Earlier today, defensive lineman Ray McDonald was arrested after another apparent domestic violence incident. Hours later, the Bears made a rare Memorial Day move and released McDonald from his contract. Here’s a look at the latest reactions to the biggest story of the day..
- McDonald’s attorney, Steve Defilippis, told Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter) that the accuser in the case stemming from McDonald’s arrest Monday morning is McDonald’s former fiance, who was the alleged victim when McDonald was arrested last August. Defilippis told Anderson that he is still gathering information on what transpired and he strongly indicated that his client might be innocent of the charges.
- Former Bears teammate Kyle Long didn’t mince words on Twitter. “Good riddance,” the offensive guard tweeted.
- The Bears need to be punished for their lackadaisical fact-finding efforts prior to signing McDonald, Nancy Armour of USA Today Sports opines. Armour feels that the Bears should lose a draft pick or two and that GM Ryan Pace and owner George McCaskey should both face suspensions for their decision not to sit down with McDonald’s alleged victim. “An alleged victim, I think – much like anybody else who has a bias in this situation – there’s a certain amount of discounting in what they have to say,” McCaskey said at the time.
- The risk versus reward ratio was not worth it for the Bears to sign McDonald, Dan Pompei of WSCR-AM tweets. McDonald is no Lawrence Taylor, so he was simply not worth the gamble in Pompei’s estimation. Given where it has been, Pompei (link) feels the Bears locker room needed leaders and men who do things the right way.
- The San Jose address at which McDonald was arrested is that of a house that belongs to ex-49ers teammate Justin Smith, according to property records viewed by Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com. Smith has not been implicated in the incident in any way, however.
- Bail has been set at $15K for McDonald at Santa Clara County Jail on misdemeanor domestic violence and child endangerment charges, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com (on Twitter).