Suspension may not be automatic for Marshawn Lynch
By Mike Florio | ProFootballTalk.com

The league generally disciplines players for DUI offenses under the guidelines of its substance-abuse program. Marshawn Lynch was previously disciplined under the league's personal-conduct policy.

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com pointed out the potential importance of that distinction on Tuesday night.

"DUIs don't fall under the personal-conduct policy. Drunk driving gets processed under the substance-abuse policy. And the substance-abuse policy provides that, ordinarily, a player will only be fined for a first-offense DUI."
      -- Mike Florio, ProFootballTalk.com

That's true. But that doesn't mean that the personal-conduct policy doesn't apply at all. What were the terms of Lynch's three-game suspension three years ago? Was the subject of future criminal acts addressed at all? Was there a time frame imposed on the terms, a statute of limitations for lack of a better word. After all, it was more than three years ago.

Florio quotes the league's substance-abuse policy to outline the potential punishment for a first-time DUI offense, but there's an entry in the NFL personal-conduct policy that also may apply in this case: "Persons who have had previous violations of law or of this policy may be considered repeat offenders."