giving Ray Rice only 2 games. Now he's screwed either way. If he goes hard on Aldon - who by a judge's own admission had no neffarious intent and hurt no one - it is going to look like he gave even less of a shyt about Rice going Mike Tyson on his GF. If he gives Aldon 2 games, it's going to appear as though he's gone soft on player misconduct issues.

Neither result would surpise me at this point. In fact, this delay must have some legal analysis tied to it. I just cannot figure out why. Goodell has suspended players who have not even been convicted of any crime. But the linger it drags out, the more likely it is that Aldon receives a light suspension or none at all.

[HumanCockroach]

Eh, what ever, at this point it is what it is. Smith ( unlike Rice) hasn't been a "model" player so I would guess that the TWO DUI's, three felony counts ( with or without "intention" means jack squat in regards to the conduct policy) and then the additional "dropped" charge at the airport, with reports that he might have been drinking ( when he supposedly had been clean sober since his reckless DUI) adds up by my count as multiple infractions under multiple policies the NFL has in place. It will be what it will be, regardless of the wants or desires of Niner fans, the rest of the NFL's fans, or the innocent people he put at risk's feelings. Goodall does what he does.

Rice ended up marrying the women he fought with, BOTH parties assaulted the other, and he has an exemplary history promoting theshield, he took the initiative and sought counselling. Not sure why Niner fans would call them similar cases in any way shape or form. Smith's actions could have killed him, as well as others, regardless of "intent" to do so, so much.

[Futureite]

Eh, what ever, at this point it is what it is. Smith ( unlike Rice) hasn't been a "model" player so I would guess that the TWO DUI's, three felony counts ( with or without "intention" means jack squat in regards to the conduct policy) and then the additional "dropped" charge at the airport, with reports that he might have been drinking ( when he supposedly had been clean sober since his reckless DUI) adds up by my count as multiple infractions under multiple policies the NFL has in place. It will be what it will be, regardless of the wants or desires of Niner fans, the rest of the NFL's fans, or the innocent people he put at risk's feelings. Goodall does what he does.

Rice ended up marrying the women he fought with, BOTH parties assaulted the other, and he has an exemplary history promoting theshield, he took the initiative and sought counselling. Not sure why Niner fans would call them similar cases in any way shape or form. Smith's actions could have killed him, as well as others, regardless of "intent" to do so, so much.

Dude, there is a difference between doing really dumb things and getting really lucky to have avoided disaster and balling your fist up and punching a freaking woman in the face on purpose. I really hope this fan stuff doesn't cloud your judgement that much. I mean the people that come flying around the corner driving recklessly in our residential area at 40 mph with kids running around get my blood boiling, but I cannot have them freaking arrested and charged with manslaughter. I can't do shyt but ask them to slow down. Any damn thing "could" happen in life, but in the real world unless it DOES happen or you can prove that someone INTENDED for it to happen, you cannot do shyt about it either. One way or the other I am going to get you to understand this.

Some Niner fans are going to complain about the fairness of the sentence. Fine as long as you don't lump me in with them. I posted from day one that Aldon put himself in this position, so he has to accept whatever the commish hands down.

[RiverDog]

So you honestly think the sum of what Aldon has done is worse than smashing a woman in the face and dragging her out of an elevator unconscious?

Yes, I do. I am by no means defending Rice's actions and feel he should be punished harshly, but one can argue that Rice's actions was an anomaly, that he simply snapped and that it won't happen again. And although he caused her significant pain, Rice did not put her life in jeopardy the way Smith did with scores of innocents when he wrapped his car around a tree while being over twice the legal limit. That's why the law punishes DUI offenders more severely than they do DV. Smith's acts endangered the lives of scores of people, and the fact that he committed multiple crimes indicates to me that he didn't learn his lesson the first time. You can't say that about Rice.

Even if DV were the more serious crime in the eyes of the law, the sum of Aldon Smith's multiple crimes outweighs Rice's singular transgression, which is why the Niners themselves are bracing for a suspension that is 3 or 4 times longer than Rice's.

I do agree with you that the Commish went a little easy on Rice. Worthlessburger got 6 games, later cut to 4, and was never even charged with a crime, but then again, his behavior wasn't limited to a one time event like Rice's. If the Commish was planning on letting Smith off with just a two gamer, he's now painted himself into a corner regarding Smith's upcoming suspension, which could explain the extended deliberations. Only in the eyes of a heavily biased fan base does the sum of Smith's transgressions not excede Rice's.

I don't envy the Commish's position. It is extremely difficult to hand out consistent discipline, and as the saying goes, you can't please all the people all the time. As evidenced by our discussion here, everyone has their own opinion as to which violation is more serious and which player should get the stiffer penalty.

