Overshadowed, though, is what Stallworth did after it was clear he had accidentally killed a man with his car. He ordered his lawyers to accept a plea deal that convicted him of a felony even when evidence showed he had an excellent chance of being found innocent. He said Reyes’ death was enough of his fault that there shouldn’t be a trial and Reyes’ family shouldn’t have to sit in a courthouse and relive his death all over again.
“He did the right thing,” said Boucher, who has known Stallworth since his rookie year of 2002. “I’m more proud of him as a friend for the way he handled this than I was before this situation happened.”
Perhaps, in this world of athletes who can’t be trusted, it is hard to believe Donte’ Stallworth is getting a second chance at football. An athlete convicted of second-degree felony manslaughter is rarely worthy of our respect. Michael Vick(notes) and Plaxico Burress(notes) spent far longer time in jail than Stallworth’s 24 days – and they never killed another person. But in the aftermath of one bad decision came many good ones. And it is on those which we should judge too.
“He could have taken 15 different approaches,” Boucher said. “He could have had people persuade him to take a more aggressive [defensive] position. He wouldn’t do that. He took responsibility.
“His biggest concern was for the gentleman’s daughter. He wanted [Reyes’] family to know he was remorseful.”
Over and over, members of Stallworth’s elite team of attorneys shouted at him to fight the charges. They said there was no way to prove who was at fault. Reyes, after all, dashed across a busy freeway to catch a bus near a green light that rarely turns red. There was other evidence, never released to the public, Boucher said, that the lawyers wanted to give that would aid Stallworth’s case. Still he said no.
“The irony,” said one of Stallworth’s attorneys, David Cornwell, “is that a lot of the media and public was angry with the deal that he took. And the thing they wanted, for him to go to trial, was the thing he was trying to avoid for the family.”
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