No decision by NFL on Cable
UPDATED (8:04 p.m.)...
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Friday during an interview with Sirius satellite radio that the league has not made a final decision about whether to discipline Oakland Raiders Coach Tom Cable under its personal conduct policy.
The district attorney for Napa County, Calif., announced Thursday that Cable will not face criminal charges for a training camp incident involving one of the team's assistant coaches, Randy Hanson.
"We've monitored it very closely," Goodell said, according to a written transcript provided by Sirius. "I just got brief reports [Thursday] night that the DA is not pursuing anything further. We're going to look at and understand his decision a little bit more closely, make sure that we get all the details and if we think there's merit, we will continue to pursue it. If not, we'll make a decision at that point.
"But I think one of the things we've learned from all this is you've got to have the facts before you start making judgments. And we've been trying to follow that closely, making sure we have the facts before we make a judgment."
The NFL's personal conduct policy empowers Goodell to impose discipline even in a case in which criminal charges aren't filed.
The policy specifically prohibits violent behavior by one team employee toward another, either within or outside the workplace.
Cable said Friday, according to the Associated Press: "I'm obviously very thankful that the authorities did the thoroughness that they did in terms of getting the facts and all that. I never let it become a distraction because as I mentioned many times, I just had a lot of faith. I knew what happened."
Hanson had said that he'd suffered a broken jaw when Cable knocked him from a chair into a piece of furniture.
Cable previously had denied that any punches were thrown and had said that nothing happened.
According to the AP, Gary Lieberstein, the Napa County DA, said Thursday that interviews with witnesses indicated that Cable did not threaten Hanson or punch him. According to the AP, Lieberstein indicated that Cable angrily rushed toward Hanson but was blocked by another assistant coach, and the other assistant coach made contact with Hanson and knocked Hanson from his chair.
Yahoo Sports reported that it remains possible that Hanson will file a civil lawsuit.
By
Mark Maske
|
October 23, 2009; 3:47 PM ET
| Category:
League
,
Raiders
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