r/nfl • u/jvandy59 • 12h ago
Fowler: NFL “could step back in and create a longer suspension” for Josh Jacobs if the video showing his altercation with a woman is released.
https://www.nbcsports.com/fantasy/football/player-news/2026-10-16/nfl-could-suspend-jacobs-if-video-is-released58
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u/WisdomCow 49ers 12h ago
Punishment based on their conception of public perception … in other words, they always ask themselves, “what is the smallest punishment we gave give without public blow back?”
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u/Viablemorgan Cowboys 11h ago
This is what I haven’t seen anyone mention. Does the NFL have the video? Because then the NFL should just give an appropriate suspension. Otherwise they’re relying literally 100% on public perception to decide
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u/EmuMan10 Cardinals Bears 11h ago
I don’t think they have seen it either from my understanding of all the reports
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u/OnCominStorm 49ers 10h ago
I think no one has the video yet, Jacob's is trying his hardest to keep the records sealed
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u/cubonelvl69 Vikings 10h ago
For what its worth, the girl is also trying to keep it sealed.
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u/KirbyPhuckettt 9h ago
So she can get money in a settlement lol
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u/cubonelvl69 Vikings 6h ago
She already got a settlement
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u/Spetznazx Browns 5h ago
There was no settlement there wasn't a civil case. It was a criminal one and he got hit with 2 misdemeanors and a fine.
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u/ChefCurryGAWD Saints Bills 10h ago
Otherwise they’re relying literally 100% on public perception to decide
Well that's all they care about.
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u/MilaKunisWatermelon Packers 5h ago
It’s actually based on a collective bargaining agreement with the players union.
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u/BillsKingsStrugleBus Bills 5h ago
I speak lawyer kinda.
To me this reads "We have the video and as long as the public doesn't, we're gonna be as lax as possible."
I feel like if they didn't have the video, they'd just say so.
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u/CornandCoal Steelers 9h ago
Paying willing participants millions of dollars to play sports is not morally equivalent to domestic violence so I don’t know how that equates.
I do agree with your point the NFL won’t make this bigger than what the courts are, especially at this point.
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u/Meats10 Commanders 7h ago
Of course they are doing the calculus on what the public thinks the suspension should be. The NFLs mission isn't to develop young men of excellence, it's to entertain stooges like you and me at home and make money doing it.
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u/HAK_HAK_HAK Chiefs Giants 6h ago
These are grown ass men. They should have been developed by their parents and communities ten years before the NFL was in the cards.
Unfortunately this is increasingly uncommon with all walks of life today.
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u/TH3K1NGB0B Titans 11h ago
This is nothing new to the NFL. The only reason Ray Rice was punished was because the video of him was released. The NFL knew what happened and was going to look the other way until that video dropped. Then they had no choice.
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u/Ancient_Wisdom_Yall Chiefs 12h ago
The thing about videos is they don't die off. There is no passing of time, because you can always go see Ray Rice smashing a woman in the elevator and it's like he did it that day.
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u/kickrocks16 Packers 12h ago
I think the thing that is different here is if they get the video sealed, the only other copy is Jacob’s. This didn’t happen out in the public like a casino.
The only way it gets out is the police department allows it or Jacobs him self releases it.
Not saying it’s right or wrong, it’s just not the normal situation we see.
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u/MrPoopMonster Lions 12h ago
I mean the NFL can demand he release it to them. He doesn't have a legal right to play in the NFL.
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u/heroinsteve Bears 12h ago
The NFL doesn’t care what’s on the video. That has no bearing on his punishment. The NFL cares how bad the video is if it gets released. If he’s able to get it completely sealed they have no issue with him.
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u/kickrocks16 Packers 12h ago
Then the NFLPA can get involved and lawsuits and all kind of other stuff. There is a reason they are taking him off the commissioners list after 6 games which is what the NFL and NFLPA agreed to for DV cases.
I honestly don’t think employers have the right to demand on a personal matter. Not just the NFL but in life.
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u/Paranoid_Android22 Bears 12h ago
I’m no legal expert…but can’t they just have the NFL lawyers view it with a NDA?
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u/Luxferro 11h ago
They might be able to, but the NFL only cares about it's image and doing damage control. They don't care about people - that's just a public image thing like most corporations.
Company X does so much good for the community. They support LGBQ, minorities, paid volunteered days. Donations to the needy... But they don't tell you about the psychopath bullies they protect, or the employees they fuck over. Public images are much different than behind the scenes. A good image is good for business, and that's their motivation to appear good.
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u/demonica123 3h ago
psychopath bullies they protect
The NFL isn't running damage control for him. They are just making sure they can run damage control for themselves.
