HEADLINES

Seahawks LB Mychal Kendricks Suspended, Has Appealed

September 16th, 2018 at 12:23pm CST by Rory Parks

The NFL has suspended new Seahawks linebacker Mychal Kendricks, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. However, Kendricks has appealed the suspension — the length of which is not yet known — and will therefore be eligible to play until the league makes its ruling. The appeal is expected to be heard within the next 10 days or so.

Kendricks, of course, was suspended for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, as he has pleaded guilty to insider trading and has a sentencing hearing scheduled for January 2019. He is reportedly facing 30 to 37 months in prison.

The Browns signed Kendricks back in June, but Cleveland quickly released him after news of the insider trading charge broke in August. Seattle head coach Pete Carroll, however, said his team did all of the research it could before signing Kendricks, whom Carroll believes is entitled to a second chance.

Carroll said, “We had done a lot of homework on it. [The insider trading] happened four and a half years ago, so it’s a story that’s been worked on for a long time. There’s a lot of good information. We’ve come to learn who he is and what he’s all about and how remorseful he was and how he admitted to his mistake a long time ago.”

As Schefter observes, the NFL — which was considering placing Kendricks on the commissioner’s exempt list before Cleveland released him — will have a tough decision to make. Kendricks made immediate restitution and has no criminal record, so the league must figure out what to do with a player involved in a white-collar crime who has tried to make amends for the situation.

Kendricks will make his Seattle debut tomorrow night against the Bears. He will likely see a lot of playing time, as the Seahawks have already injured linebackers Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright.

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