Far be it from NFL players to be removed from the social media circus these days. In fact it appears to be a cottage industry. Whether it’s TMZ staking out LAX to break the Aldon Smith bomb hoax story, or some dude taking pics of Johnny Foot (Eight) ball rolling up a $20 in a Vegas bathroom (what happens in a Vegas bathroom apparently doesn’t stay in the Vegas bathroom) getting ready to partake in some recreational drug usage, or Ray Rice cold-cocking his soon-to-be wife and caught by the hotel security cameras, no one is safe at any time any where.
Throw in the fact that players still get in trouble the old fashioned way (failed drug test, DUI), Cleveland Browns WR Josh Gordon, he of the recent fame of being involved in the Jim Harbaugh trade, pulled a triple-triple by recently failing a drug test for pot, getting arrested for speeding and possession of marijuana, and then getting a DUI last weekend. Teammate Davone Bess was recently arrested for beating up a cop at the Ft Lauderdale airport, Viking Erin Henderson pulled a double-double of his own getting arrested on separate DUI and drug possession charges, AJ Jefferson (not Jenkins), Henry Melton, and Thomas Keiser were all arrested on domestic abuse, public intoxication, and assault charges.
Point being, I didn’t hear about a lot of these. I had to look these up. We’ve gotten to the point that getting busted as a player is getting pretty passé, unless it’s either a name player like Colin Kaepernick, or it’s a big crime, a la Aaron Hernandez. As we all know, our own team has suffered the slings and arrows of getting bad press for a bunch of players in the spotlight for various misdeeds. Throw in the high-and-mighty comments of head coach Jim Harbaugh and you have a side of shit to go along with the already beefy shit sandwich Coach has to eat.
As is obviously apparent, major fines and suspensions have done little to curtail these screw-ups. Shit, even with all the steroid busts in baseball, no one really gives a shit, provided you come up with a conciliatory mea culpa. No matter how trite or contrived. So, what next? For all intents and purposes, all these busts make Aldon’s situation look pretty mild in comparison. Or at least on par. I still think it’s only a 2 game suspension despite all the hooraw in blogland.
Chris Culliver’s case looks to be hitting the courtroom soon, so we all get to see how THAT turns out. For me, this one is a bigger deal. He faces five charges in all: felony hit and run, felony reckless driving with injury, felony possession of brass knuckles, misdemeanor hit and run, and misdemeanor driving on a suspended license. But Goodie Goodell doesn’t really come down hard on domestic abuse/aggravated assault charges. Plenty of players have beaten up their girlfriends and gotten in bar fights with little or no repercussions. Not to mention having a shit-flier of a party. Hitting children on bikes and then threatening passers-by may not be seen as a good model for their players to follow. But really, these misdeeds are not slowing down, and no one seems to care.
What do you think? Should these misdeeds be treated as a necessary part of the game? Should Goodie Goodell suspend guys harder? Ban repeat offenders indefinitely? Turn a blind eye to it, as was done for so long? The fans have shown that they don’t care one whit. Most are of a mind that if you can play, you deserve a 2nd (or 3rd) chance. As long as you are a star player. If you are a special teamer? Sorry. Don’t pass Go, don’t collect $200.00. It’s the nature of sports in America.
Forty Niners Forever 
Most of these guys are so young that they probably don’t feel they have a serious problem yet, or else it’s the I’m smarter than you and no way am I gonna get caught syndrome. Or it’s the I got more money than God and that makes me God too. What’s that old saying “youth is wasted on the young,” anyway it’s something like that.
Two things come to mind…. actually, three. One is that you’re all idiots. But really, who doesn’t think that before pulling up the Niners Forever page? If you don’t think, “These guys are all idiots and I’m better than them,” before pulling up Chuck’s page, you’re the idiot. What did Matt Damon say in “Rounders?” If you can’t spot the fish at the table within five minutes, you’re the fish.” I honestly think NJ comes here to blog with friends who he considers equals. Man…. that would suck.
