BREACH OF PRIVACY AND THE 19 WHO COULD!

BREACH OF PRIVACY AND THE 19 WHO COULD!

(Michael Janofsky, Joe Kay, Kevin Seifert, Jarrett Bell, USA TODAY)

(Kevin McCauley, Brian McIntyre, Commissioner Roger Goodell, Tom Pelissero, Frazer Chronicle)

 

For some…..in the private sector, if you get busted for illegal drugs, there’d be the old heave-ho and don’t let the door hit you in the butt on your way out. But, with rare exceptions, that does not happen in the world of sports…..really the fantasy world of sports. How else could you explain working in an environment that actually condoned the use of drugs with such bizarre results as some of the growth enhancing drugs cause.

 

And sadly much of the sports world condones those who are users, as does the sports fanatics; it’s how important our sports teams’ success means to us. It’s week 5 in the National Football League which means the annual influx of players eligible to return from their four game suspensions. This year is no different than past years…..except there are more incidents of abuse…..that’s right…..MORE!

 

Try some of these figures on for size;

2013…..23

2012…..20

2011…..5

2010…..10

 

What’s the problem, only those players know…..but you can’t tell me that team officials and league hierarchy isn’t aware, and hasn’t been aware. Some of these guys are stars in the National Football League, while others are at, or near the top of, their respective teams and their playing positions. For so many to be suspended leads me to believe that there are more…..and the 23 so far in 2013, who have been suspended, are just the tip of the iceberg.   

 

And what happens when these footballers come back to their respective teams…..(hello, how are you, we’ve missed you, suit up…..and let’s go). I guess somehow I’m missing something here, in the real world things would definitely not be like that. Management would cast a weathered eye towards anybody who had been busted for drug use of any kind, but wait…..this is the National Football League where field results are the only thing that means anything.

 

THE VERY FIRST VERY BAD BOYS OF THE NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

As with anything else, NFL suspensions has a beginning, and Frank Filchock and Merle Alison Hapes will always be the first professional football players to be suspended, initially for life, for fixing and betting on the National Football League’s championship game.

 

The day before the championship game, which was played at the Polo Grounds in New York City between the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants, word got around that Filchock and Hapes had take bribes from Alvin Paris (New York bookmaker), to fix the game. 

 

New York Mayor William O’Dwyer had Giant owners Jack Mara, Wellington Mara, and Bert Bell informed of the police evidence against the two. Hours later the four met at Gracie Mansion (home of the N.Y. city mayor) and the mayor interviewed the players one at a time. Hapes admitted taking the bribe; however Filchock denied being offered any money.

 

 

 

Several hours after the players interviews by the mayor, Alvin Paris was arrested and confessed to bribing both players. Hapes was suspended by Commissioner Bert Bell, but Filchock was allowed to play. However during the Paris trial several weeks later, Filchock admitted under oath that he did in fact take the bribe money, oh and by the way, the Chicago Bears prevailed in the championship game, beating the New York Giants by a 24-14 score.

 

It would be another 16 years before the next player suspensions would take place…..and I vividly remember both players involved, Detroit Lion’s defensive tackle, Alex Karras, and Green Bay Packers, Paul Hornung, both for betting on games. The suspensions were for one season, and really sent a message to the players about gambling on NFL games.

 

Stanley Wilson, Cincinnati Bengal’s running back was suspended for using cocaine first in 1985 for the entire season, and again in 1989, this time the suspension was for life from the NFL. Wilson was a 9^th round draft choice of the Bengals, and played in 1983-84, 86, and 1988. His spotty career figures weren’t caused by injuries, rather by a weakness of cocaine. Following the 1988 Super Bowl, after an internal investigation by the NFL, Stanley Wilson was banned for life from any participation in the professional league…..he now resides in the Lancaster, California State Prison…..at least until 2021.

