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Today, he is not a football player.
He is not a millionaire, not a charmer, not a pleasing memory of Super Bowl glory. Today, he is just another defendant in another courtroom.
Today, Michael Pittman is in trouble.
Finally, I might add.
Weeks have passed since Pittman was arrested after a confrontation with his wife at their Arizona home. It was his third arrest in two years. It was at least the fifth time he has been accused of some sort of domestic abuse.
With a legacy such as this, you might expect a chorus of condemnation. You might surmise he is embarrassed and contrite. You might ponder whether his next NFL paycheck would be his last.
You might, but you would be wrong.
No one, it seems, wants to hold Pittman accountable. Not the NFL, not the Buccaneers. Not his in-laws, not even his wife. Whether it's because he's a ball carrier, a meal ticket or just a swell guy much of the time, no one appears willing to demand he behave with either decency or restraint.
Instead, Pittman has only a courtroom to fear. Today he is expected to argue that his 3-year probation should not be revoked, an action that could send him to jail for his misdemeanor convictions in 2001. Tomorrow, he is expected to offer his innocence regarding the recent felony charges.
If only prosecutors and judges were as accommodating as teams and leagues. Perhaps then, the Bucs and Pittman would be free of their convictions.
It is easy to argue that judgment should not be rushed. That the NFL and the Bucs are doing the prudent thing by waiting for the courts to have their say. It is easy to argue because it requires no moral dilemma.
That's the problem with standards. They come at a price. And ideals? They often require sacrifice. The Bucs are more than happy to promote the wonderful community deeds of a Derrick Brooks or a John Lynch. But where do they come down on the misdeeds of a Pittman or a Dwight Smith? That's where your principles are tested. That's where your honor is established.
That's where the Bucs have no glory to speak of.
Look, this is not an isolated case. This is not a player with a distinguished record of community service, who you might argue deserves the benefit of the doubt.
A year ago, at this time, the Bucs acknowledged they were aware of Pittman's checkered past. They said they had thoroughly checked his background and felt comfortable offering him a chance.
Would you not agree he has wasted that chance?
This is not a courtroom where judicial requirements must be met. There is ample evidence, ample witnesses, to reasonably assume Pittman behaved atrociously. The rest is just legal chatter.
The Bucs have so little confidence in Pittman's innocence, they have spent recent weeks searching for his replacement. If their suspicions are that strong, why haven't they already cut ties with him? Or, at the very least, suspended him in anticipation of the court decision?
Is this some misguided notion of loyalty? A coach's way of showing the rest of his players he will support them as long as he possibly can?
Because, frankly, I think they have it backward. I think the Bucs are showing no loyalty to the players who are assets to the community, who are good fathers, good husbands and good neighbors.
Pittman has been down this road before and has emerged, seemingly, without remorse or regret. It has hampered neither his career nor his earning power.
There were two incidents involving a woman that came to the attention of Fresno, Calif. police when Pittman was a young man. After the second, he was sentenced to a year-long treatment program and probation.
Yet it did not keep the Cardinals from drafting him.
In 2001, there were two incidents involving his wife Melissa within weeks of each other. In the second, he was caring for his 1-year-old son when police said he put the baby down and busted down a glass door to initiate a fight with Melissa and another man. He was sentenced to more counseling, more probation and a week's worth of jail.
Yet it did not keep the Bucs from signing him.
Now Melissa says he purposefully rammed her car while his child and a babysitter were inside. She also told investigators there have been 30-40 instances of abuse that she never reported.
Yet she is not pressing charges.
Is there any wonder why Pittman has been slow to learn his temper is a problem and his behavior is intolerable?
"We say we care about domestic violence, but we don't want to do anything about it," said Diane Post, of the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence. "Not until it happens to our sister or our daughter. Until then, it's all talk."
Time and again, others have turned a blind eye toward Pittman's sins because of his abilities as a football player.
His only worries, like today, have been in courts of law.
This is because others, like the Bucs, have been unwilling to act. This is because they have washed their hands clean. This is because they have asked court officials to act as their guide.
And, presumably, as their conscience, as well.