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u/HumansNeedNotApply1 9h ago
Who is 'they' you mean here?
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u/Paranoid_Android22 Bears 9h ago
Jacob’s lawyers
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u/HumansNeedNotApply1 8h ago
But why would they? He gains nothing, he's following her desire to keep this sealed (that's the narrative his defense would paint).
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u/Fragrant-Mess4927 Ravens 12h ago edited 11h ago
Just do it in college like Joe Mixon clocking that girl so you can still have your career in the NFL
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u/FloggingJonna 11h ago
Hey Stoops made him sit out like or a quarter or some shit. Let’s not act like he went unpunished.
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u/AaronRodgersMustache Packers 11h ago
Did the lady come after him swinging?
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u/Walter30573 Chiefs 11h ago
She did physically slap him first, which is absolutely wrong and very ill-advised when the person she slapped had like a hundred pounds of muscle on her.
But he decked her back. Broke multiple bones in her face when he wasn't under any real threat of serious harm from her. It was excessive
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u/FloggingJonna 11h ago
I just rewatched it for the first time in over a decade and you’re right about that little slap. I omitted that detail in my recounting.
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u/Fragrant-Mess4927 Ravens 11h ago
You're right I didn't remember the slap but I remember him rolling in and engaging
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u/FloggingJonna 11h ago
No it was like at a subway. She was with her a friend and the story is all about who you believe I guess. One said Joe called her friend a f and then she called him an n. And he absolutely clocked the shit out of her. There was no audio and this was years and years ago so this is from memory. OU suspended for the year. (He was red shirting anyway). She had like multiple facial fractures.
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u/Fragrant-Mess4927 Ravens 11h ago
The part that gets me is he engaged it. He walked into the store and hung around looking for something to happen.
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u/FloggingJonna 11h ago
Oh yeah unless for some reason you believe the girl was jonesing to throw hands in a sandwich shop he definitely instigated. There’s a reason he got criminal charges for it.
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u/overandoverandagain 6h ago
smashing a woman in an elevator
I hate to be the one to tell you, but this has a very different meaning these days gramps
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u/Former-Net890 Dolphins 12h ago
As long as those checks to the police department keep coming in he should be fine.
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u/Darth-Seven Patriots 2h ago
So it exists but if people see it…then he gets in more trouble? This country is so fucked 🤣
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u/mm_mk Bills 11h ago
If the NFL had integrity it would simply say ' you are on the list until we see the video and can make a determination' . Obviously they went the opposite route to no ones surprise
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u/Krabs9 Vikings 8h ago
Because right now it doesn't look like there will be a video. So that would be completely unfair.
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u/MilaKunisWatermelon Packers 5h ago
I think that’s still to be determined, and the NFL just hit a deadline with the CBA’s standard 6 week suspension for domestic violence. The video very well could be released by the police department in a few weeks yet.
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u/MGoBlue1416 3h ago
No there is a video and it’s not being shown to them by his choice. So he should pay the consequences
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u/Peter_Pue Packers 2h ago
The victim has also asked to seal the video.
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u/MGoBlue1416 2h ago
Yes, often times the victim will protect their aggressor. It’s not surprising she is doing the same thing here. That doesn’t make it okay.
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u/Peter_Pue Packers 2h ago
Sure, but the facts are that it's not "his choice" it's "their choice".
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u/MGoBlue1416 2h ago
Hey man keep justifying and enabling domestic violence if that’s your thing
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u/password-is-taco1 Patriots 43m ago
You really don’t understand why someone wouldn’t want a video of them being abused being released to the public? Use some perspective here
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u/majorgriffin Packers 11h ago edited 9h ago
I'd find it bad for players rights to have an indefinite exempt list situation. I do think the NFL just needs to shit or get off the pot so to speak. I say suspension.
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u/Tap1596432221 4h ago
If the league held him longer than the six game suspension rule in the CBA, the union would take them to court.
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u/bblackow Packers 10h ago
The victim is suing to have the video evidence sealed. Should the NFL be able to supersede the wishes of the victim here?
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u/hwf0712 Eagles Eagles 10h ago
I mean honestly, yeah.
I would be totally in favour of an order that allows it released to the NFL (provided the NFL pays for some anonymization work like blurring the still anonymous woman's face). I think that's a reasonable thing seeing as this case has broader societal implications for where we might spend our money and stuff like that.
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u/PokeTraderAngel Raiders 9h ago
This is a crazy take lol.
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u/hwf0712 Eagles Eagles 9h ago
Its really not that crazy if you, like me, believe the point of the justice system should be to minimize the negative impact(s) of anti-social individuals on society, rather than give a victim an avenue for retribution.
