Seahawk Rocky Bernard pleads not guilty to assault

Published 1:21 pm Tuesday, April 22, 2008

SEATTLE — Seahawks defensive lineman Rocky Bernard pleaded not guilty to domestic violence assault and was released from jail in Seattle.

At Tuesday’s court appearance he was ordered to stay away from his ex-girlfriend and released without bail.

Bernard was arrested early Monday and accused of hitting the woman in the forehead with his fist at a nightclub and then pounding on the windows of a car as she fled.

The 22-year-old Renton woman has a child with Bernard.

The 29-year-old Bernard is in the final year of a three-year, $13 million contract extension he signed in 2006. The Seahawks drafted the defensive tackle in 2002, and he has played in 88 games and started 40.