The other two things are….. Remember when Roger Goodell came down hard on all the NFL players who were, shall we say, troublesome? Where did that guy go? Roger came in with a furry and left with whimper. He’s still here? Oh? I wouldn’t say anything either after making 50 million last year, or something like that. I’d be silent as a lamb. What a crock.
And the other thing is….. remember the psychologist that Bill Walsh used to have on staff, or retainer? What was his name? Edward or something? Black dude – looked like a former Black Panther? We need another one of those guys around the team today. The 49ers probably have a few guys like that who don’t want the spotlight, but we need a PR shrink for our current cast of miscreants. And how….
Gee, you understood my point, Spitty.
You get the gold star for the day.
I think his name was Harry Edwards, BTW.
You’re welcome.
Goodell came in with a furry what?
BLEEP! Send everyone to Chuck’s house for a bitch slap! Chuck’s dog can follow that with a well directed piss!
Woof!
Chuck the NFL isn’t anything more than entertainment, with the athletes providing the show.
Because there’s so much money involved, there’s a perception that these guys should be role models first, entertainers/athletes second.
For the most part, many of these guys take the high road and do things the right way.
A guy like Patrick Willis for example, had a tough life prior to making it big as an athlete.
Broken home, loss of a sibling, brought up by a white foster family etc.
We typically don’t get stories about guys like Patrick on the front pages of PFT or elsewhere.
It’s a Jerry Springer World that sells and gets the ratings.
Lawrence Taylor was as deep into partying and drugs as one could get, for most of his playing career.
Coaches like Parcells and Belichick, NYG ownership and, anyone who admired his football talents, looked the other way, while allowing him to skirt the drug testing and continue his reckless lifestyle.
What it boils down to is, making sure the product sells, and the cash cow is well represented.
Billions of dollars are made on this game.
Goodell makes it plausible to sell some of these thugs as choirboys until they ultimately come to their senses or, crash and burn before fading into obscurity.
Average Joe’s like us wouldn’t get a sniff of consideration if we committed some of the transgressions many of these athletes have committed.
Leonard Little or, Donte Stallworth, who each committed DUI vehicular homicides for example, hardly got more than a slap on the wrist.
Stallworth served 30 days in the pokie and wrote a check to the victims’ family.
Perfect example of how the almighty dollar circumvents the system and caters to the privileged.
Someone mentioned sniff?
Stallworth did get suspended w/o pay for a full season. I think Little got 8 games off after his manslaughter DUI. 0 game suspension on the NEXT DUI a few years later.
Why is the NFL responsible for punishing criminals? We used to have courts and the farce of an entire legal system for that. That was before things like google and the social networks ran the interwebs and our lives though. PC police have deemed some crimes, like killing the right types of people, merely laughable and others, like using “bad words” totally unacceptable and punished with full and knee-jerk force immediately if not sooner.
Need I remind you that in this Orwellian nightmare of Obama’s world, some pigs are more equal than others.
The NFL isn’t responsible for punishing criminals, but it is, however, in the NFL’s best interest to protect it’s brand by making all “employees,” respectable people – or getting them as close to respectable as possible.
Just like the NBA enforcing its will on Sterling. They are protecting the brand.
Or Hobby Lobby pushing their religious views on their employees.
Right. Social media didn’t exist before 2008. 2008 was such a great time, wasn’t it?
In other words, if corporations can force their religious views on their employees, the NFL can certainly impose its will on the players representing the shield.
It ain’t right, but that’s how SCOTUS wants it.
Bullshit!
You sound like some fuckin’ idiot repeating nonsense that someone told you to repeat because it’s party before anything else, nonsense or not.
You don’t seem to have any trouble with Barry shoving your copycatted views down everyone’s throat but the Hobby Lobby decision is pushing no one’s views down anyone’s throat. It merely says the stinkin’ fascist government can’t force their views down everyone’s throat despite their religious views to the contrary. Pay for your own abortion. What a concept.
Barry’s efforts to destroy the first amendment along with most of the rest of them isn’t quite complete. He’ll need one more phony party-line judge for that.
