I was a police officer. One of my jobs was investigating possible crimes. We often received information from unknown sources. This isn't much different. When we received this information. Sometimes the clue that there was a possible crime came from someone making a comment in the newspaper, or it was overheard by a third party.
We didn't dismiss these things as if they didn't matter. We followed up on the "allegation." After doing an initial search of readily available information that was out there and readily available, we interviewed the person or people who were alleged to have committed said crime. We did not have a case that could go to court. It was a preliminary investigation, and even when we interviewed the people, they were not obligated to answer any of our questions.
But!! Let me emphasize this. But!! I never had one case in the dozens I investigated where the alleged criminal refused to answer questions, and/or had an attorney present, who didn't end up with dirty hands. Their failure to step forward and answer questions automatically becomes a red flag, and we started digging to find information that they usually didn't want us to find.
I had one case, where the guy had allegedly committed a burglary. He refused to talk to me. So, I began an investigation, and lo and behold, he was innocent of "that charge." What I did find out though was that he was having an affair with an under age girl, and was a go between in drug deals. It's amazing what comes up when you turn over a lot of rocks. Who knows if this guy would have ever been caught, for what he was doing.
I'm just saying that the failure of these guys to step forward and tell the truth does nothing to show they are innocent. If there's nothing to hide, there's nothing to hide.
I don't hold these players in awe, as if they were above everyone else. I look at them as what they really are. Guys who are paid a king's ransom to do a job that over half of American men would be willing to do for 10% of what they make. They spend years being pampered, and treated like they are above reproach, and they shouldn't be. If they were treated the same as every other American, this whole thing would have been resolved, and more than likely dismissed with a comment from the league that there was no reason to suspect these men did anything wrong.
But, that won't happen as long as people hold them up as "heroes." They're football players. Not perfect human beings who shouldn't be required to live by rules.
Just an opinion. We all have one.