Seahawks, NFL can’t duck domestic violence questions. They’re deeper than Chad Wheeler
Super Bowl 55’s hype machine is running full throttle, leaving Seattle Seahawks fans to grieve their team’s early playoff exit and dream about what might have been.
But if there’s an upside for Seahawks players and coaches, it’s that they can skip this week’s media circus and dodge uncomfortable questions — for instance, the chronic problem of domestic abusers on NFL rosters and how teams treat these men inconsistently.
Specifically, it means they don’t have to talk about Chad Wheeler. The organization publicly cut ties with the free agent offensive lineman last week, several days after he was jailed for allegedly beating his girlfriend bloody inside a Kent apartment.
“The Seahawks are saddened by the details emerging against Chad Wheeler and strongly condemn this act of domestic violence. Our thoughts and support are with the victim,” a generic team statement said. Coach Pete Caroll and General Manager John Schneider missed an opportunity by not addressing the repugnant reports head on.
Even so, the Seahawks can’t avoid the fact they’re starring in the latest act of the NFL’s domestic-violence morality play.
If only it were the first time.
Wheeler, 27, is charged with felony domestic-violence assault and unlawful imprisonment for the Jan. 22 incident. The girlfriend gave a statement in King County Court Monday, saying the 310-pound lineman attacked her, choked her, broke and dislocated her arm, strangled her into unconsciousness a second time, then voiced surprise when she didn’t die.
The woman said she fears for her safety because Wheeler is free on bond. Wheeler apologized for his “manic episode” on social media but pleaded not guilty in court. He has a record of police encounters dating to his college days.
With no Seahawks around to interview during Super Bowl hype week, a reporter asked a Kansas City Chiefs player about Wheeler Monday.
“I don’t even want to talk about it. It has nothing to do with the NFL. It’s ridiculous that a guy like that even had a job,” said Chiefs All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce, his voice breaking with emotion.
Kelce was right on that last point: It does seem ridiculous. But this has everything to do with the NFL, because the league’s 32 teams keep giving jobs to freakishly strong athletes who fail to contain their violence between the lines.
The Seahawks, like many pro sports clubs, don’t automatically close the door on players with troubled pasts. That’s OK, to a point; the organization takes pride in giving second chances to young men from hard-luck backgrounds. TNT staff writer Gregg Bell details in a Super Bowl week story how this changed the life of Frank Clark, a former Seahawk and current Chief.
The heinous crime of domestic abuse demands special vigilance. But let’s not kid ourselves: Alleged abusers are more likely to be cast aside if they weren’t selected with a high draft pick, don’t pad the stat sheet and don’t get much game time.
Case in point: Wheeler. He played in just five games as an injury replacement this season. The Seahawks sacrificed little by putting him on league waivers after the DV story erupted, since he probably wouldn’t have returned next season anyway.
Harder to defend is the team’s forbearance of first-string players like Clark and Jarran Reed, who used to wreak havoc together on the defensive line.
Reed was suspended by the league for six games in 2019 after allegedly grabbing a 21-year-old woman by the throat and dragging her in his Bellevue home. He signed a two-year, $23 million contract extension last March.
Clark joined the Seahawks as a controversial draft pick in 2015, having been kicked off his college team; the University of Michigan sent him packing two days after he was arrested and charged in an alleged brutal assault of his girlfriend.
Clark spent four seasons with the Seahawks before signing a $104 million contract with Kansas City; he’ll play for his second consecutive Super Bowl ring Sunday when the Chiefs face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Reed was never arrested or charged, and Clark pleaded down to disorderly conduct. But the threshold for criminal prosecution is different than the standard for representing an elite sports organization — or at least should be.
The Seahawks are responsible for more than winning games; they have intangible obligations, such as serving as role models for young people.
Is it too much to hope that someday the Seahawks, and all sports teams, will follow a genuine and consistent no-tolerance policy for athletes who prey on women?
That would be worth celebrating more than any Super Bowl victory.