Pacman bites off more than he can chew; Henry also in hot water
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Were the suspensions of Pacman Jones and Chris Henry punishment enough?
- Yes (67%)
- No (33%)
Total Votes: 12
Loading …NFL Commish Roger Goodell is finally taking a stand in an area that his predecessor generally stayed away from: off-field incidents involving players.
At the owners’ meetings Goodell made a point of saying he would no longer tolerate players winding up in trouble with the law. Unfortunately, he never mentioned specifics on how this would be handled.
He met last week with Bengals’ receiver Chris Henry and Titans’ defensive back Adam “Pacman” Jones to discuss their prior offenses — both have been charged with numerous counts of criminal activity, and Henry spent time this off-season in prison — and today the NFL announced that the two have been suspended. Jones, considered one of last season’s best rookies despite the run-ins with the law, will sit out the entire 2007 season, and Henry will miss the first eight games. Both will need to apply for reinstatement before they can rejoin their teams following their punishments.
Was it enough? Maybe in Jones’ case, but not for Henry. If an example truly needed to be made, it was to the city of Cincinnati, where nine Bengals were arrested in a nine-month span, including multiple arrests for Henry. Bottom line: both players should have been forced to sit out the entire season, and both should have been notified that any future arrests — anything beyond a speeding or parking ticket, really — would absolutely, 100-percent-guaranteed, result in a lifelong ban from the NFL.
What do you think? Drop a comment now!
April 10th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
i’m a long-time reader with a disappointingly off topic question - what wordpress plugin are you using to run your polls?
oh, and I love the site.
April 11th, 2007 at 12:34 am
I think the punishments should have been more even with Henry facing the same punishment as Pacman.. Still, the punishment is not set in stone for Pacman yet, if his other charges are dropped in Georgia and Nevada, and he follows what is outlined for him, he may only end up suspended for 10 games. So we should hold off on any final verdicts about the fairness of the punishment.
Over all, I am happy with Goodell’s handling of these cases and the new conducts codes. I like the way that Goodell is working with the players union and how he is letting all sides give their input. A policy like this will only work if all sides involved are on board supporting it. I think it is a sign that the NFL is making a statement that they want to be a leader in professional sports, by creating a league that not only produced great athletics, but also upholds values our kids can look and live up to.
As a Steeler fan, I know that I cringed when Holmes had all his legal problems before the season. I believe that being a Steeler means more than being a Great player, it means being a leader in the community. That is why we love players like The Bus, Hines Ward, Rocky Bleier and Franco, just to name a few. We are a blue collar town that is diverse ethnically and respects people who work hard and build up the community. We love the Rooney’s because they are great people as well as great owners, and they bring nothing but pride to the people of Pittsburgh. And while today’s NFL is not the one of the 70’s, I still expect players to be role models first, and great players second. There is no room in the NFL for hooligans and players who have no respect for others.
This being said, we have to look at the reality of some of these players. They come from poor communities where they may never have had role models themselves. They may have faced problems that most of us can never dream of facing. For players that come from these environments, it may not be realistic, especially with the money that they suddenly have, to 100% stay out of trouble, especially if thier friends are still living not so healthy lifestyle. So the NFL needs to be proactive to help these young players, mentoring them, to create lifestyles that will make them successful people as well as successful players. While Goodell is working in that direction, I am not sure that he has done enough yet. Maybe first year players should have veteran mentors who can be there to pave the way to being successful in the NFL.
April 11th, 2007 at 9:48 am
@Colin: WP-Polls, plus an additional component called the WP-Polls Widget. So far I love it, amd it saved me from having to take time out of SteelerWatch (and the Media Network as a whole) to program it myself.