-Shark
Listen, it kills me to say this, but the NFL's criminal bad boy, Pacman Jones, doesn't deserve the punishment he's most likely going to receive sometime later this week. Rumor has it that a season long suspension is in store for Jones because of his impressive criminal stat line: 10 incidents involving police, 5 arrests, plus he even "made it rain" so hard in a strip club that it incited a stripper riot. And all this in just two years. His mother must be very proud.
I recognize the fact that the NFL has a serious image problem right now. Its players are breaking the law so frequently that the problem can no longer be ignored. Pac has become the poster boy for all that's wrong with the NFL--although "Tank" Johnson and Chris Henry are really pushing him to be the best, err worst--and people are looking to take down the man who's giving the NFL a bad name. But too many people are getting sucked into the mob mentality and are calling for Pac’s head when maybe all they deserve is a few toes. So why don’t we all take a deep breath here and look at what’s really going on.
A) The NFL is trying to make an example of Pac and its wrong to do so. Instead of looking at his individual case, the NFL is looking at the state of the league’s image and is reacting to that, rather than Pac’s case itself. From what I can tell, the only part of the NFL player conduct policy that he has broken is the section that requires a player to report any criminal arrests to the team he plays for and the league office. Does this seem right considering everything else that goes on in the league? I didn't hear anyone saying Shawne Merriman should be banned for life when he tested positive for a banned substance. People hardly even blinked. How about Jamal Lewis? Sure, people scolded him when he got out of prison for setting up a drug deal, but he was still a top pick in your fantasy draft. And because I actually fear Ray Lewis (and wouldn't put it past him to search random blogs for people speaking ill of him), I won't even get into his story. However, you can use your imagination on where I might go with it. If Pac does get suspended for half the season like a lot of people seem to think right now, it just wouldn’t make sense considering the NFL has historically given much lesser punishments for much greater crimes.
B) It sounds like Pac’s punishment is going to come under the new NFL Player Conduct Policy even though his violation(s) occurred under the old set of rules. Now, I don’t know if this is necessarily true, but I haven’t heard anyone on television or radio clarify this point. Instead, the media mentions Pac and the new conduct policy making it seem as if he’s going to be punished under the new rules that he helped bring about. If this is the case then Pac’s lawyers should be screaming “ex post facto.”
C) As Bob Sugar once told us, “It’s not ‘show friends’, its show business.” And people seem to be forgetting this. The NFL’s main product is entertainment and banning or suspending players only weakens their product. So it is really a surprise that the league has been so lenient in its punishments?
D) I don’t blame the NFL for letting Pac get away with so much until now because at the end of the day Pac makes the NFL more money than a lesser player. I blame the Titans coaches and veteran players for letting things get so out of hand. After his first say five “incidents”, the organization should have sat him down and made it clear (I’m talking crystal) that they would punish any more off field behavior. Then they should have told the older guys to take him under their wing and to literally baby-sit the kid if need be. I know its different in pro sports, but if you’re on a team its your responsibility have to deal with stuff like that, instead of leaving it to some old guy like Roger Goodell.
-Brian Sharkey
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