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Tuesday, August 19, 1997

Newton case shows sad state of pro athletes

By Bob Ray Sanders

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

For the sake of argument, let's say Dallas Cowboys player Nate Newton never assaulted any woman, and especially the Grand Prairie, Texas, woman who has accused him of such a crime.

And (again for the sake of argument), let's say everything that Newton's lawyer is telling us about the athlete's relationship with the woman in question is absolutely true.

Based on those assumptions alone - giving Newton total benefit of the doubt - one would still have to conclude that this man is a sorry, immature, pathetic individual who brings new meaning to the term "offensive" lineman.

Don't get me wrong. I've always admired Newton as a player, and as a jokester. His sense of humor in the locker room or behind a radio microphone is refreshing.

Now, though, instead of being a jokester, he has become a big joke, and I don't hear anybody laughing.

If we are to believe lawyer Howard Shapiro, his client had an ongoing intimate relationship with his female accuser for some time. Newton, by the way, is married and the father of two children.

Shapiro even says that three days after the woman claimed to have been assaulted, she and the football player were embracing and kissing in his office.

The attorney claims that the accusation "is all about money. It's a shakedown. There was no crime committed because, in my opinion, what was done was done between two adults." Assuming for a moment what he says is true, there may not have been a crime in the legal sense - something a grand jury and a court will have to decide later. But it's a crime that Newton, and other players, put their families, careers and lives in jeopardy on a continuous basis, never seeming to learn from their mistakes or the mistakes of others.

I would say it's a crying shame, but shame is something too many players don't seem to have anymore.

The woman, according to her attorney, is in hiding. Newton ought to be.

It sickens me to learn of all the allegations of indiscretions of certain athletes, and, frankly, I'm tired of hearing about them. As a rule, I couldn't care less if a sports figure or any other famous person wanted to throw his life away, but one can't help but hope they would be smarter and more disciplined than that.

I don't know what happened in that Grand Prairie woman's home June 15, the night that the woman alleges she was assaulted. (She filed the complaint Aug. 8.) Depending on which lawyer you believe, she was either sexually assaulted or she simply is trying to extort money.

Newton has not been charged or arrested, although the Dallas County district attorney's office will present the case to a grand jury, and he's letting his lawyer do his talking.

That's another problem. The lawyers for both sides are talking too much, attempting to try this case in the media.

It's now time for everybody to shut up, including me.

(Bob Ray Sanders is an associate editor and columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Write to him at: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, P.O. Box 1870, Fort Worth, Texas, 76101.)

(c) 1997, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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