Can you hear me now?

The legal system, along with the family of the victim, might have thought that a month in stir was enough punishment for Donte Stallworth, but Roger Goodell thinks otherwise.

Indefinite suspension was the word from the NFL commissioner. But not the only word.

“The conduct reflected in your guilty plea resulted in the tragic loss of life and was inexcusable,” Goodell said in a letter to Stallworth, who in March killed a 59-year-old man while driving drunk. “While the criminal justice system has determined the legal consequences of this incident, it is my responsibility as NFL commissioner to determine the appropriate league discipline for your actions, which have caused irreparable harm to the victim and his family, your club, your fellow players and the NFL.”

"There is no reasonable dispute that your continued eligibility for participation at this time would undermine the integrity of and public confidence in our league," he said.

Alcohol-related misconduct continues to be a problem for the league, and Goodell not only came down on Stallworth, he wrote a memo to all 32 teams stressing that “DUI is a serious matter which poses great risks to both those who drive under the influence, and innocent third parties.”

"In the past few years,” Goodell said, “I have not hesitated to impose discipline, including suspensions, on club and league employees who have violated the law relating to alcohol use. Every club should advise its employees of their obligations and our commitment to hold people accountable for alcohol-related violations of law.”

With his indefinite suspension of Stallworth, Goodell has sent a message. The question is, will it be heard?

A month? Really?

After doing something horribly wrong, Donte Stallworth did everything right — he stopped, he called police, he took responsibility. Good for him. No, I mean it: Good for him.

But it should be remembered that in doing those things he only did what one is suppose to do, what is expected, what is right.

Despite doing those things, he still killed a 59-year-old crane operator with his car because he was driving drunk — and for that he plea-bargains for a month in jail?

Yes, I understand there are other elements to his sentence — eight years’ probation, 1,000 hours community service, lifetime loss of his driving privileges — but unless he’s suspended by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, the Cleveland Browns wide receiver won’t even miss training camp.

Yes, I understand Stallworth has reached a monetary settlement with the family of Mario Reyes, and that the family supported the plea bargain. But those two facts, taken together, only make the deal creepier. Would the family have supported such a deal if Stallworth wasn’t a multi-millionaire who could afford what I assume is a generous settlement?

Justice is suppose to be blind (I’ll pause here to allow for laughter) …

In this case, it seems as though Justice raised its blindfold long enough to peek into a billfold.

Just asking

A Wednesday story from The Associated Press says that Cleveland wide receiver Donte Stallworth told Miami Beach police he flashed his car’s headlights to warn a pedestrian before hitting and killing the man in last month’s accident.

There’s a great deal we don’t yet know about the accident — not the least of which is Stallworth’s blood-alcohol level. Two sources have reported it was above the legal limit, but authorities have not confirmed that.

But my first thought about his flashing his lights is a question, and it IS a question, not a statement: If he had time to flash your lights, didn’t he have time to stop the car?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4014292

Serious trouble for Stallworth?

Up and about and driving at 7 a.m.? Sure.

Heading to the beach at 7 a.m.? Why not?

Drunk at 7 a.m.? Say what?

A source is telling The Miami Herald that Donte Stallworth had a blood-alcohol level of .12 last weekend when he struck and killed struck pedestrian Mario Reyes, a 59-year-old construction worker who had just gotten of his late shift. The legal limit is .08.

The Cleveland wide receiver has showed brains two ways:

1) by cooperating with police at the accident scene

2) by staying mum (other than expressing grief over Reyes' death), citing the ongoing police investigation as a reason.

If only he had demonstrated some smarts before climbing into his Bentley drunk.

This is assuming The Herald’s source is correct — which, after reading between the lines, I do.

"We have not released anything regarding the blood work," a Miami Beach police spokeswoman told The Herald. "We're not confirming anything."

But The Herald is not the only outlet reporting the test results. So is station WSVN-TV.

Then there’s a curious comment from Miami Beach detective Juan Sanchez, who told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the cops, indeed, were not confirming the information but added, "We will not be releasing those results until we make an arrest."