Over the years, plenty of NFL players have been suspended without being arrested. But those suspensions have come via the substance abuse policy or the steroids policy. (Teams also have suspended players who have not been arrested, for conduct detrimental to the team.)
To date, the NFL has never suspended under the Personal Conduct Policy a player who has not been arrested. But that doesn’t mean players haven’t been disciplined without being arrested. Indeed, it’s our understanding that multiple players have been fined, primarily for issues transpiring in the locker room among players.
Also, players like Pacman Jones have been suspended without being arrested when finding trouble while on a short leash after a reinstatement. In 2008, a scuffle with his team-supplied bodyguard/babysitter resulted in Jones being parked for several weeks during the only season of football he has played since 2007.
Still, the league will be breaking new ground if Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is suspended for one or more games under the Personal Conduct Policy. On one hand, and as we’ve previously pointed out, the NFL would be embarking on a slippery slope by taking action against a man who never has been arrested or charged -- but who has been investigated, sued, and accused. At some point, basic notions of fairness would require the league to be prepared to explore any and all situations in which players could be failing, as Commissioner Roger Goodell recently reiterated, to “conduct ourselves in a way that ‘is responsible, that promotes the values upon which the league is based, and is lawful.’”
But what precisely does that mean? Is the league now legislating morality? At what point do, for example, players who have fathered multiple children with multiple women to whom they weren’t married violate this fuzzy and subjective standard?
The real message from the NFL could be simply this: “We don’t care what you do, just don’t get caught.”
Indeed, it’s not the conduct that embarrasses the league. It’s the fact that the public becomes aware of the conduct. And so, at the core, the league’s attitude toward misbehavior possibly is no different than the attitude of many teams regarding marijuana. Plenty of guys will do it; it becomes a problem only when they get caught -- and then when they can’t stop.
That’s why, even by setting this new precedent, the league will continue to treat these matters on a case-by-case basis, based primarily on whether these matters hit the NFL’s radar screen via an arrest, an indictment, a civil suit, or some other means of public disclosure.
To the extent that discipline is aimed at deterrence, it could be bad news for Big Ben. Like a high-profile defendant in a criminal prosecution, throwing the book at a big-name quarterback could be a great way to get the other 1,700-plus men who play pro football to realize that no one is above the rules.
If, that is, they get caught.
And so that’s the real message to anyone out there who may be failing to act in a way that “is responsible, that promotes the values upon which the league is based, and is lawful.” The league won’t be going door-to-door to find out affirmatively whether this inherently vague standard is being violated. But if a guy gets caught -- if allegations of misconduct become public and the league’s investigation uncovers any “know it when we see it” proof of behavior that falls short of the ambiguous ideal -- then the player will pay the price.