NFL Teams Hiring Law Personnel To Oversee Player Conduct
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NFL Teams Hiring Ex-Cops To Follow Players,
Due To League's Stricter Personal-Conduct Policy |
NFL teams have begun "hiring former police officers and FBI agents as security chiefs, ordering up extensive background checks, installing video-surveillance systems in locker rooms, chasing down rumors and sometimes forbidding players from talking to the press" as an attempt to comply with the league's personal-conduct policy, according to Hannah Karp of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. During a recent road trip, the Chargers "not only conducted bed checks, but placed guards in the hotel hallways to make sure players didn't sneak out." The Seahawks "have declared an entire downtown entertainment district off-limits," and the Broncos "have begun sending a former cop to local nightclubs on weekends to make sure the players behave." Retired police officer Dave Abrams was appointed security chief by the Broncos last year following the shooting death of CB Darrent Williams. Abrams' BlackBerry "is loaded with each player's personal information and he has trained dozens of bartenders and bouncers to call him when players show up." Sometimes he "comes to take note of the women they're with and how much they've had to drink." Karp: "The days of teams taking a passive view of player discipline seem to be over." The NFL's conduct standards "move it ahead of other U.S. sports leagues, whose policies on player behavior outside of competition are not as explicit." But NFLPA Dir of Communications Carl Francis said that the personal-conduct suspensions and fines "have been excessive, 'particularly in cases where a player has been accused of but not found guilty of a violation of law'" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 11/7).
UNNECESSARY ROUGHNESS? NFLPA Interim Exec Dir Richard Berthelsen said that players "believe the league's discipline for on-field actions ... has become excessive." Berthelsen added that the NFLPA "will seek in labor talks with the league to establish a new system for appeals by which players could attempt to have fines or suspensions overturned or reduced by an independent arbitrator." Berthelsen: "It is something the players feel is getting out of hand." In DC, Mark Maske reports Berthelsen's "comments echo public remarks made by several players." Steelers S Troy Polamalu last month said that the league was "making the sport 'like a pansy game' and the fines for hits seemed to be more about money than player safety" (WASHINGTON POST, 11/7).
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