Daryl Washington always was a badass on the football field. A premier defensive player since high school in Irving, Texas, he went on to greatness at Texas Christian University and was considered the fourth-best outside linebacker coming out of the 2010 National Football League draft. As an Arizona Cardinal, he was named to the 2013 Pro Bowl Team. His stats as an inside linebacker for Arizona are impressive: For the 2012 season, he had 108 tackles and nine quarterback sacks, and during every season he played, he was a leader on a defense known as one of the league's best. Yet for all his accolades on the field involving sanctioned violence, Washington is best known for the violence he inflicted on his ex-girlfriend, which along with two substance-abuse violations, got him suspended for all of the 2014 season. He was charged on May 1, 2013 with two counts of aggravated assault on the mother of his then-5-month-old daughter. He later pleaded guilty to the assault and was sentenced to a year of supervised probation. Thus, he joined too many other NFLers, including former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, as poster boys for domestic violence. At this writing, it remains to be seen whether Washington will be reinstated. The two-time suspension for substance abuse (the original forced him to sit out four games during the 2013 season) doesn't help his case. Critics contended that the many incidents involving NFL players prove that too many pampered athletes involved in a violent game cannot leave the mayhem on the field, that examples must be made: lifetime suspensions.