PARTSCH: Domestic terrorists can also wear football helmets

A terrorist will be taking the field this afternoon inside AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The heinous individual in question is not on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, nor is he affiliated with ISIS or Al-Qaeda or some other overseas organization that hides in the shadows waiting to unleash hell on the United States.
This particular individual doesn’t hide behind a dark mask or in a remote cavern. Instead he proudly, and glibly, trots himself in front of the media and come today he will be donning the helmet of America’s Team, the Dallas Cowboys.
Greg Hardy may not be a terrorist in the classic sense, but he is just as vile and disgusting as those other terrorists.
In July of 2014, Hardy was found guilty in North Carolina of assaulting and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend Nicole Holder. The details of the case are as follows: Hardy threw Holder onto a couch littered with semiautomatic rifles and three other guns, dragged her by her hair from room to room inside his apartment, slammed her against a wall and then put his hands around her neck, which was violent enough to leave bruising.
Hardy is a free man today because he appealed the ruling and asked for a jury trial. This past February, the charges were dropped when Holder didn’t show up for court, and it was later revealed that Hardy had paid her a settlement.
The-then Pro Bowl defensive end for the Carolina Panthers missed the entire 2014 season for the arrest and ensuing trial, but was still being paid as he was on the Commissioner’s Exempt list. A few weeks after the charges were dropped, Hardy signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys for $750,000 but with several bonuses could reach as high as $13 million.
After serving a four-game suspension for the conviction, Hardy will take the field for the first time in nearly two years today when Dallas hosts the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.
I fully understand that people deserve second chances, and the NFL has a long history of giving second, third and sometimes fourth chances to its players, no matter how troubled they may be.
Hardy is one of the NFL’s elite pass rushers (26 sacks in final two years in Carolina) and that is why the 27-year-old has also been given another chance. That kind of ability is coveted by dozens of teams, so it should be no surprise that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, with a lengthy history of signing troubled players, opted to take a chance and the public relations hit by signing Hardy.
On the other hand, former Baltimore Ravens running back, and fellow domestic violence offender, Ray Rice isn’t in the league anymore. He is viewed as being washed up as a player, which makes the public relations hit not worth it.
Yet you would think that Jerry, and everyone else in the organization, would have had spoken to Hardy about showing at least a smidgen of humility and being contrite this past week during his first interview session with media.
You would be wrong.
Instead of apologizing for his terrible acts, like Rice and Michael Vick have done, Hardy decided to tell jokes or simply evade the question.
When asked by a reporter about becoming a spokesperson against domestic violence, the newest member of America’s team said the following, “I feel the best way to win a game is stick to the game plan.”
He went out to talk about New England quarterback Tom Brady’s super model wife Gisele Bundchen.
“Have you seen his wife?,” Hardy asked. “I hope she comes to the game. I hope her sister comes to the game, all her friends come to the game. One of my favorite games of the year, guys.”
Hardy also referred to his time away from the game as “the most awesome period of my life, man. I’m a Dallas Cowboy. Dream come true.”
His comments show how Hardy has zero remorse for treating a woman like a dingy rag doll found behind a dumpster. To him, viciously terrorizing a woman has left the same emotional footprint on his mind and soul as taking out the garbage.
Yet, despite his villainy, Hardy will likely hear the loud roar of cheers today inside AT&T Stadium instead of the well-deserved boos.
In the NFL-obsessed society that we currently reside in, a man who terrorizes someone is only truly shunned if he can’t sack the quarterback anymore.
Hopefully Hardy will lose that ability sooner than later.