Some Respite for Bears’ Ray McDonald As NFL Clears Him In 1 of 2 Cases

Defensive End for Chicago Bears who was under the threat of imminent action by NFL has finally found some respite after the NFL officials declared that they will not be disciplining him in one of the two cases against him. The case involved an alleged domestic violence incident that occurred at his home in San Jose, California the previous year.

NFL officials felt that the investigation did not prove that McDonald violated the personal conduct policy.

''We have completed that [domestic violence] investigation,'' NFL general counsel Jeff Pash said while talking to the Associated Press Sports Editors. ''[NFL special counsel for investigations] Lisa [Friel] and her team completed that investigation [and] did not establish a violation of the personal conduct policy. We informed the player and the [NFL] Players Association.''

According to Pash, McDonald was informed about the ruling a few weeks back.

The former lineman for the San Francisco 49ers had been arrested on August 31 on suspicion of engaging in domestic violence. Initially, suspicions remained that the player had been involved in domestic violence while celebrating his 30^th birthday at his home along with friends and teammates. However, by November, the Santa Clara County Prosecutors had to announce that they did not have ample evidence to charge the defensive end. Having received conflicting versions of the incident; lack of eyewitnesses and lack of cooperation by the supposed victim were the reasons why the case could not be pursued.

The arrest had come within a few days after the NFL commissioner had announced that there will be strict action and penalties against players who engaged in domestic violence. It involved a six-week suspension on the first offense and a year on the second offense.

However, troubles for McDonald are far from over. He is still under investigation for a sexual assault incident that according to the police occurred on December 14 at his house. A woman has alleged that McDonald assaulted her. The incident occurred when she was drunk and injured her head after falling by his swimming pool. The NFL player has been quoted in the courts papers as saying that the incident was consensual. Though no charges have been filed as of yet, still the police is continuing with its investigation.

According to a former head of the Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit in New York , ''Just to be clear, Ray McDonald had two issues, as you may remember -- one related to a domestic violence incident and one related to an alleged sexual assault. It's the domestic violence incident that we have finished investigating and didn't find sufficient evidence to say that he violated the personal conduct policy."

After being released by the 49ers, McDonald had been signed in to a one-year contract with the Chicago Bears.

Plenty of action can be witnessed this year once the season starts. Watching NFL games online has always been a source of great entertainment. You can now enjoy even more with NFL GamePass Discount Codes. Not only will you be saving money, but you will also have access to uninterrupted games of NFL.