Cowboys' Gurode must decide if Haynesworth's suspension is enough
TERESA M. WALKER
Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The NFL needed only 24 hours to punish Tennessee defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth with its longest suspension for on-field behavior.
Now, Dallas Cowboys center Andre Gurode must decide if five games without pay is enough punishment for Haynesworth.
Gurode has 30 stitches closing the cuts left when the 6-foot-6, 320-pound Haynesworth knocked off his helmet, then kicked and stomped his face with cleats. Gurode's agent told Nashville police the center would talk with his family about whether to press criminal charges.
"The police department will assist Gurode if he desires to pursue that course of action," the Metro Nashville Police Department said in a statement.
Seemingly everyone who saw repeated replays of the incident wants to help punish the act by a tackle whose temper has gotten him into trouble with teammates and coaches for years.
Nashville police and the local district attorney are the only ones who can help Gurode if he wants to prosecute Haynesworth, and they contacted the Cowboys' general counsel Monday offering to do just that.
However, Gurode wasn't in the Dallas locker room.
Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said the center lifted weights and could practice Wednesday. Before the suspension came down, linebacker Greg Ellis, the players' union representative, said he had talked with Gurode and thinks it is worth pressing charges or suing if things don't get properly resolved with the league.
Haynesworth apologized to Gurode after being ejected from Sunday's 45-14 loss to Dallas, and said he was disgusted by his own actions.
"I'm not apologizing because I got caught. I'm actually apologizing because of what I did," Haynesworth said. "Even if I didn't get caught, it still makes me sick."
His contrition wasn't enough for new NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
The league suspended Haynesworth more than twice the length of the previous longest suspension for flagrant unnecessary roughness. It's effective immediately, and it will cost him approximately $190,000.
"There is absolutely no place in the game, or anywhere else, for the inexcusable action that occurred in yesterday's Titans-Cowboys game," Goodell said.
Haynesworth was ejected early in the third quarter following a 5-yard touchdown run by the Cowboys' Julius Jones. He can be seen stomping on Gurode's head, causing his helmet to pop off, then kicking him again.
Jones' touchdown put Dallas up 20-6 on their way to a 45-14 victory. Gurode said after the game he hadn't been talking to Haynesworth and there weren't any exchanges that could have led to the incident.
Titans coach Jeff Fisher said Haynesworth learned of the suspension a few minutes before the league's announcement and that the tackle was remorseful and embarrassed. Haynesworth gave no explanation for his actions.
"This is unprecedented suspension, but I feel like his actions on the field were also unprecedented," Fisher said.
The Cowboys declined to comment after the suspension. Before the announcement, Parcells said Fisher apologized to him and the team after the game. He also thought Haynesworth was contrite after the game, which he was glad to hear.
"Other than that," Parcells said, "it was unfortunate."
Dallas nose tackle Jason Ferguson agreed a suspension was needed and said nothing should push a player that far.
"With the head uncovered, you don't go for that. You're not trying to kill anybody out there," Ferguson said.
Haynesworth's previous problems had been hidden from attention because they took place in practice. As a sophomore at the University of Tennessee, he fought with tackle Will Ofenheusle and left practice, returning with a long pole before coach Phillip Fulmer stopped him. He was suspended for half a game.
During Titans training camp in 2003, Haynesworth kicked center Justin Hartwig, now with Carolina. Charges for an alleged road rage incident earlier this year were dismissed.
Fisher said Haynesworth had been making progress in recent years.
"I am shocked and appalled for this to take place regardless ... whether there have been behavioral issues in the past or not. To me, there's no place for this type of condition on the field," Fisher said.
Before Monday, the longest suspension for on-field behavior was two games - handed to Green Bay defensive lineman Charles Martin for throwing Chicago quarterback Jim McMahon to the ground during a game on Nov. 23, 1986.
It's the first suspension since 2002 when Rodney Harrison, then with San Diego, was suspended one game for hitting Oakland's Jerry Rice with his helmet. Earlier that season, Denver's Kenoy Kennedy was suspended for a game for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Chris Chambers of Miami.
If charges are brought against Haynesworth, it wouldn't be the first time police got involved following an incident in professional sports.
In the NHL, Todd Bertuzzi pleaded guilty to causing body harm in Vancouver and missed 20 games for a blindside punch that left Colorado forward Steve Moore with broken bones in his neck. And Marty McSorley was convicted of assault with a weapon also by Vancouver authorities for slashing Vancouver's Donald Brashear in the head with his stick in February 2000.
