Contrite Stallworth Makes Sense for Receiver-Starved Ravens

Wide receiver Donte' Stallworth's official return to the NFL was timed perfectly, both for a veteran player seeking a comeback avenue into the league following a one-year suspension, and a Baltimore Ravens team badly in need of receiving help.

Was it morally or ethically wrong for the Ravens to sign this player? Stallworth served his jail time (24 days of a 30-day sentence) after fatally striking a man with his vehicle, and is free to play in the NFL while completing the other terms of his sentence (two years of house arrest; eight years of probation; and 1,000 hours of community service). He also cooperated with investigating officers at the scene of the accident, paid restitution to the family of his victim, accepted responsibility for his crime and has been sincerely remorseful since.

So what separates Stallworth, a convicted felon, from other convicted felons playing in the NFL who have caused death and suffering?

Perhaps it is the appearance of genuine contrition. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell certainly thinks so -- he reinstated Stallworth, 29, one day after Super Bowl XLIV.

Rams defensive end Leonard Little, who crashed and killed another motorist following a drunken birthday celebration in 1998 (his blood alcohol level measured .19 percent) was sentenced to 60 days in jail and 1,000 hours of community service. He also served an eight-game suspension from the NFL.

The lesson didn't take. Six years later, after Little's involuntary manslaughter conviction was expunged from his criminal record, he was arrested again for drunk driving.

Now Little is on the Washington Redskins' radar as a potential free-agent acquisition, if he decides to play in 2010. Hey, the NFL is all about performance, and if a proven pass rusher comes on the market, teams will grab him despite the heavy baggage.

Disgraced quarterback Michael Vick also received an "indefinite suspension" sentence from Goodell after entering a guilty plea for his part in a criminal dogfighting ring that involved interstate gambling.

Was he truly sorry for his misdeeds, specifically the torture and slaughter of animals? We'll never really know. He says he is on his BET Network reality show. Then again, FBI memos released in January also indicate that when investigators grilled Vick about steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, he copped to getting "an adrenaline high" from killing the dogs involved in his notorious dogfighting operation.

Vick, who missed two NFL seasons while serving prison time, also lied to federal authorities during his criminal investigation. He used marijuana in violation of his release conditions before his sentencing in federal court. But none of that prevented Goodell from reinstating Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles from signing him last season as a gimmick wildcat player and No. 3 quarterback.

Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome said his club did "extensive research" on Stallworth, on and off the field before signing him to a reported one-year, $900,000 contract with another $300,000 in performance incentives.

"He made a huge mistake," Newsome said in a statement released by the team. "There's no doubt about that. He has paid a significant price for that and, as he has said, he carries a heavy weight. As [owner] Steve [Bisciotti] has said, we believe in second chances, and Donte' does deserve that.

"But, we've signed him because we want to get better, and we think he has a chance to help us."

For a Ravens team in real need of a value vertical threat, Stallworth is a good pickup. Baltimore's leading receiver in 2009, after all, was running back Ray Rice, who had 78 catches. This team could use a receiver overhaul, period, and shouldn't stop looking for more options to help quarterback Joe Flacco.

Veteran Derrick Mason, 36, who led Baltimore's receivers with 73 catches for 1,028 yards and seven touchdowns, will become an unrestricted free agent and may be contemplating retirement – again. Kelley Washington, who tied with Mark Clayton for fourth on the team (behind tight end Todd Heap) with 34 receptions apiece, is headed for unrestricted free agency. Clayton will be a restricted free agent, barring an extension to the collective bargaining agreement and the unlikely return to a capped year in 2010.

Stallworth, who has 296 receptions in seven NFL seasons and caught a career-high 70 balls for the New Orleans Saints in 2005, no longer was a good fit for the Cleveland Browns, who waived him as soon as Goodell reinstated him.

It's understandable from a purely financial standpoint -- the Browns had signed Stallworth to a seven-year, $35 million free contract in March 2008 and ended up with a receiver who caught only 17 passes for 170 yards that season and missed all of '09 because of the suspension.

On the field, Stallworth had been a huge disappointment, missing five games after injuring a quad in pregame warm-ups prior to the '08 season opener. He cost the Browns' organization $9.6 million during his unproductive time in Cleveland, according to FanHouse's Pat McManamon.

As for that terrible morning of May 14, 2009, when an impaired Stallworth struck and killed construction worker Mario Reyes, who was walking off the causeway separating Miami and Key Biscayne, the receiver again expressed his sorrow for the fatal accident on Wednesday.

"I will never get that morning back," Stallworth said in a statement released by the Ravens. "It weighs on me every day and will for the rest of my life. What I can do is move forward, try to be a better person, try to convince others not to do what I did and warn others about the dangers of drinking and driving.

"I have to show otherwise that what happened doesn't reflect who I am. I have to prove that, and, hopefully, I'm on my way to doing that."

Stallworth made no sense for the Browns. He makes perfect sense for the Ravens -- a low-risk, low-cost, potentially high-reward player who is demonstratively grateful for the opportunity to play again in the NFL.

Let's allow Stallworth, his crime, punishment and hopefully, his salvation, to serve as a life lesson for us all.