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NFL Player Behavior Policy


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Sunday, 02/25/07

 

Behavior an issue for NFL

League may get tougher in future

 

By PAUL KUHARSKY

Staff Writer

 

 

INDIANAPOLIS — A Denver Broncos cornerback was killed New Year's Eve in a drive-by shooting. The Cincinnati Bengals had nine players arrested in the last year.

 

In December the bodyguard of a Chicago Bears defensive lineman was shot and killed when the two were out together, not long after the player was found with questionably registered guns in his house.

 

Troubling behavior and debatable choices by players off the field were already issues for the NFL. Then, just as officials from all over the league gathered here at the RCA Dome and Indiana Convention Center for the annual NFL Scouting Combine, there were new headlines.

 

Titans cornerback Pacman Jones was involved in a Las Vegas strip club incident that culminated in gunfire. Three people were wounded, one of them paralyzed below the waist.

 

Las Vegas police questioned Jones but have not named him a suspect. One of the club owners said the Titan was a central figure in the melee that apparently led to the shootings, and came and left with the shooter.

 

As behavioral issues of NFL players get more and more attention, discussions have already been held about altering the parameters for punishment outlined in the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NFL Players Association.

 

"It's not a Cincinnati problem, it's not a Nashville problem," said Solomon Wilcots, a former NFL defensive back who works for CBS and Sirius. "This isn't a Pacman Jones problem. It's not a Chris Henry problem. This is a league-wide problem."

 

The answer, Wilcots said, is better structure and resources for every team.

 

The league holds an annual rookie symposium, but he said teams don't do enough to help young men with newfound wealth adjust to NFL life. He said the NFL can look to other professional leagues for some ideas as to the depth of resources players need.

 

"How come a guy like Kevin Garnett can go into the NBA with all the money and all the status as an 18-year old and handle it much better than we have these players who are making a fraction of what he's making and can't handle it at all?" he said. "(Minnesota Timberwolves executive) Kevin McHale put in place in that organization everything that that one guy needed to help him become integrated into becoming a professional.

 

"Just because you give a guy a contract and the money doesn't mean it's going to automatically happen. And I think there are some eyes (in the NFL) that are seriously closed to that very fact."

 

More cautious approach

 

As the NFL considers options for altering the way it disciplines players for behavioral issues, coaches and executives who've always talked about the importance of character are expected to take even fewer risks with their most valuable draft picks.

 

The Titans felt they'd sufficiently researched Jones before they spent the sixth overall pick on him in the 2005 draft.

 

While in college at West Virginia, Jones's role in an ugly bar fight led to a malicious assault charge. The felony was reduced to a misdemeanor and Jones ultimately got a suspended sentence and probation that included extensive community service. He wore an electronic monitoring device for 60 days.

 

After the draft the Titans said it was an isolated incident, not a cause for concern. They would likely think differently in a similar situation now.

 

"The league overall will be more inclined to pass on a player and go a different direction if there are some background or behavioral issues," Coach Jeff Fisher said. "That doesn't mean they won't (be drafted) at some point. But as a general rule ... people are going to be a lot more cautious."

 

Said Houston Texans Coach Gary Kubiak: "You're evaluating them as a football player but you're looking at what they stand for as a person and what they'll do for your city. So I think they do all go together. It starts with the football and it trickles down from there, but we're all looking for the good citizen also."

 

The parameters for punishment outlined in the collective bargaining agreement are complicated. It took Fisher and the Titans some time to sort through what they could do to Jones last season for an accumulation of off-field incidents.

 

Eventually he was suspend-ed a game. At a recent court hearing pertaining to misdemeanor assault charges that were dismissed, Jones testified he was also fined $100,000.

 

If the NFL ever adopts a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy like the one discussed here this week, it could be nicknamed the Pacman Jones rule. Defining a strike could be as difficult as sorting out sordid details of a player's involvement in criminal activity or a propensity for being around it.

 

Kansas City Chiefs Coach Herman Edwards said such penalties must allow teams the ability to take away the one thing players value above all else: their time on stage.

 

"You can fine guys, but that doesn't hurt them too bad," Edwards said. "When you don't let them play, that's what they understand. The players want to perform, they want to play well on Sunday. They like that. If you take that away from them, it deters them."

 

When to give up

 

While teams talk about the need for consistency, most coaches and executives acknowledge each case must be measured on its own merits.

 

They also said a player's production is one of the factors.

 

St. Louis Rams defensive end Leonard Little, a top pass rush-er with 68.5 sacks in the last six seasons, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after a drunk driving accident killed a woman in October 1998.

 

He was sentenced to 90 nights at a workhouse on work release, four years probation and 1,000 hours of community service. The NFL suspended him eight games for violating the substance abuse policy.

 

In April 2004 he was charged with felony drunk driving and was eventually acquitted. Last year he signed a contract extension for roughly $19 million through 2009.

 

Rams Coach Scott Linehan, who took over the team last season, said Little is an example of how additional chances can lead to a productive career, though he's quick to emphasize the former UT star has done nothing to exonerate himself.

 

"If you went through our locker room and you polled the people in our building and said, 'Tell me about Leonard Little,' you would be hard pressed to find one person to say one bad thing about him," Linehan said. "That says a lot about really truly who he is. It doesn't say that he didn't make some mistakes and he'd be the first one to tell you that."

 

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis pleaded to obstruction of justice charges and built a Hall of Fame career. Minnesota Vikings tackle Bryant McKinnie was a central figure in the team's embarrassing Love Boat scandal in 2005 and negotiated a seven-year, $8.5 million deal a year later.

 

Texans GM Rick Smith said teams must be vigilant regarding players in trouble, but also have to measure the idea of giving up on someone too soon.

 

"There is a fine line you've got to dance if a guy makes a mistake," he said. "Absolutely there is a point of diminishing returns and I think each club has to make that determination. Some clubs, there is very little tolerance for anything."

 

Hope for improvement

 

Pro Football Hall of Famer Charlie Sanders said his hope is more players are conscious of the impact their actions have on the entire league.

 

"Players are in positions that carry a lot of responsibility and I don't think they look at that for what it is," said Sanders, who works for the Detroit Lions. "They say, 'Well, we're just people.' But they're not just people. They're chosen people. They're chosen people from an athletic standpoint. And along with that goes responsibilities."

 

Restructuring the way players can be punished would give teams more alternatives and might help contain, or limit, the P.R. damage that can scar even innocent teammates.

 

"What the league's pushing for is the three-strikes-and-you're-out kind of thing, and I think there is a point where you've got to move on," Linehan said. "I think that's where this league is heading and I think it's a great direction."

 

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar...RTS01/702250415

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"The league holds an annual rookie symposium, but he said teams don't do enough to help young men with newfound wealth adjust to NFL life. He said the NFL can look to other professional leagues for some ideas as to the depth of resources players need.

 

"How come a guy like Kevin Garnett can go into the NBA with all the money and all the status as an 18-year old and handle it much better than we have these players who are making a fraction of what he's making and can't handle it at all?" he said. "(Minnesota Timberwolves executive) Kevin McHale put in place in that organization everything that that one guy needed to help him become integrated into becoming a professional."

 

 

That's good. The NFL has tried educating players(instant multi-millionaires) in behavior. If they continue this support I believe having a tough 3 strikes and you're out policy makes sense.

 

I like where many players support this too. Many character guys don't want a few idiots dragging their good names down.

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