On December 8, 2012 Josh Brent was driving under the influence of alcohol when he flipped his Mercedes Benz, killing his friend Jerry Brown. Brent’s blood alcohol content at the time of the accident was measured to be .18, over twice the legal limit. Most people know this story, not because of its rarity (these events happen all too often), but because Josh Brent is a member of the Dallas Cowboys.
Normally I’m in favor of second chances and pursuing forgiveness, but this wasn’t Brent’s first time to drive drunk. He had previously been arrested when he was in college in 2009 for driving drunk in Illinois. His inability to learn from this experience led to the death of a friend and left him facing a second-degree felony intoxication manslaughter charge, carrying a sentence of up to 20 years in jail.
One would hope that this would finally wake Brent up to the severity of his actions but that wasn’t the case. In May of 2013, while he was awaiting his trial, Brent tested positive for marijuana. When I heard this I had to stop and ask myself if this guy would ever learn? Reports suggest he was trying to pull the lifeless body of his friend and teammate Jerry Brown out of the car when help arrived. If that doesn’t shake you to your core, then what will?
His sentence ended up being exceedingly lenient; 180 days in jail and 10 years of probation. Brent served his time and was quickly released back into society. He returned to the Cowboys where owner and general manager Jerry Jones welcomed him back to the team with open arms. Brent appeared in his first game with the Cowboys since 2012 against the Chicago Bears last Thursday, playing about 20 snaps.
The primary question in my mind as I watched the game was whether or not he should be playing in the NFL? The unfortunate answer to this question is that it doesn’t matter if he deserves to play, because the reality of the situation is that the same rules that apply to you and I as normal human beings don’t apply to Josh Brent. There aren’t a lot of people who are 6’2’’, 320 pounds with cat-like reflexes.
I sincerely hope Josh Brent has learned his lesson but history would suggest he probably hasn’t. I also understand that as a loyal Cowboys fan and avid viewer of the NFL that I am part of the problem. I push the supply and demand system that values these men on a different level from the rest of society. I don’t know how to change the system but I do know that it makes me uneasy.
If you replaced Josh Brent with you or me I think it’s reasonable to suggest that we wouldn’t get our job back once we got out of prison, but that’s probably the wrong way to think about it. Maybe we should be considering how many second chances the NFL should get before we stop watching.
Tyler Kern