[NorthHawk]

I agree with Future in this and have said a number of times before that Goodell is the wild card.
There doesn't seem to be a pattern strong enough to get a good feel for what he might decide.

As well as I've said before, I think in the back of his mind is the upcoming punishment for Irsay. He can't look to be soft on him, yet he is one of his bosses so if we see Rice's punishment as being soft, then he goes soft on Smith, he can go soft on Irsay and say he's treating everyone equally or at least consistently.
I think for Rice and Smith, their timing was lucky with Irsay also bringing the NFL into disrepute. It probably helped mitigate Rices punishment.
That's the way I see it unfolding - 4 games max for Smith with a good chance of being less.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

With the backlash from Rive's light suspension, I'm guessing Goodell will give Smith at least four games. Anything less will cause more unpopularity, and, if the NFL is serious about growing their female fan base, they probably don't want to offend organizations like MADD who would clearly oppose what Smith did.

[Anthony]

So, any updates on this suspension yet? It seems like this is taking a long time to come down, same with Gordon's appeal. Didn't Smith meet with 'old Rog' over 2 weeks ago?

It makes you wonder, doesn't it? The law has run its course and all the facts have been disclosed for months. Or have they? Smith supposedly told Goodell and others that he hadn't touched a drop of alcohol since his DUI. If I recall, when he was arrested at the airport for his bomb threat, didn't some of the TSA personnel and police state that he appeared to have been drinking? I wonder if Goodell is checking up on Smith's claim, which could explain the delay. Something's causing it to take this long. It's not really fair to the Niners or Smith to keep him in limbo. But if he lied to the Commish about being on the wagon, it could earn him a couple extra games.

According to PFT, the Niners are anticipating a 6-8 game suspension. Earlier we were led to believe that it would be much less, like a 2 game suspension. What's changed?

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/20 ... don-smith/

Take a look at some of these comments from Niner fans:

https://twitter.com/MaioccoCSN/status/4 ... 6614829056

Those idiots actually believe that one DV incident trumps multiple violations of both the personal conduct AND the substance abuse policy, not to mention the bomb threat.

So you honestly think the sum of what Aldon has done is worse than smashing a woman in the face and dragging her out of an elevator unconscious?

The problem with saying one trumps the other when it comes to the personal conduct policies is that Goodell is wildly inconsistent. If money is the driving force behind these decisions, then Goodell already knows he made a huge PR mistake by offending a good percentage of his fanbase (women) by giving Ray Rice only 2 games. Now he's screwed either way. If he goes hard on Aldon - who by a judge's own admission had no neffarious intent and hurt no one - it is going to look like he gave even less of a shyt about Rice going Mike Tyson on his GF. If he gives Aldon 2 games, it's going to appear as though he's gone soft on player misconduct issues.

Neither result would surpise me at this point. In fact, this delay must have some legal analysis tied to it. I just cannot figure out why. Goodell has suspended players who have not even been convicted of any crime. But the linger it drags out, the more likely it is that Aldon receives a light suspension or none at all.

and the excuses keep coming,

[Anthony]

With the backlash from Rive's light suspension, I'm guessing Goodell will give Smith at least four games. Anything less will cause more unpopularity, and, if the NFL is serious about growing their female fan base, they probably don't want to offend organizations like MADD who would clearly oppose what Smith did.

its simple

he is a Niner he will get 2 games
IF he was a hawk, bill, houston, or any non core franchise he would be suspend 8 games.

[HumanCockroach]

With the backlash from Rive's light suspension, I'm guessing Goodell will give Smith at least four games. Anything less will cause more unpopularity, and, if the NFL is serious about growing their female fan base, they probably don't want to offend organizations like MADD who would clearly oppose what Smith did.

its simple

he is a Niner he will get 2 games
IF he was a hawk, bill, houston, or any non core franchise he would be suspend 8 games.

If he gets any less than four I would be absolutely floored, and to be honest, six to eight would be the minimum IMHO. Prater just got four for having a couple beers at home, he wasn't wrapping his car around trees, firing guns, or doing it all in a short condensed time frame. It's possible I suppose, but all indications are at least six to eight. IMHO it should sit at 11 ( 5 games voluntary rehab, plus eleven equals 16 game suspension). Doubt it will be that high, but I doubt it's two either.

[RiverDog]

I originally said a year long, later revised it to 8 games, which in all fairness, is about what it should be when contrasted to previous suspensions for violations of the Personal Conduct and Substance Abuse policies.

Of course, we don't play the Niners until their Game 12, so it isn't going to help us any, indeed, it will help our rivals and actually work against us as the Cards and Rams will be able to play the Niners without Smith while we will be playing two games with him in the lineup.