Thursday, September 6, 2007
NFL Player Suspensions
As you've all probably heard NFL players are getting into more trouble with the law than ever before. Players like Adam "Pacman" Jones, Chris Henry, Odell Thurman, and Michael Vick are the headliners in this new trend. All of these players have either been arrested in the past year or have serious allegations and charges pending against them. I applaud commissioner Goodell for the actions he has taken in disciplining these players who have broken the law. However some are against such strict penalties like seasonlong suspensions and eight and ten game suspensions. Although they may seem harsh at first but I believe they are fair enough take Rams defensive Leonard Little in 1998 he decided to drive drunk and was responsible for a crash that killed a women and recieved only an eight game suspension. Let me state again that he was responsible for killing someone! Nowawadays the NFL suspends players for four games for violating the leagues substance abuse policies and suspended Pacman Jones for an entire season for being arrested five times since joining the Titans in 2005. As you can see the NFL has really cracked down on players who get into legal troubles. If Leonard Little would have gotten would have done what he did recently he would have be suspended minimum of one season. Although the penalties may be a lot stiffer I think they need to be so that players might think before breaking the law. Overall I think the change had to be made and the league can only benefit from it.
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5 comments:
Kevin - I agree that Roger Goodell is a wondeful job. He really is putting his foot down and showing these players that he isn't going to let them off easy. I feel that this was a good way to do it since this is Goodell's first year so he needs to send the message to the other players right off the bat and say if you mess up these are your punishments. I like how he is sticking to his morals and not turning back. I liked how you compared it to Little before and how he killed a woman. I completely agree with that statement. He should've been doing with a couple seasons minimum. Eight games is just not enough. I think these players are really understanding what Roger's views are.
Both of you I couldnt agree more. First of all great job for going back to the Little case. How he only got 8 games is still beyond alot of people but as we know Paul T, wasnt the greatest commissioner but thats another argument for another day. What Roger is doing is great for the game. I agree with you lavin that its great that he is sticking by his guns. This is the policy so its eaither my way or the high way. The NBA is know as the "thuggish" league of the professional sports. Roger did not want his league to be like that. Now with the suspensions i think they are great. Pacman jones who got arrested five times and questioned by the police a crazy 11 times since he was drafted(wikipedia) should be all year. Its a joke i dont blame Roger for wanting all that stuff out of his league. And as for the Bengals and all of them getting suspended that is turning into a circus. Already henry and thurman have gotten arrested and its the perfect thing to do. So Roger keep it up you are doing an awesome job.
I too agree completely with the standpoint of Roger Goodell. Rules aren't going to be bent and amended for superstars under this administration. The fact that Leonard Little was able to slide by with manslaughter, while players now get 1/2 that suspension for substance abuse, speaks poorly on the Tagliabu era and highly upon Roger Goodell's plan to run a tight ship. Roger Goodell is understanding though, which seems to be being forgotten. Terry “Tank” Johnson was still allowed to play last season despite many court charges and he even travelled to the Super Bowl (though that wasn't Goodell's discretion). But, as previously discussed, he put the fist down when Johnson received a DUI over the summer. He proceeded to suspend him for eight games. Overall, Goodell is doing a superb job at handling some very sticky situations.
I agree with everyone's input. Goodell has done a great job with characters like Pacman, Chris Henry and Odell Thurman. These guys need to clean up their acts. It always amazes me that players in these positions take for granted what they have and waste it all away. Leonard Little is a perfect case of someone who took for granted what he had. He should not even be in the league for killing someone. Like everyone has mentioned he is setting up a precedent that hopefully will be followed. I think he did a good job dealing with each situation with Micahel Vick being the hardest. He made a decision that was not only best for the league but for Michael Vick as well. I think that there would have been a big backlash if Vick were allowed play and it would have caused even more mayhem for the league. In my opinion, Goodell is showing why he was the best candidate for the job.
I could not agree with you more. Roger Goodell was put in a tough situation because he has only been the commissioner for one year. He has had to face a lot of problems with players getting in trouble over this year and that is hard to do when just coming into a job. I give him a lot of credit. Even coaches such as Bill Belichick have been thrown into the mix. Goodell fined Belichick $500,000 and took away New England’s first-round draft pick after finding out about the taping of the New York Jets defensive signals in last weeks game. This was probably a tough decision for Goodell but I believe it was the right thing to do. As more and more players and coaches keep breaking the law and getting in trouble, punishments need to become stricter. “It was the biggest fine ever for a coach and would be the first time in NFL history a first-round draft pick has been confiscated as a penalty,” states ESPN (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=3018762). If there are more punishments for these wrong doings then I believe that these "crimes" wont be committed as much or at all. The NFL has defiantly cracked down and I believe it is for the better. The league will benefit from it and hopefully this will make these sports figures better role models for young kids who watch them on TV every week.
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