First of all... Ask Tiger Woods, or Steve Sarkisian if we don't hold Adultery or Substance abuse high in our list of Media lynch able moral prerogatives...
Or ask Bill Cosby, Bill Clinton and Johnny Manziel...
Heck, Ask Von Miller, what he thinks of substance abuse policies... He is due for a YEAR LONG suspension if he smokes another doobie... IN A STATE WHERE IT IS PERFECTLY LEGAL FOR HIM TO DO SO...
DV is CERTAINLY NOT the only high moral horse we like to get on... The media is happy to go after any celebrity for... well pretty much anything it doesn't like, especially sports figures, because they are "Role Models" I think it has more to do with expectations (we EXPECT P Diddy to get in legal scuffles so, meh, when he does), and how much the media personally "likes" the personality (The Media bent over BACKWARDS to defend Tom Brady… He is just so darn likable!). Of course Domestic Violence IS a hot button issue right now, and in general an issue that needs addressing. Me personally? If a man even sneered at my daughter... he would be getting a whole bunch of Daddy OBF in his face... :)
Second... Most of us in the United States are at will employees... Meaning we can leave or they can tell us to leave, for pretty much any reason... Even in my mostly white, mostly middle class, mostly high morality circle of friends I have known many people to have either consequences or straight up job loss due to personal failings. From my college buddy who lost his job because he drank too much on the weekends, to my current co worker who lost certain security privileges because of a bogus DV accusation, to myself being limited (and passed over for promotion) at one job because I declined traveling over the Christmas holidays (Travel which had a dubious business case no less), instead wanting to be home with my family... Is it right that we have workplace consequences for our personal lives??? Eh, maybe not… probably not, but that’s the way the world turns... Even more so when the workplace is under intense media scrutiny and many many eyes are watching, and as Dan says, your employment of said player is a tacit endorsement of him... in total, his play style, his demeanor, and yes even his personal life...
Thirdly… Domestic Violence in particular is a hard, thorny issue… Everything from victims guilt causing women to lie for their abusive partners, to liars who are just looking to get someone in trouble, to overzealous police officers and prosecutors, to good old boy police officers and starry eyed DA’s. The range of DV circumstances is vast, the info subjective and sparse and the issue serious and grave (I assume you think legitimate wife beating is a serious and grave issue). I for one am happy that in general our public consciousness has swung from ignoring the problem to being perhaps over sensitive to it.
The issue is wrought with enough strife that my state (Oregon) arrests ANY accused, BY POLICY, if a police officer is called. It doesn’t matter if the accuser admits they are lying, it doesn’t matter if there is no credible evidence… If the cop shows up, someone is getting arrested. The main explanation for this policy is that the police left a DV call too many times, only to be called back for either a much WORSE DV instance, or… a death. It’s a good thing Chapman didn’t live in Oregon he would have spent at least one night in jail, no questions asked. SP instead of trying to sort the DV issues out in situ, the Oregon police just said screw it… We will take at least one party to jail and try to figure the rest out in the morning…
Finally in the specific case of Chapman and the Mariners… You still have to remember Howard is still trying to pull in the soccer moms and the Casual Sports fan, Microsoft employee, with a few bucks to burn and a free Thursday summer evening… Neither group is going to want to be confronted with moral or ethical issues in the ninth inning, they want a fun pleasant evening, a beer, a dog and hopefully a Mariner win! Personally I have been personally affected enough by DV that I want no part of anyone that has a hint of it and I think the Mainers can win without Chapman. When he is fully exonerated? Sure maybe we can circle back around, but not right now…