It doesn't appear that Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch will be suspended for the regular-season opener after he was arrested and charged with DUI last month.
Generally, if a player is going to be suspended for an upcoming game, the league tries to notify the team by Monday or Tuesday. There has been no indication that a suspension is coming for Lynch.
That's not necessarily a surprise as a DUI arrest falls under the league's substance-abuse policy, not the personal-conduct policy. The general punishment is a player is fined as much as two game checks for a first offense, but not suspended.
Lynch, however, was previously suspended under the personal-conduct policy, missing three games in 2009, and there was considered a possibility he could face punishment as a repeat offender. However, no one knows what stipulations or guidelines were made by the commissioner at the time of Lynch's suspension, which was 3 1/2 years ago, and the wording of the collective-bargaining agreement indicates further punishment may depend on whether Lynch is found guilty of DUI or pleads to a lesser offense.
Lynch's back issue aside, the NFL normally suspends players for offseason conduct at the start of the season, and it appears that Lynch won't be suspended for his offseason DUI. It makes sense considering it falls under a different policy than his conduct policy violations earlier in his career.
Seahawks news
