Justin Tucker might need tried his final area aim with the Ravens. However contemplating the league’s historical past of pathetic responses to misconduct in the direction of girls, it doubtless will not have something to do with Thursday’s troubling allegations.
The Baltimore Banner printed an in depth account of Tucker’s alleged inappropriate conduct at Baltimore-area therapeutic massage parlors, which the Banner famous led to him being banned from two institutions.
Per The Banner, “Tucker’s attorneys denied that he was banned … claiming neither institution knowledgeable him that he couldn’t return,” pointing to a promotional, generic e-mail Tucker obtained in 2018 from one enterprise as proof.
In his response, Tucker smeared The Baltimore Banner’s report, writing that their expose was “marked by journalistic failures at each flip.”
He added that the Banner “was intentionally misconstruing occasions as nefarious (which weren’t) and have been counting on third occasion hypothesis,” to determine a “narrative … they believed would generate clicks.”
The accounts detailed in The Banner’s piece are from a number of girls who the paper famous have been unfamiliar with one another or their tales earlier than The Baltimore Banner reached out to them.
Per The Banner, “The NFL stated it is going to ‘look into the matter.'”
As troubling because the allegations are, we should not count on a lot from the NFL, which has confirmed inept at dealing with claims of misconduct towards girls over time.
The watershed second for the league got here 11 years in the past when former Ravens operating again Ray Rice was suspended two video games for assaulting his then-fiancée earlier than video leaked exhibiting the horrific nature of the assault, prompting an indefinite suspension.
Primarily based on the precedent the NFL set with its poor response to that scenario, plus a three-game suspension towards quarterback Jameis Winston for “touching [an Uber driver] in an inappropriate and sexual method with out her consent,” led arbiter Sue L. Robinson to situation an absurdly gentle six-game suspension to Deshaun Watson in 2022 after proof confirmed he “engaged in sexual assault (as outlined by the NFL) towards” 4 masseuses within the league’s investigation.
In complete, over 20 girls have come ahead with sexual assault allegations towards Watson, who finally obtained an 11-game suspension.
However even he saved a beginning job till the Browns realized he could not throw a soccer properly anymore.
The identical could possibly be true for Tucker, who may solely expertise repercussions as a result of he is not the most effective participant at kicking the ball by the uprights. Tucker made a career-low 73.3% of his area targets in 2024 and noticed his streak of 5 consecutive Professional Bowl appearances snapped, which is unfortunately the larger sin to the NFL entrance workplaces.
We’re gone the purpose the place we should always view the league as an ethical authority. If Tucker is launched by the Ravens this offseason, it is going to have little to do with alleged off-field transgressions and all the things to do together with his declining on-field manufacturing.
Primarily based on the league’s historical past, that is the one factor that issues.
