Washington Redskins rookie wide receiver Jamison Crowder has been allegedly involved in a domestic violence incident.
Five photographs were apparently posted on Crowder’s Instagram account shortly after 7 p.m. on Wednesday that showed a woman with a swollen and cut lip, a bruise on a left wrist and two other bruises on body parts that could not be distinguished.
The caption below the images appeared to be written from someone other than Crowder who alleged that the wide receiver has beaten and verbally abused that individual.
A Redskins spokesman issued a statement on Thursday afternoon acknowledging that the team is aware of the situation.
“We have been in touch with the NFL office and will continue to follow proper League protocol and assist them in any way we can to gather all of the facts,” the statement read. “We will not be making any further comment at this time.”
A league spokesman wrote in an e-mail that “The team has been in touch with our office and we are looking into the matter.” A message left for Crowder’s agent on his voicemail was not immediately returned. A phone call placed to Crowder’s parents’ home was also not returned.
At this time, the matter does not appear to involve law enforcement. Crowder’s name does not appear in any online arrest records from several Northern Virginia counties, and his name does not turn up any result in North Carolina’s online database.
The images, which had been removed by Thursday afternoon, were copied and circulated through other accounts on various social media platforms. They were accompanied by a statement that read, “[Because] I loved you, I never shared about our bad times. I always made excuses. But now that you’ve continued to show me that your heart isn’t with me, I don’t feel like I have any reason to protect you anymore, Jamison.
“I don’t want anything from you, but I do think the next person deserves to be aware of where your anger takes you. I refuse to let you hurt me anymore physically or emotionally. People shouldn’t be protected from what’s wrong, no matter how much I love you. I’m sorry.
“When our friends and my family asked, it was always, ’We play too rough.’ I’ve had things thrown at me, poured on me. I’ve been choked, had a concussion, bruised, busted lips, grabbed, tossed around, hair pulled, verbally abused. The list goes on. I hope this inspires others to speak up, too. ’Love’ is never an excuse or a reason.”
The 5-foot-8, 185-pound Crowder was drafted in the fourth round out of Duke in May and is expected to be a valuable contributor for the Redskins as both a slot receiver and a punt returner. He was a first-team all-ACC wide receiver and punt returner following his junior and senior years and finished second in team history in receiving yards, punt return yards and all-purpose yards and was third in total touchdowns.
Crowder participated in the Redskins’ organized team activities on Thursday, according to photos posted on the team’s web site. The session was not open to the media.
Following high-profile incidents last season involving former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy — then with the Carolina Panthers — the NFL revised its personal conduct policy in December.
The league will now enforce “a baseline suspension of six games without pay for violations involving assault, battery, domestic violence, dating violence, child abuse, other forms of family violence, or sexual assault, with consideration given to possible mitigating or aggravating circumstances,” according to a press release issued by the league at the time of its adoption.
• Zac Boyer can be reached at zboyer@washingtontimes.com.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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