Two days after the Patriots took the field with Jabrill Peppers, who is still on trial for domestic assault, the Red Sox signed Aroldis Chapman, who’ll forever be the first player Major League Baseball ever suspended under the MLB’s Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy rule.
There was no protest at Gillette Stadium. There’s been little fan outrage about Chapman. Fans on talk radio were more concerned about his high walk rate than his disturbing personal history.
Society has passed a sad threshold. When it comes to domestic violence by athletes, too many have become either numb, fatigued or simply desensitized. Too many fans are no longer summoning the outrage, making it that much easier for those who are still fighting to have their voices drowned out.
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The Patriots and Red Sox assessment of the climate was correct. They could make the moves they made without fear of real backlash.
There have been so many incidents since Chapman that it’s easy to forget and impossible to keep them all straight.
The Patriots believe facts will eventually exonerate Peppers. It would be great if they’re right and the horrendous acts he’s accused of didn’t occur. But presumably, the prosecutor is aware of the same evidence and the case hasn’t been dropped. The Patriots could have elected to pay Peppers while keeping him off the field until his January trial date. Robert Kraft took the moral high ground publicly saying “If what was reported is true, he’s gone” after the arrest.
But he didn’t stop Peppers from playing on Sunday.
If the Patriots believe he’s innocent, say so. Tell the world they never would let someone wear their uniform who they even suspect could be guilty of this. If it turns out they’re wrong, they’ll look dumb, but at least they were trying to do the right thing. This is the path of least resistance. Publicly they pointed to the NFL ruling and said little else.
“The legal process outside the building and what we think happened inside the building, but at the same time, the NFL has taken him off of that commissioner’s exempt list and that’s what we have to roll with.” Jerod Mayo said.
But at least with the Patriots, they chose to stand by a guy they have a relationship with. The Red Sox are deciding to connect themselves to Chapman and paying $10 million to do it.
In 2015, the Red Sox own investigation told them to steer clear of Chapman according to former Red Sox assistant general manager Zack Scott who tweeted:
“After 2015, we agreed to send Margot and Marco Hernandez to the Reds for Chapman, but it fell apart when we discovered disturbing details about his domestic dispute. We actually informed the Reds about it. We pivoted to Kimbrel, and Chapman went to the Yankees. I guess enough time has passed without incident for the Sox to be ok with it now.”
Chapman wasn’t arrested or charged partially because the victim chose not to cooperate with the investigation. In incidents of domestic violence, that’s heartbreakingly common. The fear of the ramifications or repercussions that come from following through are real.
He was eventually traded to the Yankees, who used the incident to get Chapman at a discount. Hal Steinbrenner had no regrets.
“Quite frankly it was manageable the minute he got here last year,’’ Hal Steinbrenner told USA Today in 2017. “He was great. Look, he admitted he messed up. He paid the penalty. Sooner or later, we forget, right? That’s the way we’re supposed to be in life. He did everything right, and said everything right, when he was with us.”
Ignoring the fact that he used the trite phrase “messed up” to describe an incident where Chapman allegedly choked his girlfriend and fired eight shots into the wall of his garage in anger, Steinbrenner was right. Sooner or later we forget. And lately, it’s too often been sooner.
The teams and leagues want this stuff to go away. They want to forgive so fans will forget. And it works. Teams and players hunker down, weather the initial storm and move on. They know something awful will happen elsewhere and move them out of the spotlight. It sends a message to players that they can do this without their careers being threatened. It makes the Bruins’ decision to quietly disentangle themselves from Milan Lucic even after charges were dropped, admirable by comparison.
Ben Roethlisberger is treated like a hero in Pittsburgh. Nobody talks about him being suspended six games for sexual assault.
Even Ray Rice has had his image rehabbed. Last year the Ravens honored Rice. The same Ray Rice, whose name is synonymous with domestic violence after video emerged of him twice hitting his fiancée in an Atlantic City elevator and then dragging her unconscious body away. They’re both lucky he didn’t kill her or break her neck.
Because there was video, Rice never played again. No team could stomach the optics.
But there has been no video of Peppers. No video of Chapman. So they’ll be out of the field, right here in New England, while their teams hope Hal Steinbrenner was right and that we’ll all forget sooner or later.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
