Is the Haynesworth punishment severe enough?

There has been a wash of stories regarding the Albert Haynesworth assault on fellow football player Cowboys center Andre Gurode this week, much of it full of speculation about why Haynesworth did what he did.

Following the incident, Haynesworth received a five-game suspension and will lose a total of $190,000 in salary for his kicking and cleating of Gurode.

Gurode earned seven cuts, 30 stitches, blurred vision and splitting headaches for his work as the Cowboys center Sunday.

Much has been said about the five-game suspension being the longest ever doled out by the NFL, with the next highest being a two-game suspension.

The real curiosity is not the "why" but rather whether the punishment fits the crime. In a game that is rough and tumble at best and bone-crushing at worst, where is the line between tough play and violence?

I have participated in discussion after discussion about the phrase "unnecessary roughness" and certainly there is such a thing but when you are talking about men who are paid to hit each other and sometimes weigh in excess of 300 pounds it is a difficult item to measure.

I fully believe Haynesworth crossed a line and so, apparently, does he. In life outside of football, that sort of behavior usually gets you put in jail. Life inside football seems to be a different animal.

Gurode announced that he would not press criminal charges against Haynesworth and roughly an hour later Haynesworth reiterated his sincere apology.

Since the incident, Haynesworth has been a model of penance, and was quoted as saying he got what he deserved. But did he?

While $190,000 is a great deal of money, is it really a great deal of money to a professional football player who makes considerably more than that in a year?

The real question is about the length of suspension. Despite playing a sport that is at its core a violent sport, I think Haynesworth should have been removed for the remainder of the season. Were this outburst an anomalous occurrence, something that had never happened before I might be more charitable but the truth is Haynesworth has a history of violence on the football field.

In 2003, Haynesworth kicked a teammate in the chest during a team practice. Before that Haynesworth got into an altercation with a college teammate and left the field returning later with a long metal pole, presumably to settle the score.

Knowing that Sunday's actions were not an isolated incident but rather an escalation of previous behaviors puts the action into a different category.

Haynesworth has said he will be taking anger management classes and that his actions were a big mistake, that he is truly sorry for what he did. He has tarnished his own reputation and will possibly lose his aggressive edge in order to keep from repeating a similar action.

Haynesworth has also said he wishes he could take it back, that it was "a big, big mistake and something I wish I could do anything to take that back." We can all wish to take things back in hindsight, especially after we get caught. The real proof in the pudding will be whether or not Haynesworth follows through.