fact, the suggestion has gone so far the Nashville Police Department already felt compelled to release a statement on the issue:
"In assault situations, an affirmative desire for prosecution and an acknowledgement of cooperation from the victim, in this case Gurode, are preferable before officers and prosecuting attorneys move forward with the development of a case."
So far, Gurode hasn't said much. Plus, encouragingly, he was here at The Ranch Monday lifting and running with the team, as usual. Now putting on a helmet and banging heads again seven days later might be another thing. And I might think differently if this would eventually cost Gurode any amount of earning power.
But to me, this is almost like a separation of church and state. The church takes care of itself and the state takes care of itself.
The NFL should take care of itself and the state should take care of itself, and those lines should never be blurred. Because once you do, where do you stop? What if a guy gets speared in the course of a game? Should criminal charges be filed? What if a quarterback gets rolled up on below the knee? See Carson Palmer. Should assault charges have been filed?
See where I'm going?
Now there are some of the Cowboys players who believe what Haynesworth did should be subject to police action. Ferguson responded "definitely" when asked if Gurode should press charges. Cowboys quarterback Drew Bledsoe answered similarly.
Some didn't want to touch the issue, including Cowboys head coach Bill Parcells, who said he appreciated Tennessee head coach Jeff Fisher's apology after the game and Haynesworth's contriteness after he had a chance to sit in the locker room a while after the game to cool off and contemplate what his kids must think of their dad as he saw their picture on his cell phone.
"You just have to keep your poise at all costs," Parcells said.
But when asked about criminal charges, Parcells said, "I wouldn't comment on that."
So in a season that promises to be full of drama and suspense (have the Cowboys really only played three games so far?) they can't even post back-to-back victories for the first time in their last nine games dating back to last season without national incident. And it's not going to calm down any time soon.
I mean, you do know who the Cowboys are playing Sunday, right? Like, uh, the Eagles, and in Philadelphia, no less, with Terrell Owens first returning to the scene of his discontent in a Cowboys uniform after being suspended by the Eagles last season.
Fiction writers aren't this creative, nor would they dare weigh down their main character with as many crises as have been squeezed into such a tight time frame so far.
Already Parcells was asked if he had talked to his team about Owens' return to Philadelphia, or if he will talk to them about this week's impending circus, as if this one could have any more big tops than last week's.
"What might happen," Parcells said reflectively. "I don't like to borrow any trouble from tomorrow."
The interest is too high.
