It Must Be Hard to Be Rich

For those outside of the sports world, two football players, Adam "Pacman" Jones and Chris Henry, have been making quite a stir. Both have been arrested many times for their off-field antics. Most recently, Pacman started a fight in a strip club in Las Vegas after throwing 81,000 dollars in the air much to the displeasure of the other people in the club. This ended up with a security guard being permanently confined to a wheelchair. Henry has been arrested 4 times in the last 14 months, making him one of the 9 Bengals to be arrested in 9 months. Their actions have made their league look bad, and them look like children.

I have met and talked with football players (for my team, the Baltimore Ravens) and they are all stand-up guys. They know that they are paid to play a game. They take it seriously, but know that they are lucky and love what they do. Apparently, Jones and Henry didn't understand this. The NFL has helped them to realize that they are lucky by suspending Henry for eight games (the season's only 16) and Jones for the entire year.

I hope that this serves as a larger lesson for professional athletes. They should relish the fact that they are allowed to play a game for millions of dollars, and they should conduct themselves in the manner of a professional. You don't live on the street anymore (if you did at all). You're not a thug. You have no chip on your shoulder. The only focus you should have is being the best you can be at your profession. Additionally, you only work for 5-6 months out of the year! Someone, who is not me, looks up to them. They should grow up and act like they are professionals instead of spoiled children.

UPDATE: After watching some ESPN on this, this will be their last chance to salvage their careers. Also, my cousin went to school with these guys (they both went to West Virginia) and noted that they were pretty much like they have been portrayed in the media: irresponsible knuckleheads.