Now where's his carrot? I know there are orientation seminars for rookies, but is there any ongoing follow-up required by the league? As superstar football players, most of these guys have been given free passes on their personal behavior their entire lives. If the risk of jail and/or thug death didn't deter them by the time they got through a couple of years of college, the threat of a suspension won't make them change their ways overnight. The punitive consequences have to be significant, and I give Goodell credit for that, to a point. If we were dealing with rational men, the threat of losing millions of dollars in income would seem to be sufficient motivation to walk the straight and narrow. But we are not dealing with rational men for the most part. Plus, the fact that Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson are still in the league send the clear message that you practically have to pull a Carruth to get the boot. I submit that the situation might be improved, for not much cost, on the "encouragement" side. It would not be that hard to put troubled rookies (everyone knows who they are) on a sort of probation, maybe including regular sessions with league reps to keep them on track, and bonuses kicking in only after each year of good behavior. It would seem to me to be in the best interest of the league and of the players to keep the golden goose alive.
To me, the issue isn't Goddell, or even the players themselves. This behavior problem will continue to exist for one basic, economic reason: Scarcity
Look, Pacman Jones is a guy who seems to invite trouble wherever he goes. But, he's also a talented corner. And you know, if you need a talented corner and Jones is on the market, SOMEONE will take him. There just aren't many other options.
Athletes are a rare breed. If I were doing what Jones did, I'd be fired. But my company wouldn't suffer because there are lots of people out there who can do what I do. But there aren't a lot of people who can do what Jones, or Johnson, or even Boley can do. And because of a limited pool of talent, players will keep being recycled
I understand the economics of why the players get away with bad behavior. I agree that it will always exist to one degree or another. The question is how to reduce it. One sure way is to kick out bad guys. As we've seen, that only happens if you kill people or dogs. Everything else is up for grabs. My position is that you have to do three things if you want to moderate undesirable behavior: 1. make it abundantly clear which behaviors are unacceptable; 2. reward compliance; and 3. punish trangressions. The league does an arguably acceptable job of #3. I think they could do much better on 1 and 2.
I think we have to give Roger's stick a little more time to work. A little kid is not going to learn the first time he is spanked or given a timeout or grounded. Likewise, as you pointed out, a football player is not going to change his ways overnight...especially since they've been given a free pass for their entire lives.
Roger's only been weilding his stick for a little over a full year now. Sure, a bunch of bad guys continue to get signed by new teams or drafted. But none of those guys who have been harshley punished by Goodell are still with their old teams.
The Bears released Tank Johnson.
The Titans traded away Pacman Jones.
The Bengals released Chris Henry.
The Falcons no longer seem to want Michael Vick.
Those players have been picked up by other teams (Vick will if his "indefinite" suspension ever gets an end date). If they can change their behavior overnight, good for them, good for their new team, good for Goodell, and good for the league.
If they can't, they'll get suspended again and possibly dropped for good. Then we'll know whether Goodell is having any true effect on NFL behavior.
The real issue is the repeat offenders and the fact that there is always a new team willing to give them another shot. Pacman, Jeremy Stevens (sp?), Tank Johnson, Koren Robinson, David Boston and about a hundred others we can name from over the years. They wear out their welcome at one location and some other team is desperate enough to take them on regardless of their past transgressions. The players obviously know this, short of killing somebody, ala Carruth, another job is waiting for them. If the league is really serious about limiting this kind of criminal presence, then you have to limit the ability of other teams from resigning known thugs.
Put the onus on the clubs. if you want to sign a guy who has been released by another team due to criminal behaviour, go ahead. But if he engages in new criminal behaviour with the new team, punish the player AND the team. Basically the NFL would say to teams: if you wanna take a chance on this guy fine, but if he messes up again it will cost you, so you better be sure he's got his act together. If a teams signs a player who reoffends while with them, fine them a draft pick, or better yet take some money off their salary cap for the next season. Teams will think twice before signing quesitonable characters. This won't change anything for certain guys who are just destined to be criminals, regardless of the punishment out there, i.e. Lawrence Phillips. But maybe a player will think twice about getting into a scrap with cops outside the club at 2 in the morning if he knew his chances of getting another job in the NFL were greatly reduced by those actions. Even better, maybe that player will come to realize that NOTHING good happens outside a club at 2 in the morning, and decide to party at home. The CFL and the Arena League are a long way from the NFL.
