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28th NFL Player Arrested Since Super Bowl
1985fan
Posts: 1,952 ✭✭
in Sports Talk
The first 27... 27! and now 28th the latest....
Insane. Like the yahoo story starts, I thought Goodell was supposed to improve player behavior?
Insane. Like the yahoo story starts, I thought Goodell was supposed to improve player behavior?
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Should the NFL only draft rich ivy league school kids with clean records?
I think Goodell is policing the league the best he can.
<< <i>The NFL has done nothing wrong though, I mean I assume they do extensive background checks on these guys. Looking at the Hernandez case his draft value fell considerably due to his off field issues. The only thing the Patriots are guilty of is giving a guy a chance who at the time had no outstanding issues. They sure have done everything right since his arrest, a large majority of the player pool is made up of poor kids who only got to college because of their athletic ability.
Should the NFL only draft rich ivy league school kids with clean records?
I think Goodell is policing the league the best he can. >>
I don't mean to imply the teams are at fault here, and Hernandez's off the field issues (at the time) were limited simply to marijuana issues (the same 'problems' which kept Warren Sapp from being the number one overall pick).
What I was implying was how effective is Goodell at his job if the width and breadth of these arrests only seem to be escalating.
NFL is just a microcosm.
<< <i>
<< <i>The NFL has done nothing wrong though, I mean I assume they do extensive background checks on these guys. Looking at the Hernandez case his draft value fell considerably due to his off field issues. The only thing the Patriots are guilty of is giving a guy a chance who at the time had no outstanding issues. They sure have done everything right since his arrest, a large majority of the player pool is made up of poor kids who only got to college because of their athletic ability.
Should the NFL only draft rich ivy league school kids with clean records?
I think Goodell is policing the league the best he can. >>
I don't mean to imply the teams are at fault here, and Hernandez's off the field issues (at the time) were limited simply to marijuana issues (the same 'problems' which kept Warren Sapp from being the number one overall pick).
What I was implying was how effective is Goodell at his job if the width and breadth of these arrests only seem to be escalating. >>
Personally I think Goodell is doing the best he can, he does hold players accountable for their actions. Pretty much all he can do is outline the leagues conduct policies and enforce them, Im not sure their can be a better way. I mean its not feasable to not allow guys into the league if they have had prior arrests that have been cleared up, possibly if you have a felony conviction then your banned maybe? Im not sure what else can be done. Its unfortunate to see these guys blow it by criminal behavior with the chance of a lifetime they are getting.
<< <i>The easiest thing? You get convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, you're out of the league. No second chances, no slaps on the wrist, come down with the hammer. You'll either get a bunch of people banned, or people will stop getting into trouble, either way the NFL gets cleaned up. It's kind of funny, though, Goodell having this 'we mean business!' attitude and the troubles off the field not only continuing but escalating. >>
Man I completely disagree with the misdemeanor part, these are kids we are talking about and most kids do make mistakes.
So if your son who just got drafted at 20 was arrested at a party for 1 can of beer and got convicted of being a minor in posession of alchohol he should then pay for it by having his career ruined? Way too harsh, these kids are not applying for a Law Enforcement position in fact most Officials who consider an applicant for their departments are ok with a minor flaw in their record because it tells them that they can act rationally in a position where they might happen across kids doing something that could be handled one way or another and a judgment call is needed. If you think a felony means out then I can agree with that.
<< <i>
<< <i>The easiest thing? You get convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, you're out of the league. No second chances, no slaps on the wrist, come down with the hammer. You'll either get a bunch of people banned, or people will stop getting into trouble, either way the NFL gets cleaned up. It's kind of funny, though, Goodell having this 'we mean business!' attitude and the troubles off the field not only continuing but escalating. >>
Man I completely disagree with the misdemeanor part, these are kids we are talking about and most kids do make mistakes, lots of times they actually learn from them.
So if your son who just got drafted at 20 was arrested at a party for 1 can of beer and got convicted of being a minor in posession of alchohol he should then pay for it by having his career ruined? Way too harsh, these kids are not applying for a Law Enforcement position in fact most Officials who consider an applicant for their departments are ok with a minor flaw in their record because it tells them that they can act rationally in a position where they might happen across kids doing something that could be handled one way or another and a judgment call is needed. If you think a felony means out then I can agree with that. >>
That, and increase in national crime, makes for a bad recipe
<< <i>Players make more money now than in the past. Money inflates egos and many players feel "untouchable" as a result.
That, and increase in national crime, makes for a bad recipe >>
Also, throw in loosened education standards for athletes and for some, a thug mentality.
RIP Mom- 1932-2012
<< <i>Players make more money now than in the past. Money inflates egos and many players feel "untouchable" as a result.
That, and increase in national crime, makes for a bad recipe >>
Crime is down. It has been trending down for a long time.
STOP JUST STOP
That'd be my succinct message to Geraldo Rivera, Rush Limbaugh and any other major media personality swerving way out of their lane to take turns bashing the NFL in the wake of the Aaron Hernandez murder saga.
Their comments are akin to me talking from a bully pulpit about the fiscal cliff or Obamacare, which is to say it wouldn't be pretty. I don't know enough about either to speak intelligently on them in a public forum. The same goes for Rivera and Limbaugh regarding Hernandez and the NFL.
Yet their voices carry weight. Not only do they have big platforms, but my sense is their opinions mesh with the majority of Americans in light of the ongoing drama involving the former Patriots star tight end.
Here's the money quote from Rivera:
“I don’t know why the league who recruits these kids from the inner city, how they don’t have minders, how the agents who are collecting 10 percent of $40 million, where are they in all of this?” Rivera said on Fox News recently. “Why aren’t they mentoring these young men who are fatherless, many of them—Ray Lewis and all the rest. Michael Vick. Uh, you can count them. There’s a ton of them. They sign them because they’re superb athletes and do nothing to preserve their character and put them on the right road toward manhood. It’s really pathetic.”
