Haynesworth impossible to defend on, off the field: No redeeming qualities - Ingles

A Superior Court judge in Washington Monday ordered Albert Haynesworth to perform 160 hours of community service, assuring that the District of Columbia will get more time and effort out of Albert than the Redskins ever did.

At the conclusion of the proceedings, the Patriots [team stats] had one question for Judge Geoffrey Alprin, a Providence native: Any chance you could get him to put in a few hours for us, too?

Haynesworth’s plea deal surprised many observers, but it shouldn’t have. This is, after all, what the Patriots wanted — a quick, quiet end to a potentially explosive case — and these days the Patriots usually get what they want. If Haynesworth fought the charges, we would have been treated to a titillating trial, and if convicted, he could have been sentenced to six months in prison. Just like that, his Patriots career could have been finished before it started.

Instead, he is free to return to New England , where he can immediately resume not practicing.

As he entered the courtroom yesterday, Haynesworth was peppered with questions. He smiled and said, “Go Patriots.”

Haynesworth pleaded no contest to simple assault and agreed to stay away from the victim, a condition that, if you believe the police, shouldn’t be a problem. In his defense, Haynesworth told investigators he doesn’t care for black women. “I couldn’t even tell you the last time I dated a black girl,” he said to the cops.

Dating is one thing. When it comes to groping, the big fella apparently does not discriminate. Haynesworth was accused of sliding his credit card into a waitress’ bra and touching her breast. He initially proclaimed his innocence, but yesterday decided to accept the consequences.

Who knows, maybe Haynesworth wrote a big check to his accuser, which in this case seems appropriate. The victim had her arms full of dishes when the incident took place, so we can assume she did more hard work that night than he did the last two seasons in Washington .

After signing a $100 million deal that included $41 million in guaranteed money, Haynesworth played just 20 games for the ’Skins in two seasons. He was suspended without pay for the final four games last season. The Patriots sent a fifth-round pick to Washington for Haynesworth. One D.C. reporter called it the best deal Mike Shanahan ever made.

As we all know, Haynesworth is not the first wayward soul to check in to Belichick’s Boys Town . He is just the worst. And it isn’t fair to Corey Dillon [stats], Randy Moss or any other Patriot with a checkered past to compare him with Haynesworth, a face-stomping, breast-fondling, road-raging bully who, by the way, only plays when he feels like it. He is in a class all his own. Plaxico Burress? He shot himself, the fool. And did his time, 20 months in a New York prison.

Haynesworth left young Corey Edmondson partially paralyzed when he clipped his car with his Ferrari while driving in excess of 100 mph. Edmondson was returning from his job as a third-shift janitor at a department store. The civil suit is pending, and Haynesworth eventually will pay the janitor the way he probably paid the waitress yesterday. Haynesworth’s God-given talent and size have allowed him to continually flout the rules and mistreat the little people. He runs into a problem, he writes a check. He lies down like a dog on the Redskins, he gets a first-class ticket to Foxboro. Must be nice.

As usual, Belichick played it right. He didn’t pay Haynesworth $100 million. He didn’t guarantee him anything. He told him the deal: You lie down on us, you’re gone (which is, by the way, a real possibility). Then who’s going to touch you? For once in his privileged professional life, Haynesworth has real motivation.

There may be some hypocrites in and around the Patriots organization, but Belichick ain’t one of them. He never claimed he could win with a team full of guys who follow the BYU honor code. Maybe you can’t have a team loaded with Lawrence Taylors, but it sure helps to have one or two. Just surround them with good captains and character guys.

But Haynesworth is different from Dillon and Taylor and most of the other bad guys in one way: There is no evidence that he likes to play football. See his brief stay in Washington : He didn’t want to play on early downs. He didn’t want to play in the preseason. He didn’t want to play nose. He didn’t want to get up and chase Michael Vick after he got knocked down.

Can you imagine LT staying down while the QB still was scrambling around? Again: There are lots of bad guys in the NFL and in sports. Some even play for our beloved Boston teams, if you can believe that. The problem is Albert Haynesworth is the worst of the bad guys, a pampered athlete who doesn’t have much more respect for teammates and coaches than he does for waitresses and janitors.

Ah, but that’s all in the past now. He’s a Patriot, and we’ll see him soon in his No. 92 game jersey. You know what would be great? If they gave him one without the “MHK” patch. (source Boston Herald)

Posted by Necesitamos Mas Football on 3:13 p. m.. Filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0