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Originally Posted by Chip R
I agree but we don't know to what extent the Bengals and/or the NFL has stepped in and tried to educate these players. We know that Odell Thurman was suspended for the year for his problem. We know Chris Henry was suspended a couple of games for one of his problems and seems to have skated on his legal problems. Perhaps the Bengals have done nothing to let these players know that they shouldn't break the law. Perhaps they have done everythng in their power. We don't know for sure. You would think that with all the arrests that they would beg and plead with the players not to drink and drive or not to carry firearms - although that seems to be legal in Cincinnati if you have a permit. But what I'm trying to say is that in the end, no matter how much you educate them, no matter how much you warn them, no matter how much you threaten them they are going to do what they want just like any adult. Now there should be consequences for their actions but that's anther story.
And it's not just drunk driving that's the problem either. If you have a limo or car service for them, it isn't going to stop them from getting arrested for domestic abuse or something else. They could be chauffered to a club and have too much to drink and get into a fight or something. Maybe one of the posse gets out of control and the player steps in and the cops come and the player is arrested. Perhaps he didn't do anything wrong but he still was arrested.
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Well no, we don't know what the Bengals or the NFL have done. Isn't that we why we're discussing the possibilities
As for the other possibilites you mention, well, domestic abuse isn't currently the widespread problem on this team. If I'm a counselor for a person who has a drug problem, I address the drug problem. I don't put him in a spousal abuse program. You look at a problem, you try to pinpoint it and find the solution. You don't address all the problems of the world at once.
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Is this a problem because of a lack of education or is it a behavioral problem? If it's the former, that's easy enough to fix. But if it's the latter, that's a little tougher.
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Of course. But education can't hurt either of these things, it can only help both. Because one is harder than the other, does that mean it should not be tried?
Look, all I'm saying is that this appears to be a problem consistent throughout the organization, and given the very public nature of the profession and the face that it directly affects a competitive team's ability on the field (ie. their ability goes down if a bunch of their players aren't permitted to play), it would not be out of line at this point for the Bengals to step in and address it from an organizational standpoint rather than dealing with consequences on a case-by-case basis. yes, maybe they already have. Normally I feel that adults make these decisions on their own and suffer the consequences on their own. But when the problem becomes widespread, preventative measures rather than punishing ones alone can be called for. Especially since this is a problem where people could get seriously hurt as a result.