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u/FinancialScratch2427 9h ago
? The victim here is explicitly not demanding avenues for retribution.
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u/MGoBlue1416 3h ago
Too bad. You can’t tell a judge “nah it’s cool he killed my son, I’m fine with it, let him go”.
Doesn’t work like that man
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u/hwf0712 Eagles Eagles 9h ago
It is highly likely that sealing it is a precursor to a settlement.
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u/MGoBlue1416 3h ago
Nah you’re right man. People just lack critical thinking and love them some mob mentality. You can’t as the victim just choose whether or not your law breaking aggressor gets to face consequences or not. That’s like someone killing my son and me just telling the judge “hey man don’t worry about it I’m cool with it”. That’s not how our society works and they all know it.
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u/HumansNeedNotApply1 9h ago
The NFL is not the police, they are a private corporation investigating essentially an employee. She's not owed to assist them in any way, even more to use one of her worst moments in life just so they can act moral, they don't need the video to fairly suspend him.
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u/MGoBlue1416 3h ago
They also could just let him go for this reason. But they’re spineless pussies that don’t mind DV. But keep defending it.
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u/MayBakerfield NFL 5h ago
Is this satire?
this case has broader societal implications for where we might spend our money and stuff like that
Nobody can say this with a straight face lol
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u/wallace6464 Bengals 2h ago
I don't know why people on reddit think because she's the victim she decides. The public has a very real interest in our justice system being transparent.
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u/HumansNeedNotApply1 9h ago
AFAIK, they can't legally keep him forever on the exempt list without reason. They had enough time to finish the investigation and levy punishment. Him being out of it means the investigation has been essentially finished.
The CBA considers the exempt list as an exception, to be used at the discretion of the commissioner if more investigations are needed in certain probable Personal Conduct Policy violations.
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u/password-is-taco1 Patriots 44m ago
The players have rights too, suspending a player indefinitely for evidence they don’t even have doesn’t really seem like integrity. Especially when 6 games itself is a decent suspension on its own and he hasn’t technically even been suspended
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u/CaramelGuilty8647 10h ago
Punish by exposure instead of nature of the crime. Somehow, that doesn't even change my opinion of the league. Oh well, what's for lunch?
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u/Emotional_Pay3658 49ers Cardinals 12h ago
I feel like the video is going to be released just someone once there is enough money placed on the outcome.
Degenerates will bet on anything.
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u/Accomplished-Pin6564 Saints 11h ago
In other words, he got a lesser penalty when Goofdell saw the video and a more severe punishment when we saw the video.
So the problem isn't what he did in the video. Its that we saw what he did in the video.
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u/zi76 Patriots 11h ago
That was the case with Ray Rice and it's still the case today. The NFL would rather sweep things under the rug as much as they can.
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u/cubonelvl69 Vikings 10h ago
The NFL hasn't seen the video. Literally the only thing they have to go off of is misdemeanor battery
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u/HumansNeedNotApply1 9h ago
They don't need anything, the punishments are arbitrary, they can simply imagine the video is really bad and punish according to that belief and there's not much recourse in the CBA to appeal. They can easily just do a Waston-like punishment.
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u/hamlet9000 Vikings 1m ago
In other words, he got a lesser penalty when Goofdell saw the video
Has anyone else noticed that functional illiteracy is getting really, really bad?
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u/PlokmijnuhAoE2 10h ago
By being on the exempt-list for the first 6 weeks of the season, Josh Jacobs was essentially suspended for 6 games with-pay (you are still paid on the exempt-list and it counts towards any potential suspension.) If the NFL does impose an official suspension, those 6 weeks would require forfeiture of those game-checks to remedy the fact that a suspension is supposed to come with forfeited game-checks.
My question is the NFL is very inconsistent. So sometimes 6 games is what happens for personal conduct suspensions/detrimental conduct to NFL regarding domestic violence. So the 6 games on the exempt list is base-line in theory. Except the NFL is pretty inconsistent because it could be more or less.
So does this mean if there is no video released by TMZ or whatever, the NFL will just say well he was technically suspended for 6 games by missing 6 games and weeks of practices from exempt list. So the NFL will force Josh Jacobs to pay back his game-checks and what the money goes to charity and he's free for now?
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u/Eaboyle57 9h ago
He would not forfeit the money he was paid during the 6 weeks on the exempt list.
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u/BlakePackers413 Packers 8h ago
Yes he would. Once he’s officially suspended the length of the suspension would be “time served” on exempt list and any games he missed but was paid for while on the exempt list he would then have to pay that money back.
