On Wednesday, we told you about how Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith suffered a broken arm that required surgery while playing in an adult flag football league. Obviously, participating in a recreational flag football league is in no way related to a club activity, so if the Panthers’ brass wanted to punish him finanacially for the injury they could have with good reason.
As we could have probably predicted, they aren’t going to. I mentioned Wednesday that they could easily take the Ben Roethlisberger approach, meaning they don’t want to piss off their franchise player even though he injured himself acting like a bit of a bonehead. However, I must say that I agree with Pro Football Talk’s Gregg Rosenthal that the Panthers are doing the right thing.
Unlike Big Ben — who has spent portions of his off-season boozing with college girls and putting himself in stupid situations — Smith was having fun with some friends and got a little too competitive. They can’t expect professional athletes to refrain from doing anything physical for their own enjoyment in their free time. The worst part for Carolina is that it’s the second time their star wide receiver has broken the same arm. As of now it doesn’t look like he’ll miss any regular-season games, but the Panthers can only hope the arm heals properly and doesn’t become a liability.
Sources:
Panthers won’t hit Smith’s wallet [ESPN NFC South Blog]
Panthers won’t go after Steve Smith’s money [Pro Football Talk]
