The Bears quickly released defensive end Ray McDonald after he was arrested early Monday morning in San Jose and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence and child endangerment.
Santa Clara police confirmed McDonald “physically assaulted the victim while she was holding a baby.” Police were originally called to a disturbance at McDonald’s Santa Clara apartment at 3:48 PT, but when they arrived, McDonald had already left. McDonald was later arrested in San Jose. According to NBC Bay Area, he was arrested at the house of former 49ers defensive lineman Justin Smith.
McDonald was released by the Bears Monday afternoon.
“We believe in second chances, but when we signed Ray we were very clear what our expectations were if he was to remain a Bear,” general manager Ryan Pace said in a statement released by the team. “He was not able to meet the standard and the decision was made to release him.”
This is McDonald’s fourth run-in with police in exactly one year and his third arrest. On May 25, 2014, police responded to McDonald’s house after a gun was pulled during an argument between a woman and her fiancé, later determined to be McDonald. In August of 2014, McDonald was arrested on suspicion of domestic abuse, but he never faced formal charges. Then in December, another arrest led to a sexual assault investigation that has yet to be resolved. The San Francisco 49ers released McDonald after that arrest.
Despite McDonald’s troubles, the Bears signed the defensive end to a 1-year, $1.06 million contract in March. Chairman George McCaskey initially told new general manager Ryan Pace he could not sign McDonald, but was swayed after McDonald paid his own way to Chicago to meet face-to-face with the chairman.
“The fact that (McDonald) proposed that idea, I gave him a lot of credit for,” McCaskey said back in March. “And he was very candid, very forthright. It was a difficult conversation. It was long. It took a lot out of me. And I think it took a lot out of him. And after that conversation, I told Ryan that he had our permission (to sign him).”
McCaskey said he also talked to McDonald’s parents, but didn’t reach out to the accusers’ side, citing a league investigation before adding: “An alleged victim, I think — much like anybody else who has a bias in this situation — there’s a certain amount of discounting in what they have to say.”
That quote — along with the signing itself — was met with plenty of criticism both locally and nationally, but asked April 7 if he was surprised by the backlash, McCaskey said: “I didn’t think there was that much backlash.”
McDonald, meanwhile, told reporters last month that he didn’t think it was fair for people to have questions about his character or question whether or not he should be employed by the Bears.
“No, I don’t think it’s right. I don’t think it’s fair,” McDonald said. “You can look on TV and see all this negative stuff said about somebody and people can put out stuff that is not very credible and it can assassinate someone’s character by doing that. But when you actually get a chance to meet someone and hear his side of the story, you get to see it for what it really is.”
The meeting between McCaskey and McDonald also came as a result of new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio vouching for McDonald. Fangio coached McDonald in San Francisco.
“I had been around him for four years, so I knew what kind of guy he was on a daily basis,” Fangio told reporters May 9.
The defensive coordinator even went as far as to contact two other NFL teams “to recommend they sign Ray” after the Bears initially decided not to sign McDonald.
“I called Ray’s agent to tell him if you need a character reference, anybody wants to talk to me about Ray, that they might be interested in signing him, to have them feel free to call me,” Fangio said. “I think that tells you how I feel about him.”
Fangio admitted the arrests were “unsettling” but ultimately pointed to the lack of charges as a defense.
“He put himself in some situations that he didn’t need to be in, but the fact of the matter is, he was never charged with anything. So the headlines, I think, look worse than what actually happened,” Fangio said.
The headlines now figure to look even worse after McDonald’s latest arrest.
Adam Hoge covers the Chicago Bears for WGN Radio and WGNRadio.com. He also co-hosts The Beat, weekends on 720 WGN. Follow him on Twitter at @AdamHoge.
