Three-time Super Bowl champion Mark Schlereth didn’t mince words about what the NFL should do with Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs.
The Denver Broncos legend delivered one of the strongest reactions yet to the allegations surrounding Jacobs.
Mark Schlereth Wants NFL to Draw a Hard Line After Josh Jacobs’ Arrest
On the “Stinkin’ Truth Podcast,” Schlereth said that he would have no problem if Jacobs never played another NFL snap.
“This is horrid,” Schlereth said. “As a father of two daughters and a grandfather of two granddaughters, I don’t have any issue if that guy never plays again. I don’t. That is completely unacceptable, and the video I saw over the course of the weekend is sickening. Whatever the punishment is for him, he deserves that and more, as far as I’m concerned.”
The video hasn’t been released publicly, and the Packers confirmed that they have not seen it, so it’s unclear how Schlereth would have seen the footage.
“We have not seen the video,” Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said on Tuesday. “Again, those are legal things going on right now, so we’ll let those play out.”
Schlereth’s comments came after prosecutors in Brown County, Wisconsin, formally charged Jacobs on August 27 with misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal damage to property stemming from a May 23 confrontation with his girlfriend.
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According to the criminal complaint, garage surveillance footage corroborated the relevant portions of the woman’s account that would be visible on camera, including Jacobs taking her phone while she was on the floor and later appearing to damage it. The complaint notes the footage covers only the garage, not inside the residence.
Jacobs’ attorneys have emphasized that the charges filed against him do not include domestic violence and have said the allegations will be addressed in court rather than through the media.
The league took administrative action three days after the charges were filed, placing Jacobs on the Commissioner’s Exempt List. The designation prevents him from practicing or attending games while the NFL reviews the matter, although it is not itself a finding of guilt.
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The Packers’ official roster now lists Jacobs under the commissioner-exempt designation. The team has said it is aware of the charges and will continue to cooperate with the NFL.
Before the league’s move, head coach Matt LaFleur said he fully anticipated Jacobs remaining a member of the team but could not say whether he would be available for the season opener. Jacobs’ initial court appearance is scheduled for November 17.
The legal case represents a major shift from where matters stood immediately after Jacobs’ May arrest.
He initially was booked on five potential counts, including felony strangulation and suffocation, but prosecutors released him without charges while investigators continued gathering evidence. The two misdemeanor counts were filed roughly three months later, after what the district attorney described as additional forensic work.
Schlereth’s reaction went beyond the league’s current administrative response. The former Broncos standout, who won two Super Bowls in Denver and won another with Washington, framed the issue in personal terms rather than football ones.
For Schlereth, the question was not how much Green Bay might miss a former All-Pro running back. His answer was that some conduct, if proven, should make football irrelevant.
