The ruling on the appeal of Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy has come down today, and it was good news for the Cowboys.
Hardy was facing a ten game suspension after a domestic violence incident involving his ex-girlfriend. Hardy was initially convicted of domestic violence in a bench trial, but charges were dismissed after his ex-girlfriend refused to cooperate further.
However today, his suspension was reduced from ten games to four in a mostly-successful appeal.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Big time reduction <a href="https://t.co/0R1vkf12Uw">https://t.co/0R1vkf12Uw</a></p>— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) <a href="https://twitter.com/MikeGarafolo/status/619573158463410176">July 10, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Arbitrator Harlod Henderson had this to say with his ruling:
"I find that the conduct of Hardy clearly violates the letter and spirit of any version of the (personal conduct policy) since its inception, and of the NFL Constitution and Bylaws long before then. The egregious conduct exhibited here is indefensible in the NFL," Henderson said in a statement obtained by NFL Media's Albert Breer. "However, ten games is simply too much, in my view, of an increase over prior cases without notice such as was done last year, when the 'baseline' for discipline in domestic violence or sexual assault cases was announced as a six-game suspension."
While Hardy's camp is currently considering further legal action to further fight the suspension, he -- along with linebacker Rolando McClain -- are currently suspended for the first four games of the 2015 season.
That means that the Cowboys will be missing them for games against the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Atlanta Falcons, and New Orleans Saints. However, they will be getting two of their best defensive players back for the week five game against the New England Patriots and week seven game against the Giants.
What do you think of the arbitrator's ruling Big Blue View?