In yet another example of Barry’s fascism and trampling of the first amendment here’s how the press will be allowed to visit the illegal immigrants being herded into the country in direct violation of the immigration laws on the books
““The tour guide will detail what goes on from room to room and the services youth are provided on a daily basis,” Garcia added in an email that was forwarded to reporters by Rep. Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), who had been barred from visiting the Fort Sill alien children shelter last week.
But the HHS email to reporters made clear that journalists won’t exactly be allowed to do anything related to their jobs while on the tour of the facility at Fort Sill, other than jot some things down in a notebook.
“In order to protect the safety and privacy of the children,” the email set out ‘rules for participation’ for the press corps, which included:
– No recording devices allowed for reporters
– No questions from reporters permitted during the tour
– No interactions with staff or children
– No on-site interviews with HHS staff before or after the tour
– No photos of the facility – photographs will be provided by HHS
No fascism here! No trampling of the first amendment here!
Some folks think life is better with their heads in the sand.
Better the sand that up my own ass. Try to find something less arcane, skippy. Like SCOTUS siding with corporations on nearly every ruling to cross their path. So, corporate rights trump women’s rights? Got it.
D0 you agree with Citizens Untied? Are corporations more important than the populace?
Bush wanted to rewrite the Constitution for Terry Schiavo. Whoopie.
Laughable doesn’t even begin to describe your flavor of lunacy.
People like you voting against their own interests repeatedly just makes me laugh.
Yawn. When. Is. Fuckin’. Football. Season. Going. To. Start? Fuck. Me. Sideways.
Tell me about it. The fucking Giants are unwatchable right now. When NoFear beats you in post length Spitty, there’s a problem. Oh lucky me.
So glad I run an insane asylum.
That’s the game in Politics Chuck.
Money buys influence.
Influence writes the laws.
The premise of ‘We the people’ is slowly vaporizing before our eyes.
The whole damn system is predicated on buying influence.
Politicians are nothing but Corporate shills.
Makes me sick.
Congress has become nothing more than a no-show job.
Network of Good Old Boys looking after the special interests that got them there.
Bingo. Anyone with half a brain can see the shell game. Sadly, some folks are lost in the smoke and mirrors that is Fox News and the media in general. The media is controlled by 5 companies that spoon-feed the pablum that is the red vs. blue horseshit while SCOTUS votes for corporate rights and Citizens United gets passed with nary a discouraging word. Less government? Sure except in the cases of thousand points of light, no child left behind, the drugs for seniors debacle, and now religious rights for corporate people, and taking away women’s reproductive rights.
Fuck socialism, we’re heading for a theocracy.
Meanwhile Congress votes themselves the right to insider trade, and vote for lifetime bennies at full pay in perpetuity.
This is a government for the corporate people. And people whine about the silliest things.
DC is all about the Red vs Blue.
I vote to elect candidates that I believe will go to DC to work for us, the US of A.
Once these boneheads get together, it becomes a Country Club of billionaires doing nothing more than working on the next presidential candidate and hurling grenades at the other side of the aisle.
Who leads?
Those big dollar Corporations do.
Eff them all.
None of them work for the people anymore, unless there’s a big donation attached.
That’s the thing. When it comes to voting themselves wonderful perks, they get along fine. The rest of the time is pandering to their corporate masters, and playing to the cameras about ther so-called problems with the other side.
Precisely.
Talking points and media brainwashing while making it look like the other side of the aisle isn’t playing nice.
Meanwhile, we all eat sh!t.
Really?, demonize corporations which provide jobs and create wealth and ignore the lengths the dems will go to to appease every freakin’ minority they can find at any cost to every taxpayer. Even the illegal minorities. What happened to the rule of law? A government of laws? Anybody in office following or enforcing laws? Or citizens making sure they do?
Corporations aren’t the enemy. They can only buy influence when it’s for sale. Nobody wants to recall _their_ senators or rep, only the other guy’s senators and reps. Very few check the voting record of their elected reps and hold their feet to the fire over it. Even fewer keep their reps honest or recall the dishonest among them.