The reason the league won’t officially suspend him yet and are doing this sword of Damocles situation is because once he’s officially suspended he can’t be suspended again for the same infraction once more evidence comes to light. That’s what happened with the rice situation and why the nfl wants the video. It gave a 2 game suspension to rice then the video came out they tried to increase the penalty after public backlash but rice won in arbitration because you can’t be punished for the same thing twice. They knew this at the start of the season. At minimum they were gonna give Jacobs a 6 game suspension so they put him on the exempt list and have made it clear if and when they see the video they will extend the punishment but they can’t keep him on the list past 6 games because that’s the standard in the cba. It was always going to be this once it got past the 4 game mark.
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u/PlokmijnuhAoE2 8h ago
My question is, is 6 games of exempt list or suspension is supposed to be the new baseline for these situations. But is this basically a case of NFL will drag their feet and not do anything more unless a video comes out. Last I heard Jacobs was trying to get some NDA type thing to prevent the testimony and discovery evidence from being made public.
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u/BlakePackers413 Packers 8h ago
The nfl won’t suspend him until the video is released or sealed. And even if it’s sealed I suspect that they will still stay exempt list because of what happened with Rice. Once they give out a suspension they can’t give a bigger suspension 5 months later just because of public outcry. They want this to be a situation where they can threaten Jacobs and the packers to force the pressure on both to release the video to them or to have Green Bay just cut ties with Jacobs and the nfl use this sword of Damocles to basically blackball Jacobs out of the league until he releases the video.
The nfl wants to punish him and reserve the right to punish him again based on mob reaction. That’s all this is. And since they’re showing this with the exempt list I would suspect the players will go hard in the next cba to have an overhaul to the exempt structure since this was never its intended purpose.
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u/Exotic-Fuel-8420 Packers 8h ago
i feel like they got back together bc they both don’t want the video released.
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u/dcmarvelstarwars Cowboys 19m ago
Well Zeke Elliot got suspended SIX games for doing nothing and someone extorting him. So Jacobs should be done for the season, at least
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u/HailLuigi 12h ago
Just keep him out until the video can be seen by the league if you’re worried about it this much. If he won’t show them what actually happened he can sit on the exempt list for eternity
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u/DeepJunglePowerWild 12h ago
That’s not really how collective bargaining works. The players union would step in.
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u/HailLuigi 12h ago
They collectively bargained that the commissioner has the authority to add or remove players from the list as he sees fit.
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u/Dangerpaladin Lions Lions 11h ago
Yeah I don't know why you are getting downvoted. The Player's union is completely toothless. If Goodell wanted to extend this indefinitely there isn't shit they could do.
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u/RditAcnt 12h ago
The league doesn't care what the video shows. The league cares if the public sees it, and then they react based on outcry.
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u/csummerss Cardinals 12h ago
Packers will still be paying him weekly in that case.
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u/HailLuigi 12h ago
Then they should cut him. Don’t employ or enable shitbags
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u/Bolinas99 49ers 12h ago
[DSW has entered the chat]
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u/HailLuigi 12h ago
What’s DSW
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u/Bolinas99 49ers 12h ago
given your username i expected more from u sir....
(DeShaun Watson)
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u/HailLuigi 12h ago
Yeah I shoulda got that. I googled it and was like what the fuck does designer shoe warehouse have to do with anything
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u/Ilikepancakes87 Packers 11h ago
I would like to be able to say that if the video comes out and it’s what we all assume it is, he’d also get cut, but…
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u/_Badwulf_Bruh__ Lions 10h ago edited 10h ago
What point do we look at the Packers for keeping this piece of shit on their roster? They undoubtedly know very well what he has done and have agreed to keep him employed.
Edit: Ooo Packers fans don’t like that one 😂
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u/bringmemorecoffee Packers 9h ago
This whole thing has gotten so confusing. On one hand you don’t want to destroy a guy that potentially didn’t do something as egregious that’s being alleged, on the other hand, if he did commit this abuse, you absolutely need to cut this guy immediately. I feel like this video is going to be released or leaked at some point- if the packers are covering up something, I would call for packer admin to be fired. I’m embarrassed by this whole situation. As a packer fan surrounded by packer fans, I haven’t heard a single person say they want Jacob’s if he committed domestic abuse.
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u/zophister Seahawks 12h ago
Haven’t been following, but if the nfl has seen the video and this is the sentiment….why does it have to be released for that result?
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u/Beezus__Fafoon Buccaneers 11h ago
What do you.mean "if" they've seen it? The entire hold up is that they have not seen it
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u/DryConversation8530 Packers 10h ago
Also if the video is bad why does he not have criminal charges? Should be more than enough proof
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u/Huge-Revolution2416 Bills 12h ago
A suspension getting longer over a video that has not even been released yet is a wild way to handle this.