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Cincinnati Judge calls out NFL, Calls NFL Officials "Hypocrites"

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by Cincysportsfan

Odell Thurman appeared in court yesterday to face charges of failing to appear for part of his alcohol treatment in the offseason. Thurman was sentenced to rehab after being pulled over by Cincinnati police last September with a BAL of .18 more than twice the legal limit in Ohio.

Instead of the "talk" to Thurman for his failure to complete his treatment, instead Municipal Court Judge John Burlew called out NFL Officals, saying that they are "hypocrites". Burlew, went on to say that the NFL had no right to suspend Thurman for abusing a "legal" substance that the league gladly supports and draws an enormous amount of revenue from.

"This case upsets me more than anything else, primarily ...with the National Football League,” Burlew said. “The allegations are that you had a legal substance – alcohol -- in your body, a substance which they advertise from and get money from, millions of dollars a year from."


Burlew said if the league really wanted to crack down on alcohol abuse, they would give everybody who left a football stadium a blood alcohol test.

“You don’t like alcohol, take those Budweiser commercials off TV,” Burlew said. “Stop selling alcohol in the stadium.”

So is Roger Goodell, a hypocrite, or is there still more to the story to cause him to suspend Thurman for two consecutive seasons, on a DUI charge, while players like Chris Henry, and Pac Man Jones, who are multiple offenders, for more serious offenses, receive seemingly lighter sentences. That isn't even to mention Vick, who after pleading guilty to FEDERAL charges , still hasn't heard from the warden --er -- commissioner on his fate in the league.

Or is this simply a case of another athlete having excuses made for him, due to his status AS an athlete. I mean the Judge is in Cincinnati, so it could be fair to believe he is a Bengals fan, right?

In the mean time Judge Burlew has continued Thurman's court appearance until Sept. 5 to allow him a opportunity to obtain legal counsel.


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CincysportsfanSoccer Kid
830 days ago
Score 1+-
After writing this another thought occured to me, could Odell Thurman's denial for reinstatement, having come out about the same time Vick was charged, be a case of the straw that broke the camels back?
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BigPPupMajor Leaguer
830 days ago
Score 1+-
I think Odell is guilty of being a Bengal. Goodell is going to hit the Bengal players harder than anyone else because that entire organization has had so many problems in recent years.
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CincysportsfanSoccer Kid
830 days ago
Score 1+-
Ok, so where are the rest of the suspensions, there were 13 arrests, granted Henry accounted for several of them, still there are only TWO of the total, I think 10 players arrested, who have had any significant repercussions.
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IbeargRed-Shirting
830 days ago
Score 1+-
this is ridiculous... Thurman failed nfl drug tests, was caught for a DUI and then when he was eligible to be reinstated he was wanted for assault. The judge needs to get his facts right... punishing this guy does not make them hypocrites.
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CincysportsfanSoccer Kid
830 days ago
Score 1+-
Understood, but he has served his year suspension, for the failed drug tests which is the punishment for that crime, what is unclear still is why he was suspended for the second season. Since the DUI was after he was originally suspended we can only assume that that is the reason for the second suspension. Since there were no charges filed for failing a drug test the DUI is all Burlew can reference. Also at the time he became eligible for reinstatement the assault charges had been dropped for several weeks. I'm also fairly sure the judge has most of his facts straight, he has presided of Thurman's case since the initial charges were filed.
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Steel TownDraft Pick
830 days ago
Score 1+-
The NFL isn't mad because he drank alchohol which is leagal. The NFL is pissed because he drank to much of it and then got behind the wheel of a car which is illegal. This judge is using fairly poor judgement hear, which is kinda frightning considering he is a JUDGE.
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CincysportsfanSoccer Kid
830 days ago
Score 1+-
But they weren't that pissed that Chris Henry was caught on more than one occasion with Pot, an illegal substance, or that he was getting underaged girls liquored up. How about the several run ins with the law that Michael Vick had, before the Federal Indictment?
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Steel TownDraft Pick
829 days ago
Score 0+-
The rules changed this year. The Govner of football wasn't on this war path until this most recent off season, so any past dealings between the commish and troubled players will not make a good comparison.
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CincysportsfanSoccer Kid
830 days ago
Score 1+-
Oh and just to be fair, let's not forget about Pac Man who has a year suspension before he was charged for anything.
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JuTMSY4Legend
830 days ago
Score 0+-
What the hell...if I was an exec at a beer company, I'd still be in deep (probably deeper) shit for DUI (i';m ignoring thurman's other problems for a second)...
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CincysportsfanSoccer Kid
830 days ago
Score 1+-
Really, I wonder if Peter Coors has finished his 24 hours of community service?
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JuTMSY4Legend
830 days ago
Score 0+-
I believe, besides being a family member/partial owner of the company, that he was chairman of the board...which is slightly different than being an exec... So, that would be similar to the NFL suspending an Owner or...even an GM for a DUI...
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CincysportsfanSoccer Kid
830 days ago
Score 0+-
So status does in fact dictate the level of accountability for individuals. Putting, high ranking officials, powerful businessmen, and professional, even to a degree college athletes above the law and not accountable for their actions.
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CincysportsfanSoccer Kid
830 days ago
Score 0+-
Or rather not equally accountable, as compared to us average folks.
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