I know that it is only a small amount of players from The National Football League that have come into contact with law enforcement, but the ones that are getting arrested are giving the rest of their colleagues a bad reputation. In just the past few weeks we have seen Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant get arrested. The more that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell attempts to push the importance of player conduct to his players, some continue to go astray.
According to The San Diego Tribune, since 2000 one out of every 45 NFL players has been arrested. According to The USA Today, 79 players were arrested in 2006 which was Goodell’s first year as commissioner. Already in 2012, 25 players have been arrested and training camp has not even started.
The Detroit Lions have been coming up big in the arrest charts with cornerback Aaron Berry being charged with DUI, while defensive tackle Nick Fairley and running back Mikel Leshoure have been arrested twice respectively this off-season. The defending Super Bowl Champion New York Giants were not immune from the police blotter either as offensive tackle David Diehl was arrested for DUI in June.
To the general public, it looks like a bunch of rich, spoiled athletes who cannot take care of themselves. To Goodell it is enough to make him pull his hair out. I wasn’t a supporter of Goodell for his unnecessary suspension of Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick once he was released from prison in 2009, but Goodell was left with a big task in cleaning up the league in 2006.
Goodell’s tenure began with him suspending Adam “Pacman” Jones, Chris Henry, and Tank Johnson in 2007. All three were repeat offenders and Goodell had to lay down the law which saw Jones get the stiffest punishment as he was suspended for the entire 2007 season. Despite public perception, Goodell does not get any joy of suspending players. As previously stated, Goodell is charged with protecting The NFL shield and by suspending players he hopes to make the other NFL players aware that this can happen to them as well if they are not more responsible for their actions.
Peterson was charged with resisting arrest while at a night club in Houston. Since Peterson has had a squeaky clean image, I feel that the public will give him the benefit of the doubt until everything is played out in court since he is disputing the charge against him.
For Bryant, it is becoming a sad trend to constantly hear his name attached to something other than his highlights on the football field. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones assigned him number 88 which is an honor in itself to don the same number for The Cowboys that was worn by Drew Pearson and Hall of Famer Michael Irvin who both helped The Cowboys franchise win five Super Bowl Championships. Bryant was recently charged with a class A misdemeanor for allegedly striking his mother. Bryant turned himself in to authorities in Texas, but it is time that the star receiver grows up.
Last year, Bryant and his entourage were kicked out of a mall in The Dallas area after he refused to dress appropriately which required him to pull his pants up and to stop using vulgar language. In January, Bryant was detained by authorities in Miami after an incident at a nightclub. Bryant also drew the ire of his veteran Cowboy teammates in 2010 which was his rookie campaign when he refused to carry veteran receiver Roy Williams’ shoulder pads after a training camp practice. This became a national issue as it has been a rite of passage for rookies to fall in line and take orders from the veterans. From the fallout, Bryant agreed to take the receivers to dinner, but Williams invited the majority of the team and left Bryant with a bill close to $50,000.
Bryant entered the league controversially as he had the talent to be drafted in the top five of The NFL Draft, but teams were scared away by his character. If Bryant doesn’t shape up soon, he will find that just because you are talented it doesn’t guarantee you will have a home in The NFL.
The Lions need to be careful as well as they are quickly becoming the new Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals were constantly in the media several years ago with players such as Cedric Benson and Jerome Simpson posing for pictures at the local police department. Now The Lions are joining those ranks which is taking away from the fact that this team made the postseason last year for the first time since 1999 and that they are a legitimate Super Bowl contender for the upcoming season.
low down for that. We as a society have gotten away from the philosophy that it takes a village to raise a child and we are seeing the results when people get into trouble; this is not to say that a person can get into trouble if a person grew up in what would be deemed as a better environment.
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