NFL star Hardy won't play amid uproar over domestic violence

(CNN) -- Ray Rice won't play in the NFL on Sunday, but a player convicted of domestic violence will.

Greg Hardy, a star defensive end for the Carolina Panthers, will start for his team against the Detroit Lions.

Rice, meanwhile, might never play again, since the NFL suspended him indefinitely after a video was posted online that showed him punching out his now-wife.

Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings also won't play Sunday. His team suspended him as legal authorities proceed with his case over allegations of child abuse in Texas.

Hardy will start Sunday even though he's been convicted of domestic violence in North Carolina. Authorities say he choked his then-girlfriend, threw her around, dragged her by her hair and threatened to kill her.

Hardy -- 6-foot-4 and 275 pounds -- says he is innocent, and he has appealed a guilty verdict rendered by a Mecklenburg County judge.

'Shame on the Panthers for letting Hardy play. Shame on the NFL for not stopping it,' USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan wrote.

'If there were a Greg Hardy video, would Greg Hardy be playing Sunday?' Sports Illustrated asked.

'It's ridiculous,' CNN commentator and legal analyst Mel Robbins said. She commended the Minnesota Vikings, who sidelined Peterson -- one of the top players in the league -- who was indicted on felony charges alleging he had hurt his child 'with criminal negligence or recklessly' under the guise of discipline.

The NFL should suspend players, with pay, when they are arrested, not wait as the league is doing with the Hardy case, Robbins said. The player should sit out during the criminal and league investigations.

'And why that's important is because the NFL is in the business of making money off a game where guys fight over a ball. They are not ever going to be in the business of finding the truth about their players and what they're doing in their private lives,' she said.

The league should have the same zero tolerance policy it has for players who use performance-enhancing drugs, she added.

The league has announced a new policy that covers domestic violence and other types of assaults. It says anyone in the league -- players or team personnel -- will be suspended for a minimum of six games for a first offense of domestic violence.

Hardy was sentenced in July in a one-day bench trial. He received 18 months of probation and a 60-day suspended sentence for the misdemeanors he was charged with.

'If the NFL is saying there hasn't been disposition (of the case), I think they're ducking the issue,' Belmont Abbey law professor Steve Ward told Sports Illustrated. Ward, who is a former prosecutor in Charlotte, North Carolina, told SI that fewer than 5% of bench trials are appealed and Hardy is manipulating the system.

And so he plays.

A week ago the defensive end had four tackles and one sack in the Panthers' road win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 2013 Pro Bowl selection also forced one fumble.

'Too bad the Minnesota Vikings leadership can't take over the Panthers for a few hours and show them how to make a simple decision. The Vikings get it,' Brennan, the USA Today columnist, wrote.

Instead the Panthers draw heated criticism. Owner Jerry Richardson, while accepting a civic award last week, began to cry while speaking about domestic violence.

'When it comes to domestic violence, my stance is not one of indifference. I stand firmly against domestic violence, plain and simple,' he told the audience in Charlotte. 'To those who would suggest we've been too slow to act, I ask that you consider not to be too quick to judge.'

Charlotte Observer sports columnist Scott Fowler said it is time to put weight into those words.

The team should do now what it should have done after he was convicted, Fowler said: Suspend him. 'Even if the NFL Players Association appealed successfully on Hardy's behalf and he didn't miss time, at least the Panthers would have sent the correct message,' Fowler wrote.

Hardy will face a jury trial in November at the earliest, more than halfway through the NFL regular season. Until then, it appears the star player with a conviction on his record will continue to play in the NFL.

According to the NFL's personal conduct policy, players like Rice can appeal a suspension. If his suspension is upheld, Rice can apply for reinstatement after 11 months.

Rice is in a pretrial intervention program that means he can avoid trial if he successfully completes the requirements of the agreement he made with authorities in New Jersey. In that case, the domestic violence charge will be removed from his record.

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