When former Vikings defensive end Darrion Scott was arrested last week, the details were sketchy.
We sort of wish it had remained that way.
According to various media reports, Scott allegedly was holding a bag over his young son’s head, tight against the boy’s neck. The child is under four years old.
Scott’s explanation? They were playing, and Scott wanted to see if the boy could get the bag off his head on his own.
The allegations were made by the child’s mother. She also claims that there have been other instances in the past in which she has seen evidence of possible abuse.
Scott’s agent, Tom DiPiero, defended his client, like only someone with a direct financial interest in the guy’s ongoing ability to play pro football could. “Anyone who knows Darrion knows him to be a big ‘teddy bear’ type of guy, easygoing and never loud or abrasive,” DiPiero said. “We believe this nightmare is a terrible mistake and that the child has not been abused, at least not by Darrion.”
Scott has been formally charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor in the wake of the incident. Given that no one had signed him before all of this happened, we hope that no one will do so unless and until he is completely exonerated.
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May 6th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
OK, I have to ask this question: What kind of nutbags is the NFL attracting?! If I had a kid I would be hard pressed to expose him or her to football.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:13 pm
Well that sounds a little sadistic.
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May 6th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
He was holding a bag OF his son’s head? My goodness. That’s definitely not playing around.
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Rating: 4.85 / 5 with 10 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
my little brother (a big Viking fan in Minnesota) was good friends with one of Darrions former roommates. I still remember my brother excited as he told me about his friends roommate who was a newly drafted Minnesota Viking. I remember his descriptions of Scott. Although they didn’t fit the “hold a plastic bag over a kids head” type of description they also were no where near the description of “Anyone who knows Darrion knows him to be a big ‘teddy bear’ type of guy, easygoing and never loud or abrasive,”
Seemed like he was just the opposite from what I remember hearing.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I really do love reading and yapping on this site, but what is with the need to prejudge and slant every story to some sort of gangster turd point game?
Hopefully this story is not accurate, b ut if it is let the facts and testimony come out before you drag someones name and life through the toilet. This tendancy to run with every accusation and rumour no matter how unproven or even investagated fully.
The need for the NFL to clean up its image is due more to the Hollywood style reporting they are getting than the dramatic change in behavior. The players today do way more good than they did back in the day because they have lots of money and publicity they can bring to positivly affect the community. Just because some people are acting irresponsible, you don’t need to personally crusade them out of the NFL. What is wrong with letting justice take its course. The guys who have been convicted of things and done time seem to get it easier from the media than a guy who has never been in trouble but gets accused.
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Rating: 1.65 / 5 with 16 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
lol burritto
of course this isn’t a laughing matter
he is a turd, glad the vikes didn’t re-sign him
of course, it’s possible this is a vindictive woman that is lying, but he has already proven himself to be a turd. let’s see what the kid has to say.
sad thing is he is a somewhat productive player and will likely end up on somebody’s roster
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Rating: 3.5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Yeah…OF? Thats a little creepy
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Good lord just when you think the stories coming from the NFL players can’t get any weirder, something else comes up.
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Rating: 3.85 / 5 with 7 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
A bag over the head? Didn’t the Saints fans used to do that back in the day?
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Rating: 1 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Justice take it’s course eh Jeremiah? Like in the OJ case? Like in the Ray Lewis case…the Pacturd case…the Leonard Little case? Wake up and smell the slap on the wrist!
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
“at least not by Darrion.”
Nice job sports agent. Hmm, I wonder what he’s alluding to?
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May 6th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Wow, what if the poor kid died, would he say that he was just playing dead! Unreal.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Chances are, this guy’s kinda slow at least. Call me crazy, but when my kid starts playing around with a plastic bag, I take it away. I may seem a little paranoid, but for those of you who don’t have kids, for every shining nugget of innocence and naive brilliance, there are ten acts that would get a more agile mammal killed. That being said, this guy is just that, an agile mammal. We seem to assume that these guys are as a rule more than that, and I think it’s wrong. While there are plenty of bright, friendly guys, and even a few geniuses, I’d put my money on most of them being pretty stupid. There is no reason to believe they are any different than your run of the mill meat-head. It’s not football that’s messed up, it’s athletes. Most are not paid to have brains or ethics, and they never were, and they never will be.
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Rating: 4 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Is the mother being vindictive to Scott?
It’s possible, but from reading a recap of the charges I don’t think so. There have been previous incidents that a case worker has witnessed the child’s injuries.
