"National Felons League" - Uncovering the crime epidemic in the NFL

This is what the Players Association and the League need to combat. It may not be the NFL’s fault that these players have been moulded into egotistic, care-free criminals, but it is definitely their problem, and they have an obligation to do something about it. These amazingly overpaid, over-privileged and pampered sportsmen have absolutely no reason ever to raise even a solitary finger in anger, or to get behind a wheel drunk, and the League needs to remind them of that in no uncertain terms.

The good news is that we at least have the right Commissioner in place to instigate a change in culture. Arrests of NFL players were increasing annually until Roger Goodell took over as commissioner in 2006, and since then he has been very deliberate in coming down hard on players with any criminal violations.

CBS Sports host James Brown emphasised that when he appeared on CBS This Morning, saying “Roger Goodell has been very resolutely focused on cleaning up the league [...] He has come in under a law and order mandate, personal mandate, and that is going to be his legacy.”

Brown’s statement is entirely justified. Since Goodell’s inaugural season in 2006, when the arrest count hit a peak at 68, the number of NFL players arrested per year has fallen by nearly 40%. To give credit where it is due, progress has definitely been made.

With that in mind, this latest crime spree must be incredibly frustrating to Goodell. He has worked hard to disassociate criminality with the National Football League, and based on statistical evidence, he has been largely successful. But now, in the space of just 3 or 4 months, the actions of 31 players have ruined that. Crime is now at the top of the NFL agenda once again, and an entire country is waiting to see what the Commissioner is going to do about it.

When asked about the arrests recently, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello told USA TODAY Sports that the League took the stance that “One is too many.” The tough talk is all well and good, but now they have to prove that they mean it. Goodell’s programmes have been relatively effective in stemming the flow of NFL players being led away in handcuffs on the morning news. And yet here we are, still talking about a crime problem in the NFL. It seems obvious that more is needed.

The Commissioner and his administration need to face up to the fact that there is indeed a crime problem in the NFL, and to meet that problem with purpose. Without compromise, it is time for the League to adopt a zero tolerance policy towards the offenders and playboys who seem to think that their privileged lifestyles carry no responsibility, and to enforce it no matter what the cost to the team. If you misbehave, you are out. Period. Only then will we see these damaging elements truly rooted out and eradicated.

Will they be brave enough to actually do that? Your guess is as good as mine. Let’s hope they are, and let’s just pray that it happens quickly, before the next girlfriend is assaulted, pedestrian mown down or innocent victim murdered.