Joe Mixon punched a woman in the face.
The rest of his professional life will be defined by that moment. But what was the context? Yes, I get that you should never ever hit a woman. However, this blanket statement offers no sense of context. I’ve watched the video and the additional evidence and while I don’t approve of his actions, I understand.
The woman was drunk and high and using racial slurs. She grabbed him and hit him and spit in his face. He should have walked away, but he reacted. The rest of his professional life is defined by that reaction.
We have a double standard in American society. If you are a public figure you become the vehicle of whatever platform can use you. If you are a private figure the things that you do–regardless of whether or not they are caught on camera–are largely overlooked if your skillset or relative clout is large enough. Mixon is a football player. People pay money to rest their hopes and dreams of dominance on him. Still, somehow it matters more that he struck this woman in a moment of weakness and anger. It matters so much that the Bengals are having to publicly defend their decision to hire him.
If only there wasn’t a double standard.