I was taught at a very early age that violence towards women was not to be condoned.
But we never dealt with the "knowledge" of someone else doing so. It never came up because it was understood that that's the right thing to do.
Morally, the thing to do is to somehow intervene and end the cycle.
But in places that go far beyond the boardroom of fortune 500 companies, your neighbors down the street and big time sports there's always been a mentality that says "we take care of our problems in house". Or, "it's not my place to get involved".
This creates such a gray area. A gray area where morality can be sidestepped and "company protocol" can dictate the type of intervention that takes place behind closed doors. Where covering one's ass is priority #1 and the truth is watered down and blended with new ingredients to form a tolerable "something" we're all supposed to swallow.
It's my guess that if Urban Meyer told the truth from the beginning and said "I knew and I reported it just like my contract stipulated" today's story wouldn't be any different.
He would nationally still be the guy "who condoned domestic violence" by not firing the guy after he knew of issues going back to 2009.
Zach and Courtney Smith's troubles wouldn't be an issue if Urban didn't insist he come to Columbus from a recruiting trip on the premise that there was going to be a police report filed.
I don't know what the whole truth is ...and nobody's telling it.
Drink up.