How Pacman Changed NFL Discipline
Players making trouble instead of plays may become unemployed faster
May 12, 2007
Ahmad Carroll got arrested last week.
He also got fired last week. The Jacksonville Jaguars technically put him on waivers, but they no longer need his services, so he's essentially fired.
There has been a lot of speculation all over the internet about whether the Jaguars would have acted so quickly to get rid of him if the National Football League hadn't been so strict with troubled Tennessee Titan Pacman Jones.
For those of you who have been living without electricity so you can fill your gas tank, Pacman Jones was suspended by the NFL for an entire season for being in trouble with the law. The worst of it was being present at a Las Vegas strip club shooting during which a security guard was shot and paralyzed. (Jones has not been charged with anything in that case as of the writing of this article.)
The NFL has never been pleased about its players being in trouble with the law, but with the suspensions of Pacman Jones and Cincinnati Bengal Chris Henry, Commissioner Roger Goodell made it clear that the NFL will no longer tolerate bad behavior, or even the accusation of it in Pacman's case.
The suspensions of Jones and Henry also put pressure on teams and their management to take care of problem players before the NFL feels forced to step in.
Carroll, who was arrested for possession of illegal drugs and carrying a handgun without a license, was the sixth Jaguar to be arrested in under two years. From that statistic alone, it would appear that the Jaguars have a behavior problem. None of the other five players were cut from the team. Their arrests happened pre-Pacman. Carroll's happened afterward. The team is clearly changing its approach.
Carroll has been arrested before, while he was with the Green Bay Packers, basically for being uncooperative with police. Undoubtedly the charges are more serious this time, and required swift action since he was charged with felonies.
But were the Jaguars unfair to Carroll?
Other Jaguars have had firearms charges and have not been waived.The arrests of Charles Sharon and Gerald Sensabaugh occurred pre-Pacman and were obviously handled under a different standard of behavior. Like Sharon, Carroll was not a cornerstone of the Jaguars' plans, but Sensabaugh is expected to start at safety in the 2007 season.
It remains to be seen how the Jaguars and other teams will handle disciplinary actions that occurred pre-Pacman, but it is not unfair to waive a player who can't stay out of trouble. Fans expect their players to be responsible, moral citizens they can look up to. Many of those fans would be fired from their own jobs if they were caught committing a crime, and they expect the same would happen to professional athletes.