These include burn marks on the child from bathing and bumps on the head from toilet training. Scott claimed he tossed the child in the air to celebrate and the child hit the ground (if this had been Troy Williamson I would have believed he dropped the kid, but I don’t believe Scott). This report has him appearing to be a true child abuser.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Will there be any free men left to play the 2008 - 2009 season? I hope so, I’m a Fantasy Football superstar…
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May 6th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
you’re overreacting….when I was 4 this was my second favorite game to play. My all time favorite was seeing if I could duck out of the way when baseball bats were swung at me
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Rating: 4.8 / 5 with 5 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
every day i log onto this site i lose more and more interest in pro football. by the end of the year i am pretty sure the game will hold about as much interest to me as baseball. ZILCH! who can continue to root for a sport that employees such scumbags and low lifes? i know enough regular joes that feel the same way, it is just a matter of time before more and more turn this off too.
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Rating: 3 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
What 4 year old doesn’t love the “let me hold a plastic bag over your head to see how much you want to live” game? Get off this guy’s case already.
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Rating: 4.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Was he trying to prove his kid could fight his way out of a wet paper bag?
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May 6th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Hey, Jeremiah W — your name wouldn’t stand for Jerramy Stevens from University of Washington, would it? If it does, then I can see why you would spout such a ludicrous opinion.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 4 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
A little back of the envelope math (because that’s by far the best kind):
(All my facts are taken from a Feb 2008 report by the Pew Center on the States - a nonpartisan organization)
In the US, there are just over 2.3 million adults in prison. There are about 230 million adults in the US. That puts 1 in every 100 adults in prison in our country.
There are 32 teams in the NFL (all with at least 53 players - but let’s go with that number, for the minimum scenario). That makes 1696 active players in the NFL. Therefore, based on statistics alone, we would expect about 17 players to be in prison if they represent a random sample of 17oo Americans.
This isn’t a per year estimate; it says that given these 1700 men, we would expect 17 of them to go to jail in their lifetimes. But since the highest rates are for men aged 20-34, we would probably expect their arrests to occur at NFL age. Of course, this study doesn’t count the number of American who are arrested per year (I’ll busy myself looking for that number). Does anyone know how many NFL players have gone to prison in recent years?
I agree that since so many kids look up to NFL players, we should expect to hold them to a higher expectation (so they probably don’t represent a random sample). However, given the amount of crime in the country overall, I am not too surprised that we keep hearing about new arrests.
Lastly, in [admittedly] too long of a post, treating a child like this is just plain evil. If it is true, Scott deserves to be the next NFLer going to jail.
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Rating: 4.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 7:09 pm
A friend of mine once was accused of child abuse by his ex-wife. The charges were insane, absolutely false, and over-the-top ridiculous. However, that didn’t stop the system from taking his two kids away from him for more than two years.
The true story behind it was that his wife was the one abusing both kids physically, and it took two years for the courts to get their heads out of their collective arses to figure out the obvious and give him custody again. The bottom line was that she never wanted the kids at all, she just wanted to collect the child support money so she could fund her drinking habits without having to work.
I guess my point is that I see many people rushing to judgement without anything but one persons word over anothers. That shouldn’t happen without further evidence and based on what is known publically so far, I don’t think anyone is in a position to judge this guy just yet.
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Rating: 3.65 / 5 with 3 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
With regard to the people complaining about the media and it’s “Hollywood style reporting”, the fact remains that professional athletes in all sports become role models for kids. In accepting both the title of professional athlete as well as the money that it brings, they are also accepting the fact that they will be held to a higher standard in the court of public opinion.
Keep up the “Hollywood style reporting” PFT. The NFL and its players has a responsibility to its fans to act like civilized human beings. If one of its players (or previous players) does something as heinous as hold a bag tightly over the head of a 3 year old boy, then I think the more attention it brings, the better.
FYI - I also know that PFT has done a good job of reporting on the positives of the NFL as well. Using the same team as an example (Vikings), PFT has previously reported on a group of Vikings visiting a children’s hospital in Hawaii as well as the former Viking Tony Richardson’s multitude of charity work in the Mpsl/St Paul area.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
what do you want he scored like a 5 on the wonderlic.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 1 rating(s)
May 6th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Jeremiah,
Mike is judicious when posting stories. He’s reporting more than rumors (which ESPN and Fox Sports are notorious for). This story is according to several media reports. As powerful as Mike is, he does not control the media (that would be Rupert Murdoch). If you think that this website is biased, you’re certainly right to your opinion (even if it’s incorrect), but you might want to stop visiting this site.
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Rating: 5 / 5 with 2 rating(s)