He couldn't be more wrong, and I'm not even talking about his factual errors regarding agents (the maximum percentage an agent can receive is 3 percent) or new player acquisition (players are drafted from universities, not recruited from inner cities). It's his basic premise regarding what the NFL does or doesn't do that bothers me. In fact, I'll argue as a former player the NFL already does more than enough for its players in this regard. Too much, if you ask me.
Not only do drafted players go through an intensive four-day Rookie Symposium that serves as the ultimate job orientation, but they have continuing education. Lessons are force fed to rookies and subsequently served up on a lesser (albeit still mandatory) basis to veterans through their time in the NFL.
Sitting through a seminar on domestic abuse my rookie year in the NFL was borderline insulting, let alone hearing the same message five and six years later. I got it. I wasn't going to hit a woman. Ever. Understood. My parents taught me that when I hit my older sister at age 4.
But I knew the seminar was necessary. I learned that early in my career, when after one such 45-minute session the presenter asked if there were any questions. I started to get out of my seat. In my mind, the presentation was over. How could anybody possibly have a question about the message to never ever hit a woman no matter what?
Yet the presenter called on a veteran, one of our best players, who raised his hand.
"That's all well and good," he said, "but what happens if the (expletive) hits you first? I'm not just gonna stand there and take that (expletive)." Several others shouted words of encouragement and affirmation, and I sat back down in my seat, wishing I had a Snickers because it was going be a while.
For a large percentage of players in the NFL, these sessions are repetitive, unnecessary and tedious. For a small percentage, especially young players, there is nothing more the NFL can reasonably be expected to do. You really think the NFL should be able to do in three months what their parents apparently were unable to do in 22 years?
I've also heard people ignorant of the NFL player process espouse the theory that the NFL should learn more about these guys before drafting them.
Please.
Other than maybe the CIA or Secret Service, I can't imagine many prospective employers doing a more thorough job researching new candidates than the NFL. The league does a background check on every player. Most teams do more. And that doesn't include the college scouts whose job is finding out as much information on these players as humanly possible. Then they are interviewed by coaches and executives. Over and over again.
The bottom line is teams have all of that information available to them when making the decision on whether or not to select a player. The Patriots gambled by taking Hernandez in the fourth round and won ... until they lost. That's how it goes a lot of times with players that have off-field concerns.
Aaron Hernandez murder charges have nothing to do with the NFL, says SN's Ross Tucker, a former NFL player. (AP Photo)
The psychology of the selection process for players with so-called red flags like Hernandez is fascinating. What message are the Patriots sending when they select a first-round talent like Hernandez in the fourth?
They're saying they don't care whether or not they acquire a player with good character, so long as they get the player at a spot deemed to be of value and not as risky of an investment as a first- or second-rounder.
What does that infer? They like the player a lot, otherwise they wouldn't have drafted him. But they are going to wait until the fourth round, because they know there is a high probability he will get in trouble. Otherwise, they would have selected him earlier based on talent.
It's a game many NFL teams are willing to play, but if you roll the dice enough times, odds are you're going to lose. The Patriots just did in a major way.
In fairness, I don't think any NFL team felt Hernandez was capable of getting into this situation. Yet there reportedly were some franchises that removed him from their 2010 draft boards due to associations with some nefarious characters in his hometown of Bristol, Conn.
The NFL can't do a much better job researching prospects or helping them avoid pitfalls during their career. My experience tells me the league is pretty much maxed out in both of those areas.
I prefer what I call "top down rehabilitation." What does that mean? That means the only thing left to do in order to send a loud-and-clear message is to fine, suspend and expel players as frequently and severely as necessary until everyone either gets the message, or all of the guys prone to mistakes are thrown out of the league.
In all sincerity, who needs them? Certainly not the NFL. This is a league that continued to flourish and see television ratings soar in years without Tom Brady (2008) and Peyton Manning (2011). If the NFL pressed on without two of the greatest players who ever lived, does anyone think it needs any of these other guys? Of course not.
I told Commissioner Roger Goodell as much when I met him for the first time in April, 2008. As a guy who just retired, I applauded the stance he took with Pacman Jones, the late Chris Henry and Tank Johnson.
Jones had been suspended the entire 2007 season, while Henry and Johnson had to sit out the first half of the year.
As far as I was concerned, good riddance. I still feel the same. Why give a roster spot to a serial trouble-maker when there always is someone in waiting almost as good, if not just as good, who will do things the right way?
Lest you think I am totally heartless, I am willing to acknowledge these are young men and that there is no "Idiot's Guide" to being young, rich and famous. Think about your friends and what they would have done at that age with that money and fame. It is an experiment bound to go wrong a certain percentage of time.
That's why I wouldn't throw them out of the league for a first offense, depending on the nature of said offense. The punishment should be harsh, though. There is no excuse for any of these guys. They went to the symposium, aka the "No Excuse Camp." Say you're sorry, take responsibility, but don't dare say you didn't know if you would get in trouble. If you attended the symposium, you knew, because they cover it all. The repeat offenders? See ya later.
That's why the message coming from the likes of Limbaugh and Rivera, and maybe even you, shouldn't be that the NFL better prepare these guys or give them more resources. That's hogwash.
The real message should be to encourage Goodell to throw the book at these players and send a clear signal to every fan, parent, player and media personality in this country—behavior of that kind will not be tolerated in the NFL.
It's the only viable option left.
Ross Tucker is a 2001 Princeton graduate who played seven years in the National Football League for five different teams before retiring in 2008. He wrote previously for Sports Illustrated, ESPN and Sports USA before joining Sporting News in July 2013.
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