I'll chime back in on this...
First off, for those that say that because of your background, you can't be hired...I would strongly disagree with that comment and would challenge you to bring forth that law. Employers routinely make decisions based on a candidates past as it is usually a very good indicator of his/her future. And to top that off, Florida is an at-will state...in other words, either an employee or an employer can terminate employment at anytime without cause or notification unless it has something to do with discrimination (age, sex, religion, race). If you were the CEO of a major high-profile company, would you hire a candidate that has a crime like sexual battery on his record? I think not.
Also, as to the opinion that stated that because we weren't there, we can't judge...correct, but we don't have to judge...a jury of his peers already did that for us...They found him guilty.
I would also agree that we can't pick and choose, but some offenses are greater than others...Is striking your wife during a heated arguement worse than a DUI? Of course....but one could argue that striking your wife is not the equivalent of sexually assaulting her. Both are horrible acts, but one is obviously less than the other.
If it were up to me, violent criminals of any sort would not be allowed to play in any of the major sports as they are in high profile positions and some may interpret that the sports themselves are sending the wrong message to our youth...but then again, and this is saddest of all, if what I just said were to happen, I think that we would have a lot less players playing right now.
And lastly...someone brought up the point regarding Saban's comments about players with character and integrity....Saban, practice what you preach. That Sir, is hipocritical to say the least when you are willing to bring this convicted criminal on board.