A week ago NFL commissioner Roger Goodell postponed an announcement on a revised conduct of discipline, saying it was a "complicated issue" that demanded more study. Fair enough. So let's uncomplicate the issue.
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| Tank Johnson is one of many NFL players with a known affinity for firearms. (Getty Images) |
You're gone. And you're gone for a year.
There. That was easy. The idea, first pitched by Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News, makes sense. It's tough. It's succinct. And it should be effective.
I understand where Goodell is when he talks about how difficult it is -- and will be -- to find a system that satisfies players, owners and fans and how difficult it is to find one that isn't handicapped by loopholes or ambiguous language that makes it a target of frequent appeals.
But there are no loopholes here. And there is no ambiguous language. The message is clear: If you carry a gun when you're arrested you're in deep kimchi. Period. End of story.
Look, I'm not here to argue the merits or the rights of anyone to carry a gun, but I am here to argue the merits of an NFL player carrying a gun when he breaks the law. That can't happen. And it won't if you adopt this policy.
Players who refuse to cooperate run the risk of interrupting or abbreviating their NFL careers, and that's their choice. Hey, it's a free country. So sabotage your careers if you'd like. But know that what you're doing is wrong and that there could be repercussions beyond fines and the occasional one-game suspensions.
I know what you're thinking. What happens to the guy who has a registered gun that is unconcealed and is stopped for going 15 miles over the speed limit? That's a traffic citation. That's not an arrest. I'm talking about getting handcuffed, fingerprinted and photographed.
If there's a gun involved it's over. Sorry. See you next year.
This isn't all about cleaning up the image of a league trying to make sense of the 50 or so arrests that made headlines the past year. This is about trying to help its players avoid precarious situations, too. I don't know much about guns, but I do know they're called weapons for a reason, and that weapons can be dangerous.
Now, put those weapons in the hands of someone breaking the law, and we have a problem. That's when we hear from Roger Goodell.
I've never understood the need for NFL players to carry weapons, anyway. I mean, why should someone who is bigger, stronger and faster than the average Joe need another advantage -- this one a potentially lethal one -- unless, of course, he's running with hoodlums or caught in a hostile environment.
And if he is that's when and where the NFL intervenes.
With talk about lifetime suspensions, it's apparent the league is tired of cleaning up after law-breaking individuals. So start pushing back. Give players a rule they must respect -- or else. Make gun-toting law breakers step back to think how much they miss their checks.
Maybe it acts as a smart pill. Maybe it serves to prevent a repeat offense. All I know is that the message is as strong as it is clear. Guns, arrests and football players don't mix.
There is nothing complicated about that.
