One of the more
controversial moves during this year’s free agency was the Chicago Bears
acquisition of Ray McDonald. Now I’m a die hard Bears fan but that’s not the
only reason it has bothered me. You see, I’m not only a die hard Bears fan but
a dedicated employee at the South Suburban Family Shelter, a domestic violence
agency. When hearing the news that the Bears have signed Ray McDonald it not
only bothered me, but it put me in an uncomfortable position come Sundays in
the fall. The Bears signed defensive end Ray McDonald to a one year contract, this
coming after the San Francisco 49ers cut him, citing a “pattern of poor
decision-making.”
Before even
going into Ray McDonalds off field issues, let’s look at him on the field. He
is coming off a year with 3 sacks and 39 total tackles. To put that in
perspective, Jared Allen had 5.5 sacks and 37 total tackles in a year that
Bears fans, rightfully, criticized the signing of the former pro bowler defensive
end. Even without the off field issues and distractions, Ray McDonald’s
statistics do not warrant signing him. While
the Bears desperately need help on the defensive end of the ball and McDonald
has experience in defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s 3-4 system, McDonald isn’t
a substantial upgrade to the roster.
Now let’s look
at the more important off field issues. In the last 10 months, there have been
three police reports involving Ray McDonald. When the San Francisco 49ers
released him because of a “pattern of poor decision making,” that should have
been enough for anyone not to re-sign him at this current time. The first
incident involving McDonald was when police were called to his house in May
2014 for an incident involving a gun. No charges or arrests were made. On
August 31st, Ray was arrested on felony domestic assault charges. Police
reports show that McDonald’s pregnant fiancé had “visible injuries” when police
arrived. No charges stuck in this case. In an abusive relationship, one of the most
dangerous times for the victim is when they are pregnant. In a study of 1,200
White, Latino, and African American pregnant women, one in six reported
physical abuse during pregnancy. (J. McFarlan, “Abuse During Pregnancy: A
Cross-Cultural Study of Frequency and Severity on Injuries,” 1991.)
Finally, in December, a woman accused
McDonald of sexual assault, a case that is still open. McDonald has sued the
woman accusing him of assault, telling ESPN “I feel like what I am doing is the
right thing because I know that I am not this bad person that people are making
me out to be. I’ve been fired from my job. I know some teams don’t even want to
talk to me because of this past accusation. All I am trying to do is clear my
name and move on with my life.” In my personal opinion, the fact that McDonald,
who has already been involved in two incidents of alleged domestic violence, is
now suing his accuser sounds a lot like victim blaming. Having been through an
extensive training about abuser intervention, I have learned that perpetrators
of sexual assault and domestic violence do not take accountability for their
actions. This seems to me that McDonald is trying to point the finger at the
woman who accused him of sexual assault, trying to make himself look like the
victim.
Innocent until
proven guilty is a right that everyone in this country deserves, however we are
not talking about the court of law. We are talking about the NFL, and more
specifically the Chicago Bears. People are racing to defend Ray McDonald saying
that his fiancé made the story up, and the woman accusing him of sexual assault
made the story up. People also want to site the fact that he wasn’t charged
with anything. The fact that he was not charged may be more indicative of a weak
case, not his innocence. There are many reasons why victims of domestic
violence do not testify or leave an abusive relationship. As one can imagine,
there are even more reasons why someone who is pregnant and engaged to an NFL
player would not want to follow up with charges or testify at a hearing. Ray
McDonald’s fiancé has nothing to gain by making up a story of abuse;
unfortunately, she has a lot to lose. As a society, we put all of this pressure
on this woman to speak of an undoubtedly terrifying situation she went through
to put her unborn child’s father in a position to lose his job and possibly
serve jail time. Would people still try to disprove the victim’s story if McDonald
was on a teams practice squad? Just a few short months ago, everyone was
disgusted with anyone even remotely involved in a domestic violence case
because they saw the Ray Rice video. That story has lost steam in the
mainstream media and there is no video in the cases of Ray McDonald, so people
are back to ignoring the problem. In fact, CSN (Chicago Sports Net) did a poll
where 51% of the people who voted said “It’s the NFL baby, just win” in regard
to how they felt about the Bears signing McDonald.
The
Chicago Bears feel that they did their due justice before signing him by
talking to him in person, calling up his parents, and relying on Vic Fangio’s
opinion of him. Yes, you read that right, calling his parents. Can you imagine
that conversation? “George McCaskey here, can I ask you about your son, Ray?”
This is the same thing as listing your parents as a professional reference on a
job application; it is ridiculous that the Chicago Bears even considered
calling let alone taking what they say to heart. On top of that ridiculousness
is the fact that the Chicago Bears were impressed that McDonald bought his own
plane ticket from San Francisco to Chicago. I can’t imagine how he could have
afforded that when he only made $855,000 in salary last year.
So how did the
Bears put me in an uncomfortable situation? Well now every Sunday during the
2015-2016 season, I will watch the Chicago Bears wondering what they are doing
to help the family of Ray McDonald. Some people may say that I should stop
watching the Chicago Bears if I feel this way. To this, I would say that I do
not want to, nor should I have to make a decision between my favorite football
team and respecting basic human decency. I want to know that my favorite NFL
team is being proactive in getting Ray McDonald and his fiancé the help that
they need. I want to know that my favorite NFL team has a policy in place that
not only gets them help but educates the rest of the organization about
domestic violence and sexual assault. It is not enough that the NFL has a new
policy, I believe that every NFL team needs its own policy, that educates, and
more importantly prevents future incidents. The Chicago Bears have an enormous
platform and now an opportunity to tell their fans and the general public that
they are not only going to use the talents of Ray McDonald, but they are going
to work with him and his family to ensure the safety of his fiancé and future
child. I want to be a proud fan and see the Chicago Bears take a stand against
domestic violence and sexual assault. If you are going to take on a player like
Ray McDonald, be the organization that leads the rest of the NFL in being
active in education and prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault.
I am not only
confused at the signing from an on field perspective but I don’t understand the
risk, the reasoning for signing him. He has shown nothing to make us believe he
will change. He believes that suing his accuser will clear his name; however it
shows me that he is not taking accountability for any of his incidents. The NFL is still looking into the sexual
assault case, and could very likely suspend him for a minimum of 6 games. If
the Chicago Bears are only signing him for his talent and to get more wins, stop
trying to sell his character to me. Don’t tell me that Vic Fangio vouches for
his character and says he is a good person, because that is not what the
information tells me.
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