The murder of Darrent Williams yesterday, the Denver Bronco cornerback, has spurred stories linking several recent problems in the NFL: shootings, crime, and performance enhancing drugs. We tend to disagree.
Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was shot to death in the first hours of 2007, continuing a trend of criminal cases involving the National Football League, the most-watched sport in the U.S.
Williams, 24, was killed while riding in a limousine just after the new year began...
Also yesterday, Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Travis Taylor was arrested outside a Minneapolis nightclub after refusing an officer's request that he get into a waiting limousine-bus as police tried to disperse an unruly crowd, the Associated Press reported.
The shooting death of Williams and arrest of Taylor were the latest in numerous crime cases involving NFL players over the past 12 months.
Eight members of the Cincinnati Bengals were arrested in separate incidents on charges including resisting arrest and driving under the influence...
In late December, the Chicago Bears suspended defensive tackle Tank Johnson after his arrest on a weapons charge, his third arrest in 18 months. A person arrested with Johnson on the latest charge on Dec. 14, William Posey, was shot and killed two days later at a Chicago nightclub.
In September, San Diego Chargers linebacker Steve Foley was shot three times by an off-duty police officer...
Performance-enhancing drugs also have plagued the league. In one case, Shawne Merriman, an all-star linebacker for the Chargers, was suspended for four games for steroid use and is now a finalist for the league's Defensive Player of the Year award.
As tantalizing as it becomes, it is important to separate issues. There might be a link between the use of anabolic steroids for athletic performance, and aggressiveness, however many confounding variables enter into the equation. Athletes who use anabolics are more aggressive than nonusers. That confounds any conclusions, and has been pointed to for years by researchers to argue that 'roids do not increase aggressiveness.
Linking the recent trends in criminal actions among NFL players might be convoluted too. Steroid Nation remembersthe 1978 Lyman Bostock, who played for the California Angel, when he was shot to death in a drive-by shooting in Gary, Indiana. That incident did not indicate the MLB citizenship was deteriorating, nor that there was a steroid problem at that time.
With the number of athletes in the professional leagues, and considering the urban areas where they live and play, it might be said the pros actually are less in trouble than peers. Someone should study to see if matching control peers from similar socio-economic origins have more or fewer problems that pro athletes.
While Steroid Nation argues there is a problem with the use of anabolics in sports, and we believe that citizenship is always an issue, we do not believe that the NFL demonstrates a upward trend of a criminal element. Anabolic steroid use may be linked in some cases to aggressiveness, however, keep that issue separate from these other incidents.
Wasn't Bostock killed while in the company of another man's wife? And that other man was the killer?
It's hard to address the issue without risking perceived racism, but these incidents are not happening outside of Honky Tonks. If trouble frequents where you go, expect for there to be trouble. Steve Foley is an exception, having been shot by an apparently overzealous idiot.
Posted by: Joab | 01/02/2007 at 14:59
I didn't know this about Bostock, but he was in the company of his 'uncle's goddaughter'. I don't know who else was in that car in 1978, however the 'goddaughter's estrangled husband' shot Bostock in the temple with a .410. The killer, Leonard Smith was not convicted of murder, but was sent to a mental institute for insanity. He was out in about 20 months in 1980.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/52151/lyman_bostocks_much_too_short_life.html?page=2
Posted by: GRG51 | 01/02/2007 at 18:24
man, you are such and NFL apologist.
you're big into gambling, aren't you?
c'mon, admit it.
Posted by: gene upsahw | 01/21/2007 at 02:47
Funny.
What's the line on the title games today?
Posted by: GRG51 | 01/21/2007 at 08:22