Off-Field Issues Come to a Head

Adam “Pacman” Jones appeals his one-year suspension today

Commissioner Roger Goodell has shined up his sheriff’s badge and is taking his no-crime crusade to NFL players everwhere. After suspending Pacman Jones for one year, the oft-troubled cornerback will have his appeal heard by the Commish today in New York. While I believe Jones has a case, I don’t think he will win his appeal, especially considering that charges are still pending in the case that left a man paralyzed in Las Vegas. While NFL fans might have thought they were done with hearing about these issues for a while, it seems that they’re becoming more and more prevalent in the news. Even our quarterbacks are making the news in the worst way now.

That’s right, faces of franchises, the quarterbacks, have come under scrutiny for finding themselves in hot water where it concerns the law. Michael Vick is easily the most recognizable of these cases, where an illegal dog fighting ring has been unearthed at a home he owns in Virginia. While the depth of his connection to said ring is still under investigation, he has also had three other “issues” since the 2006 kicked off last September – he was fined for an obscene Jake-the-Snake-ish gesture towards Atlanta fans late in the season in 2006; he was investigated on drug posession in a Miami airport in January; finally, he was MIA on Capitol Hill, where he was scheduled to help lobby for more after-school funding. It’s certainly tainting the Falcons franchise, and if connections are found between Vick and the dog breeding service, he could find himself being suspended for 4 games or so.

The other news involving quarterbacks broke yesterday as Ravens QB Steve McNair was arrested for a DUI. While only a misdemeanor DUI (McNair wasn’t actually driving, but it’s a crime in Tennessee to allow an intoxicated person to drive your car), it still brings the controversy all the more into light. News also broke yesterday that Commissioner Goodell, as expected, will meet with Terry “Tank” Johnson to determine his suspension. The “other” poster-boy for athlete crime, Johnson has spent the last 2 months in jail and will immediately meet the Commish in New York upon being released on Sunday.

Other recent off-field mishaps involve Seattle DE Patrick Kerney, (former) Jacksonville CB Ahmad Carroll, and our own Brandon Marshall, whose lawyers expect the case to be dropped soon but found himself in jail nonetheless. What does this all mean for Broncos fans?

These issues have completely saturated the news media over the past two months, and the image of the NFL is hurting because of it. That, more than anything, has sparked the changes to the player conduct policy set out by Goodell. We have great leaders on our team – Tom Nalen, Rod Smith, Champ Bailey, and John Lynch, just to name a few – who are both leaders by example and leaders by voice when it comes to off-field incidents. And while our team is growing younger, we still have the solid leadership of these veterans to help us out – we’re lucky not to be like the Bengals, who have a young coach and an extremely young team overall, and lack that leadership in the locker room to help them out.

Denver is not the safest town in the country, unfortunately, magnified by the recent murder of Darrent Williams in January. If someone went out looking for trouble, they could find it just around the corner. And recent draft picks Jarvis Moss and Marcus Thomas have a tainted history when it comes to off-field issues. That being said, I still feel confident in our leaders to guide these players on how to act as role models to the fans.

And if you don’t trust me, trust Mike Shanahan. In a recent interview, Shanahan was asked if Brandon Marshall’s arrest has affected his status with the team. Answer: no. Question: What if it happens again? Answer: “It won’t.”

Thanks, Shanny. That’s all I needed to know.