The NFL Drops the Hammer

So, the new National Football League commissioner, Roger Goodell, has brought the hammer down on “bad behavior”. He has suspended Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones for the entire 2007 season and Chris Henry for the first 8 games of the season.

Both have been involved in multiple instances of suspect behavior. Adam Jones, himself, has been involved/implicated in about 10 different cases. While he may have never been indicted on anything, just the fact that you have been in the wrong place at the wrong time 10 different times means bad things.

This is a list of all the incidents that Adam Jones has been involved in. Like the article says, and I tried to say above, there is only one charge against Jones. Like the ancient Chinese proverb says, "Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me".

I for one believe that the new commissioner is taking the appropriate and correct steps in dealing with unnecessary off the field behavior. It appears that the player’s union, the NFL Player’s Association, is in support of the new policy.

Added NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw: "The NFL Players Association and the Player Advisory Council have been discussing this issue for several months. We believe that these are steps that the commissioner needs to take and we support the policy. It is important that players in violation of the policy will have the opportunity and the support to change their conduct and earn their way back."

The new player conduct policy of the NFL also will hold any NFL employee to the high standards of the league.

Now, some people are going to say that this policy goes too far. How can you be punished if you have not been convicted of anything yet in the US legal system? This may sound like a legitimate argument. However, I believe that the NFL is a private entity that can enforce its own rules. If you were working in the business world and had been involved in as many incidents as Adam Jones, you could probably expect to be fired. But, as with anything else I say, that is my opinion.

Well, let me know what you think. Do you agree with the new conduct policy from the NFL?