Suspensions by Roger Goodell

SI Staff | Oct 14, 2010

Suspensions by Roger Goodell /

Suspensions by Roger Goodell

Tom Lewand

As the NFL investigates whether Brett Favre violated the personal conduct policy by allegedly texting lewd pictures of himself, SI.com presents players and NFL personnel who have already been suspended by commissioner Goodell. In July of 2010, Lewand, the Detroit Lions president, plead guilty to a charge of driving while impaired. Police said his blood-alcohol level was 0.21 percent, more than twice Michigan's legal limit for driving. Later that month, in a landmark decision, Roger Goodell suspended Lewand for 30 days for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. The suspension was later reduced by nine days, but it showed that no one was above the personal conduct policy.

Ben Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger was suspended for six games without pay by the NFL on April 21 for violating the personal conduct policy. Here are some other players who were suspended by commissioner Roger Goodell for running afoul of that same policy.

Vincent Jackson

After he pled guilty to his second DUI in his short, five-year career, Jackson was suspended for the first three games of the 2010 season for violating the personal conduct policy. Unhappy with his contract, Jackson has served his suspension and continued to sit out as he waits for a new deal.

Aqib Talib

A first-round pick in 2009, Talib was suspended for the regular season opener of the 2010 season after he punched a cab driver in August 2009.

Michael Vick

The Falcons quarterback served 21 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to helping run an interstate dog-fighting operation. Vick, who was suspended indefinitely after admitting he fronted money to a gambling operation affiliated with the dog-fighting ring, signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009 and was reinstated for the third game of the season.

Chris Henry

Arrested four times in three states after being drafted in 2005 on charges that included reckless operation of a car, misdemeanor marijuana possession and a felony gun charge, the Bengals wide receiver was suspended for the first eight games of the 2007 season.

Marshawn Lynch

The Bills running back was suspended for the first three games of the 2009 season after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge in Los Angeles. Lynch, who was sentenced to 80 hours of community service and three years of probation, was found with a 9mm handgun in a backpack in his car in Culver City, Calif., his second brush with the law after an earlier hit-and-run incident.

Tank Johnson

The former Bears defensive tackle was suspended for the first eight games of the 2007 season. Johnson was suspended after serving 60 days for a probation violation involving a weapons charge and was later released after another arrest.

Adam "Pacman" Jones

The former Titans and Cowboys defensive back was the poster boy of Goodell's new policy, missing the entire 2007 season because of suspension involving a brawl and shooting at a Las Vegas night club, and four games of the 2008 season following an incident with a body guard. Goodell cited a "disturbing pattern of behavior ...clearly inconsistent with the conditions I set for your continued participation in the NFL" before issuing the second suspension, which ultimately led to Jones' departure from the NFL.

Donte' Stallworth

The much-traveled wide receiver was suspended for the entire 2009 season after he pled guilty to DUI and second-degree manslaughter after running down a 59-year-old man in the Miami that spring. Test

Larry Johnson

The Chiefs running back was suspended one game in 2008 for allegedly spitting on a woman in a club. The incident was one in several in a line of alleged violent incidents against females.

Brandon Marshall

The Broncos wide receiver was suspended for three games of the 2008 season following a string of off-field incidents, including an arrest on a domestic violence warrant from a former girlfriend. Marshall was already awaiting trial on a DUI charge.

Bryant McKinnie

The infamous 2005 Vikings' party boat incident occurred well before the policy was in effect, but the left tackle made himself available for a four-game suspension in 2008 after being charged on aggravated battery, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest outside a Miami night spot.

Fabian Washington

The former Raiders cornerback was suspended one game after he was charged with domestic battery early in 2008.

Fred Evans

The Vikings defensive tackle (90) lost two games after he was charged with battery on a law enforcement officer, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and trespassing when had had to be Tasered out of a Miami cab in 2007. He was already on probation on a drug charge in Texas.

Jerramy Stevens

The former Seahawks' troubled tight end was suspended one game after being convicted of an "extreme DUI" charge in Arizona when his blood-alcohol level was found to be three times beyond the legal limit in 2007.

Odell Thurman

The Bengals linebacker was suspended four games of the 2006 and the entirety of 2007 with various substance abuse and assault charges. Reinstated by Goodell in 2008, he was suspended indefinitely later in the year, though it is unclear whether because of character or drug issues.

Rocky Bernard

The former Seattle Seahawk defensive tackle was suspended one game for assaulting his ex-girlfriend in the spring of 2008.

Michael Boley

Signed by the New York Giants in 2009, Boley was suspended for one game that year as a result of a domestic battery charge in May of 2008. The Giants signed both Bolely and Rocky Bernard that offseason, but neither has had discipline problems since.

Ricky Manning Jr.

The former Chicago Bears defensive back was suspended one game in 2006 after he plead no contest to a felony assault charge.

Leroy Hill

The Seahawks linebacker was suspended one game while on injured reserve after he was arrested on domestic assault charges in the spring of 2009. Though Hill settled the case, the NFL personal conduct policy does not require a guilty verdict to suspend a player.

Cary Williams

The Ravens defensive back was suspended for the first two games of the 2010 season for an incident involving his family while Williams was still a member of the Tennessee Titans.

Quinn Ojinnaka

The Patriots offensive lineman was suspended for the first game of the 2010 season for violating the NFL personal conduct policy. Oijnnaka was charged with simple battery in May 2009 after his wife reportedly confronted him about contact with a female on Facebook.

Published Oct 14, 2010

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