The topic of the day on sports talk radio has been… well the Oscars inexplicably enough but it’s also been about the three strikes rule that was talked about this week between the NFL and the players union. Now what I think is important to keep in mind about this agreement was that while current players appear to be in favor of enacting such a policy, the input they gave was hardly unsolicited. Gene Upshaw and NFL Comish Roger Goddell decided to bring players into the discussion, which is a great move.

The truth of the matter is that this policy is absolutely necessary. The NFL hardly wants to have the image problem that the NBA currently has. But the real question remains: Who should the rule be named after? Should it be the Pac-Man Jones rule? The Tank Johnson rule? The Chris Henry rule? Take your pick, they’re all dirtbags and in Johnson and Jones’ case, certifiable menaces to society.

But what qualifies as a strike? Quite simply an arrest. Because anyone with money can get out of a conviction. If a player is out at a club and runs into a cop with a chip on his shoulder, that’s still only one strike. There’s no way someone who is completely innocent is going to get arrested three times.

The NFL needs to take very firm, very public measures to insure the NFL doesn’t become the NBA in the eyes of the public. And this is definitely one way to stop that.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 26th, 2007 at 10:09 pm and is filed under The NFL. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.