Last Tuesday, Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Chris Henry and Tennessee Titans Cornerback & Kick/Punt Returner Adam "Pacman" Jones met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to discuss off-the-field conduct, their previous run-ins with the law, and the possibility of punishment by the league for such incidents. A third player, Chicago Bears Defensive Tackle Tank Johnson, was scheduled to meet with the commissioner that day, but could not, as he was sentenced to 120 days in jail for probation violation (his appearance in Super Bowl XLI was not a violation of his probation, as he was granted permission to play the game, as he was put on probation when the Bears had clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and had no road games left, meaning their next de facto road game would in fact be Super Bowl XLI).
All three players have had numerous run-ins with the law since being drafted into the NFL. It is also important to note that Chris Henry was one of eight Bengals players arrested last year, thus causing some to compare the Bengals with the "Jail Blazers" on the NBA's Portland TrailBlazers roster.
Today, a ruling came from the league's office: Chris Henry will be suspended for the first half (8 games) of the 2007 season, while Pacman Jones will be suspended the entire season. The reason Pacman has a longer suspension is because he has the bigger rap sheet. Henry has had 6 run-ins with the law since his NFL career started (technically 5, though, since one of them yielded absolutely no evidence of wrongdoing, and the alleged victim of that incident may face charges of filing a false report to police), while Jones has had 10 of them. As soon as Tank Johnson's 120 day jail sentence is up, he will be expected to meet with Goodell about player conduct and his rap sheet, and be suspended accordingly, and a new, tougher, and stricter personal conduct policy is expected to be announced and implimented sometime before the 2007 NFL Draft. There is also a possibility that repeat misconduct off the field may result in a lifetime ban from the NFL.
That being said, I would like to ask for your opinion on the issue of player conduct. Should a message be sent to professional athletes that being paid to play sports is a priviledge, or is it none of their employers' business and only what they do ON the field should matter?