Donte Stallworth Suspended for ‘09 Season

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Cleveland Browns WR Donte’ Stallworth has been suspended without pay for the entire 2009 season for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy as well as its substance abuse policy, league officials said on Thursday.  He  will be reinstated after the Super Bowl in February 2010, the league said.

Stallworth, 28, pleaded guilty to DUI manslaughter in Florida in connection with a March 14 accident in which he struck and killed MArio Reyes, a construction worker.

In a letter to Stallworth made public Thursday, commissioner Roger Goodel said, “I believe that further consequences are necessary” in addition to the punishment handed down by the legal system.

“There is no question that your actions had tragic consequences to an innocent man and his family, and that you have violated both the Substances of Abuse and Personal Conduct Policies,” Goodell said. “In that respect, you are clearly guilty of conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the NFL.”

“Your conduct endangered yourself and others, leading to the death of an innocent man. The NFL and NFL players must live with the stain that you have placed on their reputations,” Goodell said.

Goodell suspended Stallworth indefinitely on June 18, two days after Stallworth pleaded guilty.

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