Kendall saw the file of the security camera footage from the hotel earlier that afternoon. It made her want to vomit, and then she wanted to scream. Even if she’d cut his ass when she originally wanted to, she wasn’t sure it would have helped, but now it was all about protecting the franchise from liability.
“The Miners have also made a donation to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Our organization is committed to doing what we can to assist women and children affected by domestic violence in our community.”
Those words were so empty. If the league was really committed to ending domestic violence, they’d stop signing guys who had been arrested and charged with a domestic violence related crime as early as college. One thing’s for sure: She wouldn’t sign a guy like this again. The team had known he had an arrest when they’d made him an offer. He swore he’d never do it again.
Words were cheap.
Kendall glanced out over the assembled crowd. “Are there any questions?”
There were questions, waving hands, and shouting from all over the room.
“Why didn’t you cut Hill after his last DV arrest?”
“Did anyone in your organization know he’d been arrested on a DV complaint in college?”
“Did the Miners require Hill to take anger management classes or work with a therapist after his last arrest?”
“As the only female GM in the league, do you consider Hill’s alleged behavior a personal failure?”
Kendall gripped the sides of the lectern and took the deepest breath she could with the invisible steel bands tightening around her chest. Damn right it was a “personal failure.”
She unstuck her hands long enough to pick up the bottle of water in front of her and take a sip. She knew Hill’s victim had signed paperwork holding the team blameless when she accepted the financial settlement that had been hammered out in less than an hour earlier in the afternoon, but she also knew her next comments were most likely not going to be well-received by anyone with the Miners.
She nodded at the sports reporter from Yahoo that had shouted out the question about her being the only female GM. “I’ll answer your question, but I’d like everyone to have a seat first.” She waited until the rustling of two hundred-plus people sitting down stopped. The only sound she heard was the clicking of cameras. She took another breath, willed herself to be calm, and looked into the TV cameras.
“Yes. I consider what allegedly happened in Las Vegas this morning between a former Miners player and his girlfriend to be a personal failure. I have already spoken with her and offered my heartfelt apology as well as an apology from the organization. Mr. Hill has been charged with this type of incident before. I urged the team to part ways with him at that time. I was overruled.” She forced herself to breathe. “As a team executive and as a woman, I don’t want anyone playing for the Miners who believes it’s appropriate to—allegedly, of course—hit a woman. When we all continue to ignore these incidents or excuse them because the guy’s a ‘great player’ or ‘irreplaceable,’ our words about stopping the spread of domestic violence or support for its victims are empty.” She shook her head. “This will not happen again on my watch. Maybe other franchises choose to turn a blind eye. I won’t.”
She glanced around the auditorium. “Next?”
It started slowly. She heard one pair of hands clapping, probably Sydney’s. More joined in. She felt a hand on her forearm. The Miners’ owner had stepped forward and stuck out his hand to shake hers. More cameras went off. She’d like to believe he supported her comments, but she knew it might be a different story when the cameras were off and they were alone in the team’s conference room. She wasn’t going to dwell on it now; she needed to answer questions, mop up, and get her ass on a plane.
When the press tired of asking questions about this morning’s incident, they turned their attention to the Miners’ struggles this season. Why would a team that won it all the year before find themselves at 3–5 midseason? How did she intend to patch the existing holes on the offensive and defensive lines? Did she believe the team would be able to address some of the more glaring needs on the roster through the draft, or were they planning on spending some money in free agency?
“Will the Miners be going after Drew McCoy of the Sharks on the offseason despite his injury?” a reporter in the back shouted.
“How will McCoy’s possible signing with the Miners affect your off-the-field relationship?” another reporter called out seconds later.
“The Miners are interested in Mr. McCoy, but we’ll also be taking a look at multiple free agents on the offseason. There are lots of games to be played this season before speculating on whom the team would like to sign for next year.”