Goodell and NFL Need to Address Crime Issues
For all the the success the NFL has had over the years, one thing has put a huge shadow over the league.
Crime.
The NFL's summer of unrest continues with the recent arrests of Chad Johnson, Adam 'Pacman' Jones, Titus Young, Rolando McClain, Quentin Groves, and now Aaron Hernandez.
The league's image has taken a hit with the all these incidents, and the NFL must do something about it. Firmly.
For starters, you don't allow Pacman Jones to address the rookies, especially when he is in the middle of yet another court case himself. Jones obviously hasn't learned anything from his mistakes, or he wouldn't be in trouble again.
So how do the rookies benefit from hearing from him? They would probably benefit more from hearing from Michael Irving or Ray Lewis, who have both turned their lives around, as opposed to a guy who is yet again under surveillance from the NFL.
The NFL needs a better vetting process when it comes to drafting players, too. I know they supposedly do this, but in a case like Aaron Hernandez, they obviously did a lousy job.
Just doing a little research on this case myself, and I found troubling items about Hernandez from as far back as high school. This dude was troubled. Is there such a scarcity of tight ends in this country that all his warning signs could be so blatantly ignored?
Guess not. Hernandez's background and growing list of stupid decisions didn't stop the Florida Gators or the New England Patriots from taking a chance on him. And now this guy is an alleged serial killer and those teams should be asked what they were thinking, if indeed they were thinking about anything but on-field performance. It's one thing to offer a second -- and third, and fourth -- chance, but wouldn't increased monitoring be added to the process somewhere?
Same thing with Pacman Jones. Since he's been in the league, he's been on three different teams despite being suspended by the NFL and even having their bodyguards to watch his every move. He even got into it with a former bodyguard. This is the person the league wants to address their rookies?
Roger Goodell needs to take a stronger stance on players who constantly stay in trouble.
Maybe there should be a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy, or at least in the Hernandez case, banishment from the league. (Having said that, the feds may well take care of the 'banishment' issue.)
He might as well make moves like this. Goodell is already disliked by most of the players in the league, so what difference does it make now if he would install a new NFL policy? The NFLPA would have a public relations disaster n their hands if they resisted as a matter of course. If their players don't like it, don't play in the league.
One way or another, the NFL had better do something about this issue before the inmates are literally running the asylum.