Steven Jackson, woman beater (?)

Steven Jackson has been accused of beating his (ex-)girlfriend, nine months pregnant at the time, last March. TMZ broke the story; if it's legit, it's devastating.

I've defended Leonard Little after his fatal DUI because it felt to me a lot like a kid making a dumb mistake. A tragic mistake born from ignorance, not malice. His subsequent DWI in 2004 represented severe ignorance at best, but when the charge didn't stand up in court, we were all allowed to forget it anyway, whether or not we should have. Thankfully, it hasn't happened again. That we know of.

I've been against the idea of Michael Vick in a Rams uniform because of his past. Is it worse that he killed and abused a bunch of dogs than Little taking a human life? No, not in a million years. Little got 3 months in prison; Vick got 18. On one hand, the penalty of the crimes doesn't match the damage done. But a penal system with any humanity or morality has to account for intent. Little caused an accident in which he was negligent. But Vick didn't accidentally do any of the things he did. Whether some want to forgive him and welcome him to their team is their choice. For a team like the Rams, who have been very pointed in saying they're about building around players with character, I believe that would be a bad choice. Build around the Jason Browns and Oshiomogho Atogwes of the world, not the Michael Vicks.

Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable punched out one of his own assistant coaches last training camp, then a few months later, ESPN broadcast allegations by two of his ex-wives and an ex-girlfriend that he beat them. I've considered Cable unfit to be an NFL head coach ever since, though he's apparently coming back for a third season with the Raiders. The D.A. dropped the charges in the training camp incident, and nothing legally has come of the domestic abuse charges.

And now there's Jackson, the player Ram fans had the most reason to be proud of last season, the player who emerged as a team leader, the best "pillar" Steve Spagnuolo had to lean on last year and going into next, accused of beating a pregnant woman. That's worse than Vick abusing animals. That's worse than Little's vehicular homicide. You don't accidentally beat a pregnant woman.

There are some solaces here. Jackson isn't accused of a lifelong pattern of abuse like Cable is. Furthermore, this disclosure appears to be tied to a child-support dispute between Jackson and the girlfriend. It could be the kind of incident that a criminal court can't prosecute but that gets trumped up to help win a civil case. So as with Little's 2nd DWI, an ethical fog may roll in and cover this unpleasantness up. An alleged assault becomes a "misunderstanding". I'm sure stories about Jackson's girlfriend's gold-digging aspirations are being worked up on somebody's word processor right now. Maybe Jackson firmly asserts his innocence, and we find out later his girlfriend's batshit crazy. Without a guilty verdict at a trial, the NFL hasn't done anything to Cable; they can't touch Jackson, either. If Jackson's a heel and hasn't made good on supporting his child, he'd deserve the firestorm, but that would be far less than this allegation, if its main intent was to get him to make good.

I've called Vick a potential nightmare the Rams wouldn't need. But now, Jackson's situation presents the Rams a nightmare they don't need. About all they can do, about all we fans can do, is to denounce domestic violence and assert that Steven Jackson is innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

And hope either he can honestly do the same, or hope enough ethical fog rolls in to obscure the possibility that the Rams' on-the-field leader could be a truly detestable human being, let alone a "pillar".