49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh has defended players that have done a lot of bad things, but says he will not defend a player who commits violence against a woman or a child.
In the wake of the arrest of 49ers DT Ray McDonald for alleged domestic violence against a pregnant woman, the head coach of the 3-time NFC Championship participants told reporters that he has not passed judgement on McDonald, but would not allow anyone guilty of domestic abuse to play on his team.
“I’ll be very clear,” Harbaugh said, via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “You ask me how I feel about domestic violence. I can be very clear about that. If someone physically abuses a woman and/or physically or mentally abuses or hurts a child then there’s no understanding, there’s no tolerance for that.”
“There are going to be two principles at play here,” Harbaugh added. “And one is, I’ll speak for myself, I’ll speak for the 49ers: We’ll not tolerate domestic violence. The second principle, we’re firm believers in due process. And I ask for your understanding on those two principles.”
McDonald has started 45 games in the last three seasons under Harbaugh and has 11.5 sacks in that span. He was arrested on Sunday and charged with domestic violence, but has repeatedly told the media that he is innocent.
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