The Bigger Man!

It is very doubtful that you have not heard the sad story of Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats and his encounter with a member of the Dallas Police Department.  I would like to set this story up with a small recap of that story.   Moats, in his attempt to see his dying mother-in-law, ran a red light.  An officer witnessed this and pulled him over in the parking lot of the emergency room.  As the Moats family exited the vehicle the office drew his weapon and allegedly pointed at them.  He then harassed Ryan Moats and provoked him as his mother-in-law lay in the hospital less than a hundred yards away dying.  The officer was implored by hospital staff and fellow officers to let Moats say good-bye and he ignored them as he continued on his power trip.  The whole situation was disgusting.

The silver lining in this ordeal came this morning on ABC's Good Morning America.  Ryan Moats appeared with his wife Laticia and openly stated that he accepts the officer's apology.  They did make a request that the officer issue them a personal apology instead of a statement released by a lawyer.  I believe they are owed this and should get it.  But overall the family looked ready to put this whole ugly thing behind them.  I often bash sports stars here on their inability to obey the law, and Moats said that he would have been more than happy to pay the ticket, but he really deserved more humane treatment.  Enforcing the law is a tough and often thankless job, but we trust our officers of the law to have better discretion when handling the most sensitive of situations.  The officer here was obviously on a power trip.  I am in absolute awe of Ryan Moats for his ability to accept the apology of the officer and Mr. Moats willingness to put this situation behind him.

Law enforcement is a stressful job and a miscalculation of a situation can almost be forgivable.  But officer Robert Powell apparently has a history of this kind of behavior.  It seems that he took Zach Thomas' wife to jail for a illegal u-turn.  I wanted to label the Moats incident as a racial issue, but it seems that is not the case.  Zach Thomas' wife is white.  This officer obviously has a superiority complex.  I think that is nearly as bad as being a racist.  I hope that the Dallas Police Department handles this in an appropriate fashion.  I also think that Ryan Moats has set an example with his maturity and selflessness.  Live like no one is watching and keep your life in perspective.