The problems surrounding the Washington Redskins, now known as simply the Washington Football Team, don’t seem to be going away. On top of the forced name change and widespread accusations of sexual misconduct, the team has now been forced to dump Derrius Guice after he was accused and arrested on domestic violence and battery charges.  Now, the third-year running back could suffer serious penalties by the NFL, as well as any punishment received from the court system.  His future and career are now at risk.

Washington’s Problems Continue With Guice Charges

Washington Football Team coach Ron Rivera has been working on redesigning the team’s organization and culture during this offseason, and the job is only getting harder.  Minutes after The Washington Post announced that Guice was apprehended due to domestic violence charges, including felony strangulation, Rivera stated that he released the player and ended the contract with the ex-LSU star after just two seasons.

The team is concerned about this serious issue and it said in a statement, “On Thursday we learned of a potential domestic violence-related incident involving Derrius Guice.  We immediately alerted the National Football League and have continued to work with them during this process.

We then met with Derrius to inform him that he was excused from all team activity pending a review of this matter … Upon review of the nature of these charges and following internal discussions, we have decided to release Derrius immediately.” Guice accepted the dismissal upon his release, and now, according to ProFootballTalk, he is officially a free agent.  However, he shouldn’t hold out for being picked up by another team soon.

In a report coming out of LSU back in 2018, Guice is also facing charges of assault and battery, as well as another charge of property destruction.  This info was provided by a Loudon County Sheriff’s Office spokesman who reported the information to The Post.  Guice’s attorney is seeking to fight the charges in court, complaining that Washington didn’t carry its own investigation before ending the working relationship with Guice. 

The attorney hired by Guice argues that Washington was too drastic about ending its labor contract with his client; however, under these circumstances, it’s rare that someone who is innocent is arrested.  The charges against him are sensitive and the allegations are serious.

Guice had a critical career with Washington and was only allowed to play five games throughout two NFL seasons.  The player turned himself into the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center in Virginia at 5 p.m. on Friday as JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington reported.  He was handcuffed and taken inside the facility before, some hours later, being released on bond.  On top of that, he could face a harsh punishment by the NFL and might be out of the league for quite some time or forever since he is accused of several felonies.

The NFL Frowns Upon Domestic Violence

The NFL has established strict policies concerning domestic violence misconducts. The league might apply a six-game suspension for first-time offenses and a lifetime restriction for repeated violations. On the other hand, Rivera has been working on reversing Washington’s culture due to several media incidents, complaints and pressure by some. The most important change is the deletion of the former longtime team’ name “Redskins,” which brought massive public pressure due to allegations of discriminatory remarks.  The bombshell case exposed by Washington Post related to horrendous sexual harassment within the team didn’t help anything, and Washington isn’t going to let any violation of any sort slip by unchecked.

Guice was off in most games during the two seasons because he suffered a torn ACL, which left him out for the entire rookie season in 2018.  Then, he had a torn meniscus in Week 1 last season.  It seems that he wasn’t a good acquisition for the Washington after all and, since the start of his career with the team, he has spent more time on the bench than anywhere else.  Guice was supposed to help lead Washington’s ground game in 2020 along with veteran Adrian Peterson and rookie Antonio Gibson, but it now looks like that won’t happen.