“I HOPE I come out guns blazing. I’m full of excitement and full of juice. I’m ready to go.” Those comments from a player making his return would usually be deemed normal. If anything, it is the perfect response when asked a question about your feelings after 19 games in the NFL. But for Greg Hardy, the player who spoke those words, it was the worst phrase he could have come out with.

Hardy, while at the Carolina Panthers last season, missed 15 games for a domestic violence incident involving his girlfriend last year.

The Dallas Cowboys picked him up in the summer and handed him a $13 million one-year contract knowing he could be handed a further suspension. And he was, with the league throwing down a 10-game suspension without pay. But this was reduced to four.

What did Hardy do? He was alleged to have thrown his girlfriend on a bed full of loaded guns, strangled her and threatened to kill her.

So when he says he would come out “guns blazing” I was expecting the league to reinstate the rest of the ban or at least hand him a heavy fine. Their response? To release a statement saying they were disappointed with the comments and that they disagreed with them.

Damn right they disagree with them. We would have a serious problem if the NFL agreed with them. But the league does have a problem and once again they have failed to act. What makes this worse is what Hardy went on to say about an opponent’s wife.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is married to supermodel Gisele. When asked about facing Brady, Hardy chose to instead speak about Gisele and said: “Have you seen his wife? I hope she comes to the game, I hope her sister comes to the game, all her friends come to the game. One of my favourite games of the year, guys.”

Still no action taken by the league, who are trying to project the image that they are working hard to eradicate domestic violence and sexual assault, while not objectifying women. Well I’m sorry, they are going about it the wrong way.

And that includes the Cowboys, who when quizzed about Hardy’s comments could only say that they had spoken to him to remind him that: “[We] distinguish ourselves with our play, not with what you say. He understands that now.”

I have to disagree with the Cowboys and say that he doesn’t “understand that now.” And the fact that they had to have this conversation with him days after he had served his ban means they probably shouldn’t have signed the player in the first place.

But as always, if you have the talent you can pretty much get away with what you want. Hardy was incredible in the match against the Patriots and left plenty of fans and commentators confused about how to deal with such a troubled player.

For one ex-star turned pundit, how you handle Hardy is simple, hand him a lucrative new contract. Hall of Fame wide receiver Bruce Irvin said: “I know a lot of people are mad at this dude, but I was like: ‘Oh my God, this is the first game.’

To come back in the first game and do what that dude did, that was crazy.

“I’m sorry everybody and I don’t want to be insensitive but we should sign him to a long-term deal now.”

No. Don’t sign him to a long term deal. You shouldn’t have given him a one-day deal let alone a one-year contract. But this is sport. And it never ceases to amaze me.

In saying that, I am surprised that former Baltimore Ravens player Ray Rice hasn’t been picked up by a team yet. The running back was released earlier this year after a video emerged of him knocking his then fiancée unconscious in a lift and dragging her body to a room.

Rice has apologised and has since undergone counselling in an attempt to show that he is a changed man. He does work with domestic violence and children’s causes and the NFL even came out over the weekend to say that they would support Rice should he find a team in the league.

Yet he hasn’t even been called up for a tryout. Rice hasn’t even asked for a long contract should he return, just a short deal to prove his worth. There are some teams in desperate need of a running back with Rice’s credentials but they don’t seem that desperate.

This could be because they do not want to be associated with someone who was seen by millions punching the woman he allegedly loved. But I doubt it. NFL teams have welcomed back Michael Vick who spent time in jail for hosting illegal dog fights.

My theory? Rice wasn’t spectacular in the season before his suspension and given that teams shy away from ageing running backs as it is, they are deemed an easily replaceable position, it is more likely that franchises are opting to go for a younger player. Rice’s continued exile from the NFL unfortunately has nothing to do with his violent past.