According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the NFL has had a discussion with Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs, which is an important piece of information now that he’s been reinstated by the league and removed from the commisioner exempt list
. Here is Fowler’s relevant quote on the subject and the corresponding video, which touches on multiple league-wide topics beyond just Jacobs’ standing with the NFL:They ruled that he is off the commisioner exempt list starting on Monday. So, to start Week
7, he can go back to the team facility with the Packers, work his way back into the lineup for Week 7. Now that doesn’t mean that the investigation into his domestic incident is over. I’m told that is ongoing, but I talked to the attorney of the woman in the case, who said she has not participated in the investigation part. She has not been interviewed, due to privacy concerns. Josh Jacobs, I heard, has talked to the NFL. So a lot of legwork is done. They key here, Kevin, is the video that does exist, parties involved are trying to keep the video from being released. The police locally are trying to get it released. Does it ever come to light is the question? If it does, the league could step back in and create a longer suspension.
This is the first time that it’s been reported that Jacobs has been interviewed as part of the league’s investigation. Previously, reports stated that Jacobs had not talked with the NFL — at those points in time.
Here is why Jacobs’ talk with the league is a pretty important piece of information: When Ray Rice was suspended in 2014, the league initially suspended Rice for two games, after he had his discussion with the league about his domestic incident. When the video of Rice’s domestic violence incident was released to the public, the NFL punished Rice further, giving him an indefinite suspension. When Rice appealed the second suspension, on the grounds that he was already punished once for the same personal conduct violation, a judge ruled in Rice’s favor, stating that the league had to reinstate Rice back into the league and pay him out for games missed because he never misled the league during his interview during the NFL’s investigation.
In short, Rice was truthful with the league, so the league had no basis to punish Rice more severely, just because a video caused a public reaction that the NFL did not want to deal with. In the eyes of the judge, the video did not change whether or not the league had all the information they needed to make their initial suspension of Rice, even if the NFL wanted to escalate the suspension due to the public’s reaction to the video.
Because of the lessons learned in the Rice case, the league has taken a different approach with the Jacobs case. Instead of suspending Jacobs initially, they allowed him to spend six weeks on the commisioner exempt list — which is technically not a suspension, as Jacobs continued to get paid while he was unavailable for the Packers.
The NFL only gets to press the suspension button once for the same personal conduct violation, as long as they aren’t misled during their investigation, but the league appears to be maneuvering in a way to reserve its right to suspend Jacobs in case the video in this dispute causes a negative public reaction — even if Jacobs was being truthful with them in their investigation up to his return in Week 7. Their one chance to hit the suspension button is still preserved.
Financially, Jacobs has not been punished directly by the league in any way up to this point, but the NFL will likely announce an official suspension for the running back when the dust finally settles on the fate of the video. As a reminder, time on the exempt list will count as time served toward a suspension. Both Jacobs and the victim in the case are suing the Hobart-Lawrence Police Department to keep the video sealed, and the filing claims that the police department has 20 days to respond from October 14th.
