SANTA CLARA, Calif. – It was a "pattern of poor decision-making" by Ray McDonald that ultimately led to the defensive lineman being "terminated" by the San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday in the wake of his being investigated on suspicion of sexual assault.
"While this organization has a strong belief in due process, and has demonstrated that over time, Ray has demonstrated a pattern of poor decision-making that has led to multiple distractions for this organization and this football team that really can no longer be tolerated," Niners general manager Trent Baalke said in a hastily-called news conference. "And that's the reason for the decision that we made today.
"This isn't about this one incident; this is about a pattern. If this was one incident, we would be standing up here talking about due process, like we have multiple times, in multiple other situations. But this is just a pattern of decision-making that Ray has demonstrated over a period of time that once again, it's no longer going to be tolerated."
McDonald, a third-round pick of the 49ers in 2007, also has a DUI on his record from 2010.
But this season began under a dark cloud for the Niners when McDonald was arrested and booked into Santa Clara County Jail after officers responded to a domestic violence incident on Aug. 31. Negativity enveloped the organization as he was allowed to play with the team standing behind the banner of due process.
The Santa Clara County district attorney's office declined to press charges against McDonald last month, citing a lack of evidence.
This latest alleged assault occurred Monday, a day after the 49ers were eliminated from the NFL playoff race with their 17-7 loss at the Seattle Seahawks.
"Not a situation you want to hear about," quarterback Colin Kaepernick said. "Very unfortunate.
"It's tough. He was a good friend to a lot of people on this team. No one around him ever thought bad of him. He was always a good person to everyone around here, so hopefully it's just a misunderstanding."
By cutting McDonald, the Niners will take a $4.6 million hit against the salary cap in 2015. He was due to make $4.1 million in base salary next season.
The Niners will also have to find a replacement for McDonald, who had 39 tackles and three sacks this season. Tony Jerod-Eddie is behind him on the depth chart, with Tank Carradine likely to join the rotation for these last two games.
At 7-7, the Niners are left to play out the string in meaningless games for the first time in the Jim Harbaugh Era. It has been a season of lost promise.
And adding to it, CEO Jed York who said in September, "Ray McDonald is not Ray Rice," spoke to the team two weeks ago during a meeting on domestic violence to stress how important the subject matter is to the organization.
"[I am] not angry," Kaepernick said. "I understand the situation. I understand why the team did what they did. Outside of that, it's really not my business."
Linebacker Aldon Smith, who has had his own legal issues for the 49ers to deal with over the years, declined to talk about McDonald, in any fashion.
Baalke, though, said he had "numerous" conversations with McDonald after his August arrest and had set forth "critera" for the player to "stay in good standing" with the franchise.
He obviously failed to meet that bar.
Baalke also said the Niners notified the league office about the allegation.
"This is a team decision," he said. "This is not a league decision.
"I was extremely disappointed, as all of us were, to hear about the latest allegations. Once again, this isn't about guilt or innocence in this specific situation. Because we still do believe in due process. This is going back to my original statement that this is about a pattern of poor decision-making. Not this matter in and of itself."
