As controversy envelops the NFL following the release of video footage of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice assaulting his then-fiancee in February in a hotel elevator, San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York addressed his own team's domestic violence controversy.
Listen to York's KNBR radio spot here
Defensive tackle Ray McDonald is accused of assaulting his pregnant girlfriend last week, leaving her bruised and scratched. York, however, has implored the public not to compare McDonald's situation to Rice's.
"Ray McDonald is not Ray Rice. And if there's another one it's not the same as the previous. That each case is it's own individual entity. I think as a society we have a sense of saying, 'Well, you didn't do it right with Ray Rice right away so you need to overdo it with Ray McDonald or whoever else it is," York said.
Despite the allegations, McDonald was allowed to play in San Francisco's Week 1 win over the Dallas Cowboys, and played 60 snaps, the most of any Niners lineman.
York leaned on the concept of due process to defend the position of allowing McDonald to suit up even with the backlash that Rice's original two-game suspension drew.
"I think again, I think as a leader you need to make sure that you're doing what you feel is the right thing. And it's not always what's the most popular thing," York said.
"And again, I will fall back on, if you want to take shots on my reputation and you want to characterize me in this way for taking this stance, I'm comfortable with that. And I realize there might be people that dissent and I fully acknowledge that and I fully respect that decision.
"But for me to look at myself in the mirror and say I'm going to punish somebody, whether it's not playing them or cutting them or suspending them or whatever that punishment is, before you can go through an entire legal process, an investigation, that's just... that's not who I am."
According to The Sacramento Bee, the incident in question was not the first instance of a domestic disturbance involving McDonald. The newspaper reports police were called to McDonald's home on May 25 at 8:09 p.m., but more details were not provided.
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