A Dallas Cowboys special teams player has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman at the team’s hotel in Texas on Sept. 20 — and he was allowed to play the next day.
The alleged attack came just a day after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s awkward news conference during which he promised to get tough on players accused of violent crime.
Police in Grapevine, Tex., told the Daily News that C.J. Spillman, 28, is “involved” in the investigation of a sexual assault that allegedly took place at the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center, the Cowboys’ official hotel since 2009.
“We have a sexual assault report we are investigating at this time, and it does involve C.J. Spillman,” said Sgt. Robert Eberling, a police spokesman. “He is involved in the investigation. We are looking into the matter.”
The NFL has been under heavy fire for several weeks for the tepid discipline it meted out to players accused of domestic violence, child abuse and other violent acts, prompting the National Organization for Women and other groups to call for Goodell to resign.
Goodell acknowledged the NFL had screwed up during a news conference in New York on Sept. 19 and promised the league would learn from those mistakes and get things right.
“The same mistakes can never be repeated,” Goodell promised. “We will get our house in order first. We will do more.”
Civil rights attorney Gloria Allred sent a letter to the commissioner on Friday, a week after Goodell’s uneasy news conference, saying she represents a woman who filed a police report alleging an NFL player had raped her.
The alleged perpetrator, accompanied by a team official, met with police on Sept. 20, Allred said in the letter.
“Thereafter, the accused was then allowed by his team to play the following day,” the letter added. “We have asked the NFL whether or not this alleged rape was reported to them and if they approved this accused individual’s playing in the game notwithstanding the allegations that had been made against him.”
In her news conference Monday, Allred revealed her client underwent a rape kit examination and provided other evidence. Allred said her client was told the player was contacted by police and appeared at a station with a representative of his team, and then played the next day, Sept. 21.
Allred declined to discuss the Spillman investigation Wednesday, but she did respond to a request made earlier this week by the NFL’s top lawyer, Jeffrey Pash, to interview the alleged victim.
“In considering whether our client will or will not be agreeable to meeting with your representative, we would like to be assured that the NFL is acting in good faith and that it is conducting an investigation which encompasses not only the rape allegations but also why the player and the team involved did not report these matters immediately to the NFL as required by your NFL Personal Conduct Policy,” Allred wrote.
Spillman had one tackle in the Cowboys’ 34-31 victory over the Rams in St. Louis on Sept. 21. The Cowboys did not respond to calls from The News.
“We have been looking into this matter and will continue to do so,” NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said in a statement to The News. “At this point there is a confirmed law enforcement investigation that has not resulted in an arrest or formal charges. We have offered to Ms. Allred to make our special advisor Lisa Friel available to interview her client on a confidential and appropriate basis to obtain more information.”
According to the Dallas Morning News, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett laid out a no-tolerance policy to his players Wednesday afternoon, telling players they won’t be allowed to play in games if they’re involved in a domestic violence case, regardless of due process.
“Part of what our jobs are as coaches is to create the right environment for our players to function both on and off the field,” Garrett said. “So we need to be clear about where we are. We need to be clear that we have a structure in place to help anybody who has any off-the-field issues.
“Me as a coach, position coaches, player programs, departments, we have a lot of resources here to help guys. So that was the first message, if you’re dealing with anything off the field and we can help with, we’re here for you. Having said that, there are standards that we have about all off-the-field behavior and certainly domestic violence applies to that. We’re just very clear with how we’re going to handle things.”
In his meeting with the press on Thursday morning, Garrett said Spillman would participate in “every part” of team activities unless something changes, adding, “Due process starts when there are charges or an arrest made and we certainly aren’t at that point.”
Garrett, when asked whether a club official accompanied Spillman to the police station, said, “I’m not going to make any comment on this ongoing investigation where there has not been an arrest or charges have not been made.” As for whether the NFL was informed about Spillman’s case, he said, “Like I said earlier, when there are charges and an arrest made in a crime, there are consequences in house and we will address them publicly if we need to.” The Cowboys host Houston Sunday.
Spillman’s agent, Ron Slavin, declined to talk to The News about the allegations.
Spillman grew up in Louisville, Ky., and played ball at Marshall University. He played for the San Diego Chargers and San Francisco 49ers before signing with Dallas in August.
The NFL has been under fire since the season began last month after TMZ posted a video of Baltimore Ravens star Ray Rice hitting his then-fiancée in an Atlantic City casino elevator in February. Goodell took heat for initially only giving Rice a two-game suspension. Once the tape surfaced, the commissioner suspended Rice indefinitely and the Ravens terminated his contract.
Then Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was arrested on child abuse charges stemming from him whipping his 4-year-old son with a tree branch. The Vikings, who deactivated Peterson for one game, had planned to play the 2012 league MVP on the following Sunday, but flip-flopped when sponsors threatened to bail.
Goodell acknowledged the league had fumbled after sponsors — including Anheuser-Busch — expressed concern about how the NFL handled allegations of domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse.
With Gary Myers