Voter apathy and ignorance is what’s wrong. And fixing that is the only way back.
Demonizing corporations which provide jobs? Do mean companies like Walmart who only hire 30 hours a week to avoid Obamacare, paying minimum wage and do everything in their power to break unions? Do mean the owners of companies who know if they can somehow keep their employees making under $40k per year, they’ll never be able to save enough to leverage capital to be able to get out from under their shitty jobs? And trust me, owners of businesses think like this because they don’t want to create competition.
In my last job, I worked alongside the CFO of the business who was a Warton Business school man (and interestingly enough also an NFL handicapper for Bally’s in Vegas in his previous job), and all he was concerned about was fucking the company’s employees out of laws or benefits they were entitled to like overtime, health care benefits and even unemployment insurance. His entire job, as the CFO of the company, was to screw those people, his employees, out of any kind of benefit they could receive by law. And he was good at it. So good that I left because he made my stomach turn. He had single moms working for him struggling their asses off while he made bank and pissed it away with his gamble addiction. I saw him the other day riding a bike with his wife through town. I almost knocked him off his bike with a throat punch. Another funny thing, even though he was handicapper for Bally’s, I advised him the Seahawks were going to beat the Broncos by two touchdowns in the Super Bowl. He didn’t take my advice, which warms my heart.
Bottomline is that these so called great companies that NoFear loves to death and holds up as the answer to American industrialism are the very companies that are turning American employees into their own new brand of slave labor. The other interesting fact that goes along with the terrible working wages in America today is that America is becoming less and less educated. Each generation is dumber. So, in a way, they get what they deserve. But let’s not kid ourselves like NoFear is kidding himself – Big corporations in America ARE the devil and they need tremendous oversight so they are forced to do the right thing by their employees. If you had a guy like Bush in office, he’d turn a blind eye to the rape and pillaging of the underclass. Obama doesn’t and NoFear hates him for it – which says something about NoFear’s compassion for his fellow man.
With you 100% on the topic of CFO incentives Spit.
Close friend of mine did the same thing.
Crunch numbers to benefit the bottom line at the expense of employees making ‘too much’ money.
Creatively engineered early retirement offers, and cutting back hours while earning himself bonuses on those incentives.
Landed himself end of year bonuses, often upwards of $40K, by screwing the rank and file and making the Ivory Tower crowd richer.
NoFear49er I see the whole process as tainted.
In exchange for the jobs those Corporations provide, they are given plenty of incentives, usually in the form of tax breaks, which the employees foot the bill for.
For me, this is equally attached to both the Red Team and the Blue Team.
The process is for sale.
Lobbyists cater to many of those DC officials we put in office.
The corruption starts there.
This Congress is going to go down in history as one that got paid to do nothing.
This entire gang on the hill is deadlocked in a vacuum.
No one can work together to find answers for the myriad problems this Country is faced with.
What was more ridiculous than all those Corporate Bigshots flying back and forth to DC during the bailouts, in their private jets, to pick up OUR money for running their businesses aground?
Or later, taking those funds and rewarding their Ivory Tower Chronies with lucrative golden parachute packages, while those that they put out of work can’t make a mortgage payment?
The whole system is effed in the head.
I vote a candidate into office only to see him or her bought and paid for by the Political Machine called special interests.
Kinda ironic how Cantor spent more money in steak houses than the guy that beat him did on his entire campaign.
People in VA sent him a message loud and clear.
Hopefully more and more of the voters in this Country will do the same thing.
Who the eff has our interests at heart anymore?
Another ingredient in this mess of ours, which makes my head explode, are the laws to prevent abortions.
On one hand, they feel the right to life is corrected by taking away abortion clinic options.
Putting more people out of work.
Then, when those unwanted children are brought into the world, often to people who can least afford them, they refuse to give them assistance.
WTF?
Many unemployed people living below the poverty line, got nothing better to do than make more babies.
How exactly do you break that cycle when you don’t allow them to abort unwanted pregnancies?