Despite the league’s labor mess ending, NFL boss Roger Goodell is going to be a very busy person.
During the NFL’s 136-day work stoppage, 20 players were arrested.
According to Adolpho Birch, the NFL’s senior vice president of labor policy and player development, players had to abide by the league’s personal conduct policy during the lockout.
It appears that Goodell will have some suspensions to dole out before the beginning of the regular season on September 8.
Here is a rundown of the arrests:
| Player | Team | Position | Crime | The Skinny |
| Antwan Applewhite | San Diego | LB | Suspicion of DUI | Positive things rarely happen after 2am. He was arrested at 2:23. |
| Cedric Benson | FA | RB | Assault | Beat up a family member. |
| Kenny Britt | Tennessee | WR | Eluding an officer/lying to an officer/hindering apprehension and obstructing governmental function/resisting arrest/reckless driving | Police suspected Britt was carrying a marijuana cigar in one case; involved in high-speed car chase with Bayonne police and claimed he was a passenger in another. |
| Raheem Brock | FA | DE | Suspicion of theft of services and resisting arrest. | Walked out on a bill at a Philadelphia restaurant. |
| Mario Henderson | Oakland | OT | Gun possession/missing a concealed weapons permit | Pulled over for having music too loud. |
| Paul Hubbard | Buffalo | WR | DWI | Hit a cop car while driving drunk. |
| Jerry Hughes | Indianapolis | DE | Suspicion of Public Intoxication | Occurred while in Dallas. |
| Johnny Jolly | Green Bay | DT | Possessing 600 grams of codeine syrup. | Already suspended for the ’10 season, was later put on probation for this charge. |
| Adam Jones | Cincinnati | CB | Disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. | Under investigation for violating his parole. |
| Akeem Jordan | Philadelphia | LB | Misdemeanor assault and battery | Restaurant fight in Harrisonburg, Virginia |
| Alex Magee | Tampa Bay | DE | Marijuana possession/expired tags | Caught while driving. |
| Laurence Maroney | FA | RB | Marijuana possession | Three guns were also found in the vehicle allegedly. |
| Bryan McCann | Dallas | CB | Public intoxication | Was taken to a detox center but claimed he was innocent. |
| Louis Murphy | Oakland | WR | Resisting arrest/possession of Viagra without a prescription | Originally pulled over because his stereo was too loud. |
| Jason Peters | Philadelphia | OT | Resisting arrest/violating Shreveport, Louisiana’s loud music policy. | Refused to show license once arrested as well. |
| Aqib Talib | Tampa Bay | CB | Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon | Believed that Talib and his mom shot at his sister’s boyfriend in Dallas. |
| Brandon Underwood | Green Bay | CB | Disorderly conduct | Ripped Super Bowl necklace off his wife and dragged her out of the car. |
| Mike Vrabel | Kansas City | LB | Felony theft | Committed the crime at an Indiana casino. Retired soon after and is now an assistant coach at Ohio State. |
| Hines Ward | Pittsburgh | WR | DUI | Pulled over after Aston Martin hit a curb and failed field sobriety tests. |
| Garrett Wolfe | FA | RB | Retail theft/disorderly conduct/assaulting a police officer/resisting arrest | Upset over a $1,572 nightclub bill. |
Some of the names will be off the hook presumably (Peters and of course, Vrabel) but anything alcohol/drug related will probably be dealt with in some form.
The Jolly situation is interesting considering he already missed the entire ’10 season over an arrest.
It is likely the hammer will fall hard on Britt, who kept getting in trouble and retired on Facebook but not before telling the commissioner to go fly a kite.
Britt later claimed that his Facebook was hacked.
The highest profile case will involve Ward, who plays for one of the league’s highest profile teams and is considered to be an upstanding citizen off the field.
Then of course, there is the James Harrison mess.
He was never arrested but his mouth may have done more damage to the commish’s psyche than the aforementioned 20 players on the list.
Don’t be surprised to see Harrison pay a visit to the league offices on Park Avenue at some point.
However, he may have some waiting to do.
The line to see Goodell appears to be a bit lengthy.
Categories: News and Notes, NFL Lockout
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