The N.F.L. Never Feeling Liable
There are many things in this life that baffle me and I try to take comfort in the fact that I will probably never know the answer or the truth behind many of life’s great mysteries.
But there are no life mysteries here in the Cheap Seats. Just simple questions without logical answers, like why it costs me more to park at a game ($10) than to actually watch the game from my upper-deck seat($7)?…Does that mean that I’d have a better view from my car because it costs me more?
But there is one question, above all, that is beyond me.
Why do professional athletes consistently take part in acts of pure idiocy?
Let me clarify. Why are players in the National Football League constantly running into trouble with the law?
I ran across a site that lists all of the arrests and citations accrued by NFL players since the year 2000. What I found shocked me.
According to http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/nfl/arrests.html various NFL players have been involved with 404 documented run-ins with the police in the past eight years.
So if my math is right that’s about what--50 players a year. And let’s define “year” here because I mean you figure NFL players should technically be too busy and tied up with the NFL season from August until January to do anything wrong, right. So an technically an NFL player’s year/off-season is really six months long.
Let’s take a look at some of these arrests we’re talking about here…
11/20/2001 Damon Moore, Safety, Philadelphia Eagles. Charged with abandoning puppy at soccer field.
7/8/2002 Najeh Davenport, Running back, Green Bay Packers. Arrested in Florida after a woman told police he had broke into her university dormitory room and defecated in a closet.
5/31/2003 Michael Pittman, Running back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Charged with aggravated assault after police said he used his Hummer to ram a car carrying his wife, 2-year-old son and a babysitter.
3/1/2005 Dwight Smith, Safety, Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Arrested and charged with pulling a pellet gun on two fans who approached his car while he waited in line at a McDonald's window.
6/23/2005 Quintin Williams, Safety, Miami Dolphins. Arrested on DUI and drag-racing charges. He was clocked driving 111m.p.h. near the Dolphins practice facility, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
7/15/2005 Rod Coleman, Defensive Tackle, Atlanta Falcons. Arrested for misdemeanor disorderly conduct during a traffic stop in DeKalb, Ga. Coleman allegedly cursed at an officer and asked, ``Do you know who I am?!''
12/30/2005 Terry Glenn, Wide Receiver, Dallas Cowboys. Cited for public intoxication after urinating outside Jack In The Box restaurant.
3/26/2006 Dhani Jones, Linebacker, Philadelphia Eagles. Charged with failure to obey a lawful command -- a misdemeanor -- after he allegedly refused to stop dancing outside a South Beach club.
12/18/2006 Terrance Kiel, Safety, San Diego Chargers. Cited by police for public urination outside a downtown club.
4/15/2007 Cedric Griffin, Cornerback, Minnesota Vikings. Arrested on disorderly conduct charge in Minneapolis after allegedly being thrown out of nightclub for having his pants sag too low.
5/10/2007 Richard Seigler, Linebacker, Pittsburgh Steelers. Arrested on charges he ran a prostitution ring in Las Vegas, three felony counts.
8/27/2007 Lance Briggs, Linebacker, Chicago Bears. Charged with leaving the scene of an accident after crashing his 2007 Lamborghini into pole and leaving it on side of Chicago expressway.
11/3/2007 Richard Collier, Offensive Tackle, Jacksonville Jaguars. Charged with DUI after being found asleep behind wheel at McDonald's drive-thru window.
2/1/2008 Adrian Awasom, Defensive End, New York Giants. Arrested on a DUI charge in Phoenix just two days before his team was to play in the Super Bowl.
2/5/2008 Willie Andrews, Cornerback, New England Patriots. Charged with possession of a half-pound of marijuana, with intent to distribute
4/26/2008 Kalvin Pearson, Safety, Detroit Lions. Arrested, charged with felony aggravated battery on a pregnant woman and domestic battery by strangulation in Florida.
Those are a few of the numerous documentations of NFL players getting into trouble with the law.
All of the crimes fall on a sliding scale of stupidity, but the question still remains…Why?
Whether it’s drug charges, DUI’s, DWI’s, assault, battery, weapons possession, manslaughter, disturbing the peace, public intoxication, fraudulent checks and charges, robbery and various other misdemeanors and felonies you really have to ask yourself WHY.
Why are these players getting themselves caught up in all of this? Do they have any common sense? Do they feel like the law doesn’t apply to them? I just don’t get what could motivate them to do these things. I mean we’re talking about guys who are making millions of dollars and making really poor decisions. I just don’t get it.
And it’s not just the guys in the NFL. It’s athletes in every sport. But this is documented proof here, and it really jumps off the page at you. It is outrageous. You really have to ask yourself what goes on in the mind and what the rationale of these players is.
The funny thing is that a lot of these players are repeat offenders and many of their cases are dropped, acquitted, or they are let off with minor punishments. And this is after having committed crimes that would ruin the lives of normal, everyday citizens.
So next time I find myself wanting to drive under the influence, start a brawl outside a local nightclub, speed around with drugs in my car, or bring guns to the airport I’ll just have to think twice and remember that I’m not in the NFL.
- David