without pay after he violated NFL's personal conduct

The NFL announced on Thursday in an official statement that Donte Stallworth, a wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, was going to be suspended for the 2009 season without pay after he violated NFL's personal conduct and substance abuse policies. Stallworth was arrested by Florida police after driving drunk and killing a construction worker, 59 year-old Mario Reyes, while driving.

Stallworth plead guilty to all of the charges and was given a 30-day jail sentence on top of reaching an unknown financial arrangement with the Reyes family. Besides jail time, Stallworth's sentence included two years of house arrest, eight years of probation and some other restrictions that were not specified as yet.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Stallworth had an encounter earlier this month after the commissioner had suspended Stallworth indefinitely on June 18th, two days after Stallworth declared himself guilty of the charges and decided to face whatever suspension the commissioner was going to give him. The Browns player also stated that he knew that the consequences were going to be strong since the standards in the NFL are very clear.

Goodell stated that Stallworth had to be punished further, apart from those measures employed by the legal system. He announced that the NFL would take additional measures since the policies of the NFL were broken while Stallworth was an active NFL player with the Browns. Goodell also stated that he would take these measures because Stallworth not only put his own life in danger but took the life of another as well.

"There is no question that your actions had tragic consequences to an innocent man and his family, and that you have violated both the Substances of Abuse and Personal Conduct Policies," Goodell said. "In that respect, you are clearly guilty of conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the NFL."

Police reports said that Stallworth spent the night drinking at a bar in a Miami Beach hotel, the Fountainebleau. Once he left the bar, he drove down MacArthur Causeway where he hit Reyes, who was rushing to take the bus after a late-night shift. Stallworth claimed he flashed his lights to warn Reyes, who was not yet in the crosswalk, but apparently the receiver acted too late. Stallworth had a blood-alcohol level of .126 after the crash, above Florida's limit of .08.

Some compared the situation with the one that faced Michael Vick last year with the dog fight situation. But it seems that Stallworth should be put in another category altogether; after all, killing humans is a far graver offense than killing dogs. And yet, Stallworth accepted his guilt from the very beginning while Vick denied charges during the entire criminal process until his guilt was made obvious.

Who committed the worse crime? There is no doubt that Stallworth must accept that dubious distinction. But who tarnished the image of the NFL? Vick, who was recently reinstated by commissioner Goodell, or Stallworth, who immediately notified the police and accepted blame for all of his actions?