Content Warning: This story contains depictions of alleged domestic violence.
New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list Wednesday after he was arrested Saturday on a litany of charges related to allegations he choked his girlfriend and pushed her on a staircase.
Team owner Robert Kraft commented on the situation Friday during an appearance on the morning show “The Breakfast Club”. He confirmed that the team would part ways with Peppers if the accusations against him were true, but stressed that the team would wait to confirm the facts before taking action.
Kraft likened the situation to his own arrest for solicitation at a massage parlor, which ultimately saw the charges dropped after an appeals court ruled that videos involved in a scam were obtained illegally.
Kraft’s comment:
“We live in a world now where there’s so much on social media and so much of what’s being reported is unfair in these kinds of situations. When you read the thing at first, it turns your stomach. But we have learned – and I don’t “I don’t know the facts in this case and. [Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo] called me, we talked about it, once he’s on the commissioner’s exemption list, they do their independent verification. We make our own. And if what is reported is true, he is gone.
“There have been suggestions that this was a set-up and what has been reported is not accurate. I have seen in life that if anyone, take any between you three. You have profiles. Someone could put something up and say something, it’s just not true. I have a saying that I have used. with all my key people in life, we measure nine times and we cut once what was reported is true, he’s gone, but we want to know the facts.”
Despite being on the commissioner’s exempt list, Peppers will continue to be paid while suspended from Patriots operations. He is currently in his first season with the team after signing a three-year, $24 million contract with the team last offseason.
Peppers Girlfriend would have told police that he “put his hand on my neck and smashed my head against the wall, then pushed me down the stairs” and that he was treated by paramedics on scene for head and neck injuries. For his part, Peppers reportedly told police that his girlfriend attempted to have sex with him without a condom and argued with him after he refused to do so. He denied putting his hands on her and claimed she fell down the stairs on her own after being asked to leave.
By ESPNPeppers was arraigned in court Monday, after playing Sunday, and pleaded not guilty to charges of battery, battery with a dangerous weapon, strangulation and possession of a Class B substance on suspicion of be cocaine. He posted $2,500 bail and was ordered to stay away from the alleged victim.
His lawyer, Marc Brofsky, reportedly claimed in court that he had evidence that “cast real doubt on the allegations, including videotaped evidence.”
