Greg Hardy is no longer facing criminal charges for domestic violence after his case was dismissed on Monday, but he still could face punishment from the NFL.
Greg Hardy investigation will test the new NFL punishment protocol
The NFL’s investigation of the Hardy case will be a test run of the league’s new protocol for personal conduct violations.
Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports
The league is set to begin an independent investigation of Hardy’s case that will be led by Lisa Friel, the former head of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit in the New York City District Attorney’s office, per Christine Brennan of USA Today. Friel, in addition to NFL staff, will reportedly review Hardy’s court records as part of the investigation, according to Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer.
Joining Friel in the investigation are Anna Isaacson, the NFL's vice president of social responsibility, and Cynthia Hogan, the league's senior vice president of public policy, each of whom was hired in September 2014 after Ray Rice cast the NFL's domestic violence protocol into the national spotlight.
Since then, the NFL also approved a new personal conduct policy which features an automatic six-game suspension for violations involving assault, battery, domestic violence or sexual assault. But then league is no longer depending solely on police investigations to determine how it disciplines players. Under the new policy, punishment will be handed out to someone who is determined to have “engaged in conduct prohibited by the policy.”
All that means this is uncharted waters for the NFL and Hardy is the guinea pig. What still isn’t in place, though, is a league chief disciplinary officer, which the NFL is expected to hire soon as part of the revised personal conduct policy. Until then, Friel is leading the way for the NFL in all investigations.
Hardy, 26, is set to become a free agent in March after five seasons with the Carolina Panthers. He tallied 26 sacks in 2012 and 2013, but played in just one game in 2014 before sitting out the remainder of the year on the commissioner's exempt list.
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