by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

SAN JOSE–The NFL has a big problem and a lot of other leagues in sports have problems but for some reason the NFL has problems with the issue of domestic violence and the reason is because it’s a very physical league. There’s a lot of violence and a lot of guys are brought up in a violent sport. Unfortunately some of them were growing up in homes where there was abuse too.

Unfortunately this happens and it’s a problem, it’s a problem that we have in our culture and society and I believe in justice and there was not enough evidence to prosecute 49ers linebacker Ray McDonald for domestic violence. Witnesses a party that McDonald threw at his home on Brantley Ridge in San Jose on August 31st did not testify against McDonald and what took place between him and his girlfriend.

McDonald received a text from another female and his girlfriend was notified about it from a another friend while she slept in the home while the party was going on being notified she became upset and invited the girl who was talking with McDonald at the party to go outside and McDonald intervened and the girlfriend who was also pregnant ended up punching McDonald and he tried to restrain her and she ended up getting bruised during the exchange according to sources.

Witnesses at the party did not want to get involved in the situation and refused to cooperate with San Jose Police. Also San Jose Police Sgt Sean Pritchard was at the home who does security for the 49ers had been at the home of McDonald twice on the day in question. The girlfriend had called 911 and McDonald was taken in and photographed and questioned and released.

This week it was determined due to a lack of evidence or testimony on behalf of witnesses at the party and his girlfriend (fiancée) the charges were dropped on Monday night. There are some women in the NFL who get abused who are afraid to report these abuses to the police because their either afraid for their lives or they are afraid later on that their husband will end up in jail or lose their career in the NFL.

Pritchard and a dozen officers have been suspended from doing any further security duty for the 49ers because what is seen as a conflict of interest. They get paid by the 49ers so they don’t want to bite the hand that feeds them and that should not be and there should be by neutral law enforcement in a case like that. The NFL has a huge problem on its hands, case in point with the most recent case of defensive end of the Carolina Panthers Greg Hardy whose domestic violence case is being delayed until the end of the NFL season.

San Jose Police Chief Larry Esquivel had to get involved once this case took a life of it’s own in the media with widespread coverage of McDonald and his mug shot floating on all the media sites after his August arrest. The issue that Esquivel was afraid of was what role did the San Jose Police play in the investigation of McDonald and were the police going to help McDonald find an out since they did in fact work for the team.

With no witnesses willing to testify there is no evidence against McDonald but you still in fact have a suspicious public wondering what those witnesses saw and if the police really covered up evidence for McDonald since they also did freelance security for the team.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com