I read what they said, and more than just that of course. I even took pains to explain a situation in which I rendered someone unconscious and for a moment had the same types of concern. However, if you really want to argue that a (minor) concussion is attempted manslaughter (it's not serious brain damage either fortunately), then boxers are guilty of attempted manslaughter over and over in their career and ironically Pettway has probably had a few people try to kill him in his football career as well. A concussion simply doesn't equate directly to an attempt to kill someone, or being near death, and to draw that comparison is to exaggerate.
Here is a quote about exactly what happened: "cuts to the victim's face, a mild concussion and severe swelling". That is serious, that is a crime, that is inexcusable, but that is nowhere near death! Period.
I do not want to make light of what happened though! But, the leap to almost dying, trying to kill him, accessory to attempted manslaughter and such simply isn't backed up by what we know.
Let me give an example of one situation which was completely mishandled. While at Florida, Aaron Herhandez violently assaulted someone in a bar, caused a burst eardrum, and the Florida team was supposed to handle it internally (seriously) and I'm not even aware of any punishment. That's clearly, clearly not how you handle a player violently assaulting someone else.
In this instance though, Eddie Williams in particular seems to have flipped out. Remember, the day before he was found with a pistol, and probably knew his time at Alabama was over. I got in a car once with a guy who I didn't realize was flipping out because his girlfriend had broken up with him, and it turned out to be a really, really bad idea. Did Pettway know what was going on with Eddie? Eddie, applied for youthful offender status to, not just Pettway, Eddie was denied. The evidence seems to clearly spell out that Eddie flipped out, and based on how the authorities handled it, he was considered one of the main aggressors. Once again, this doesn't excuse Pettway, but it does create a very plausible scenario, in which he's tagging along with a guy who has flipped out and isn't behaving in a rational manner. You don't necessarily even know that until you're knee deep in crazy, I've been there before.
I can't excuse or defend Pettway's actions. He deserved to be punished. The thing is, he was. I don't see cause for exaggerating what happened, and I don't see cause for trying to treat his role as being equal to Eddie or even Tyler's when it doesn't appear to be the case. In this instance, four different parties saw cause to giving him a degree of forgiveness. The victim, the authorities, the University, and Alabama football. I'm not defending Pettyway's actions, I don't think anyone should, but I am deferring to the wisdom of people who know more of the situation than I.
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