BACH
Superbowl, Homeboy!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/don_banks/03/20/nfl.discipline/index.html
Interesting AND about time!
Time to get tough
NFL may take swift action, suspend Pacman
Posted: Tuesday March 20, 2007 12:40PM; Updated: Tuesday March 20, 2007 12:40PM
Pacman Jones has been involved in 10 incidents where he was either arrested or interviewed by police since Tennessee selected him sixth overall in the 2005 NFL Draft.
The NFL may soon hand down the kind of decision that could highlight Roger Goodell's brief reign as commissioner and put the spotlight squarely on his efforts to strengthen the league's personal conduct policy. Sources within the league office say the NFL is likely to set an example with its punishment of troubled Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman'' Jones, suspending him even before the legal process from a Las Vegas strip club brawl in February is complete. The suspension could wipe out his entire 2007 season.
In close collaboration with the NFL Players Association, Goodell is spearheading a drive to increase the league sanctions that can be levied against a player who runs afoul of the law. Owners are expected to adopt stricter punishment levels next week at the NFL's annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. -- a move brought on by the arrests of more than 50 NFL players since the start of 2006.
Jones has emerged as the poster child for the league's litany of off-field player conduct issues, with a record of 10 incidents where he was either arrested or interviewed by police since Tennessee selected him sixth overall in the 2005 NFL Draft. According to a source in the league office, the NFL doesn't have to wait to see if Jones is ultimately charged for having any role in the Las Vegas strip club triple-shooting that left one man paralyzed. Jones is already subject to league suspension for not telling the Titans about a pair of 2006 arrests in Georgia, which violates his contract's personal conduct clause.
"I don't think [the NFL] will have to wait for the legal process to take its course in this particular situation,'' the source said. "Not in the case where the player has failed to report arrests and transgressions, like he's mandated to do under the terms of the personal conduct clause in his contract.
"We can't tell the Titans that he won't play for them ever again, because the Titans, at the end of the day, will determine his long-term future. But the league will determine his short-term future. You should see something within a two or three-week time frame, and I would think you could expect a multiple-game suspension, or as much as a year or beyond.''
Jones is set to appear in a Fayetteville, Ga., court in mid-May for a February 2006 incident in which he was charged with felony obstruction of police for biting an officer between his thumb and index finger. The police had sought to question him while he was sitting in a car outside the home owned by his girlfriend's parents. A marijuana possession charge from March 2006 in Georgia was dismissed in January.
Jones' attorneys last week asked a judge in Georgia to delay his client's court appearance until at least May in order to give them time to inquire how the level of any potential NFL punishment might differ based on a plea agreement struck by Jones.
But Goodell isn't likely to wait for Jones' legal situation to sort itself out before handing down a suspension. It is the commissioner's intention, the source said, to have the league's new harsher personal conduct penalties in place "immediately'' after the measures are voted in by the owners next week in Arizona.
When asked if Goodell has made addressing the player conduct issue his top priority in 2007, the source said: "Absolutely. As it should be. It's his first three priorities these days. It speaks to the integrity and the image of the league, and it includes ensuring the protection of our players and the protection of the league itself.''
Goodell, in recent weeks, has worked closely with NFLPA executive director Gene Upshaw to craft a tougher set of guidelines for suspension and fines to players who are repeat criminal offenders, with the commissioner determined to implement up to a one-year suspension that would require a player to petition the league for reinstatement. Under the league's current personal conduct policy, the commissioner has the authority to mete out discipline for player misconduct, but no suspension longer than four games has ever been administered.
"Roger is looking to really make his stand and differentiate himself from [former NFL commissioner] Paul Tagliabue on this one,'' said a source who has ties to the NFLPA. "He's really pushing to get something done on this front. This is his baby, his thing. It's his issue, and he's eager to make a mark in this area at the beginning of his tenure.''
Goodell's efforts have such strong support from the Players Association, the NFLPA source said, because the majority of players are as eager as the commissioner to see the league weed out its worst elements from an off-field conduct perspective.
"It's more than just the public's perception of the league that concerns players,'' the source said. "From a player's perspective, they don't want guys like that on their team. Not just that those guys might embarrass everyone with their behavior, it's that those guys are just not reliable teammates, on or off the field. And that impacts everyone, and everyone's chances of winning.
"Players say these guys coming into the league now are completely different. There's a knucklehead factor. They don't give a [crap] how many years you've got in the league or what you've done as a veteran player. They're just very disrespectful of the game and its players. It's important that this is coming from the players as much as the league, because guys see it as a team and player-level problem. These kind of guys can destroy a whole team, and players are realizing that now and that it hurts everyone's chances for success.''
Interesting AND about time!
