Smith should be down to his last chance with Panthers

   Zero is the number of times Steve Smith should be able to get away with punching a teammate and still remain a member of the Carolina Panthers.

   Enough's enough and John Fox, Marty Hurney and Jerry Richardson need to make it clear to Smith (they probably already have) that he can't wear a Panthers uniform anymore if what happened Friday in full view of the media and a crowd of fans that included children ever happens again.

   The intent here is not to pounce on Smith when he's down. The point is that an NFL team, especially one that's run as orderly as Carolina, simply cannot tolerate any player, no matter how good he is, to be a physical threat to his teammates and the overall reputation of the organization.

   Smith's vicious attack on cornerback Ken Lucas is the epitomy of "conduct detrimental to the team," the term the league's collective bargaining agreement uses to describe a misstep so grievous that a team can evoke up to a four-game suspension.

   Only one day after the incident, just look at the fallout: Smith has been suspended for the Panthers' games against San Diego and Chicago, both good teams, and Lucas has a broken nose and an uncertain return-to-practice date.

   The fact that this occurred on the watch of a coach and general manager whose jobs are likely on the line this season makes what happened even more hard to fathom.

   To their credit, however, Fox and Hurney didn't let their desire to have their best offensive player on the field as much as possible deter them from doing the right thing.

   The two-game suspension is warranted and Fox should be highly commended for the no-nonsense manner in which he presented the news to the media. This wasn't a coach trying to skirt an issue. This wasn't a man in denial. This was Fox acting like a leader of men, calling out a player everyone knows he needs desperately -- and doing so emphatically.

   Good for Fox.

   Is there now a zero-tolerance policy for Smith? I asked Fox and he wouldn't say for sure, but he did acknowledge that Smith had been given certain conditions for the future.

   I like Smith. I think he's changed over the past six years since he was last known to punch a teammate (Anthony Bright). I believe he means well. I believe him when he says he loves Jesus and wants to be a good husband, father and citizen. I don't question his intent when he holds a summer camp for children and says he loves working with kids.

   Smith grew up the tough way in the streets of L.A. -- short, smaller than most males his age, and without a dad involved in his life.

   He survived in part because there was a fire and a fight inside of him that refused to accept the notion that he was no-good-for-nothing.

   That same fire and fight is what makes him such an excellent NFL player, so determined to succeed.

   But the wounds of his past and the internal anger that gets triggered when the touchy areas of his mind or heart get touched the wrong way are still in need of healing.

   Steve Smith believes in a God who will forgive him over and over and over again. That's a good thing.

   But he lives in a world and works in a business -- and for an owner -- that cannot give him an endless number of chances to make good. Too much is at stake for everyone involved.

   -- Charles Chandler