 

THE LIST IS ENDLESS

From body slamming quarterback, to stomping on a players head, to shooting one’s self in his leg, to being involved in his college scandal…..the list really is endless.  The first violator in a weapons passion was Terry “Tank” Johnson; a defensive lineman for the Bears was alleged to have six firearms and was (of course) in violation of a previous probation on other charges.

 

Detrimental conduct, violation of the player conduct policy, altercations against…..almost anybody, involvement in bounty hunting program…..of opponents, and a total of 141 player suspensions for illegal drug use.

 

Coaches aren’t immune either, Chuck Fairbanks, Head coach of the New England Patriots was suspended one game in 1978 for breaching his contract with the Pats. Quarterbacks Coach Wade Wilson was suspended five games for purchasing and using performance-enhancing drugs…..the information that I got did not state whether the drugs were for him, (Wilson) or for one of his quarterbacks.

 

And then there was the New Orleans Saints bounty program that was orchestrated by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, whereby hitting certain opposing players, taking them out of a game…..and I suppose ending some careers, was rewarded allegedly by Coach Williams monetarily.

 

If players behave poorly, using unbelievably bad judgment, when coaches use poor judgment, it should be magnified because of their position in the pecking list of authority figures. When Gregg Williams admitted to conceiving a system whereby his players were paid for abusive unnecessary hits his professional career should have run its course.

 

However after a year’s suspension, February 2012 to February 2013, Williams was hired by the Tennessee Titans as a senior assistant defensive coach. I completely understand that professional football is a results driven operation, but according to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, Williams’ acceptance of responsibility for his role in bounty-scape makes him (Williams) all better, and anyways, Gregg Williams’ says he’ll never be involved in any such “pay for performance” system again…..HONEST!

 

FIRST AND FOREMOST

Professional sports figures are thrust every day into the public venue, first by their professional position, and then by all manner of media. In fact, maybe the media should be held responsible for some of the activity of players, then the players themselves.

 

Professional athletes, with the possible exception of tiddley-winks players are given specialty care almost from the minute they don their chosen uniforms, and begin their journey through life. Many, many athletes come from diverse backgrounds, some from ghettos, some from broken homes, and some from single parent situations.

 

For many professional athletes, their first taste of success is through their sport in high school, for some the adulation must be intoxicating. And it’s a high that will only get higher as they make their way through the college ranks.

 

In many instances professional football players…..especially black football players can be susceptible to the lure of all the stuff that is being pushed at them. Some do not get a proven, capable, and honest mentor to help guide them through the maze of the business world that is connected to professional sports.

 

Down at the end of the line, a football player’s career can be measured in years…..three to five years to be exact. So obtaining a rock solid contract should become the very first goal that a player should want and trusting a ball club…..and to a degree a player agent should be approached with much caution.

 

Should we as fans be surprised by some of the antics that our professional hero’s exhibit…..of course the answer is no. Should we put our sports hero’s on some sort of pedestal, absolutely not…..at least in high school, that kind of affection and attention is setting them up for a possible fall from grace!

 

Getting back to Gregg Williams the coach, the first stop on the road to his professional career was of course at a high school program, a place where he began to hone his attitude and style of how he approached the game of football, I wonder how many of those impressionable kids he defiled.

 

THERE IS NO PLAYER PRIVACY

And then there’s Josh Freeman, squealing like a little bitch baby because somebody leaked the fact that he flunked a drug test that resulted in his suspension. Ya know JOSH your getting paid major league dollar bills to run up and down a football field…..get over it, take your punishment, and move on, hopefully clean.

 

There has been, for me, a sad feeling for football players that get caught up in drug mis-steps; it shows that for many, the support system that many trumpet really really isn’t there. Then to, there are simply bad actors who march to a different beat, figure that they are above the rules, and in fact aren’t smart enough to know when to stop their destructive activity.

 

Of course I never had the ability that these guys have, the only person who idolized me for my athlete ability was my children…..and they didn’t know anything at the time…..they were babies.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!