I normally wouldn't care what they did with their free time, but since the NFL has a code of conduct and punishes players with suspension, it affects the ability of the teams to succeed, so they have to do their due diligence to determine if the players have a certain level of character, and not just the ability to catch a football or make a tackle. Things ain't changing anytime soon.
I don't know how people can blame Idzik for this. Any person can commit a crime at anytime...these nfl players during the pre-draft process certainly aren't going to telegraph a crime they could commit in several years down the road or even the next week. We are fortunate that it's a practice squad player and not Wilkerson or Richardson ( the equivalent of an Aldon Smith type suspension to the 49ers). To be honest, I personally was a little upset that Idzik focused so much on drafting colleg captains because I felt like late round is exactly when you take a flier on a guy like Colt Lyerla or Seantrel Henderson or DaRick Rodgers last year because if they screw up, see ya later but if they appreciate their god given talent and commit to their teammates you have a sick athlete on contract for four years.
We're talking about multi-billion dollar organizations here. When I first joined the Air Force, the FBI spent about 70 thousand dollars doing a full background check on me, that went back to my childhood days - and I spent about 10 years in the service making between 20-27k per year. These kids are making millions of dollars and in turn contributing to the possibility of increasing the profits of their multi-billion dollar organizations. But it really does seem like teams don't bother looking too much into the personal lives of people they are about to spend that kind of scratch on.
I spent 4 years in the navy, they did background checks as well. But there were still sailors getti g arrested for assault, theft, fraud and all other shit you would not think of in the military.hell, i was friends with a guy that shot a civillian after a bar fight one night. Background checks do not predict the future
They may not predict the future, but they give you a decent understanding the human being you are possibly employing for an important job. My job required a TS clearance, and during the decade I was in, the worst trouble any of my co workers ever got into was DUIs.
I noticed the NFL's penalty went from 2 weeks to 6 weeks for domestic violence violations. So, should Eku (just for the sake of argument) be found guilty of his domestic violence charge , is that 6-game suspension "held in escrow" while he's on the practice squad and will remain in place until he's reinstated onto the regular roster?
Understood,, but these nfl guys are already doing this research as part of the draft process. I 100 percent agree that you have to try and assess that but no system will be perfect. I don't think taking a guy with these risks like Lewan Lewis in the first round makes sense but if someone drops to the sixth seventh round with a first round grade on talent it's worth the risk.
I agree with you, personally I don't believe it will get worse. Some guys are just immature, there are some Phsych evaluations that can be done to weed out these nut jobs. Idzik is doing a good job, and he will learn and adjust as a GM. But yes, if these things continue, I will be taking my shots at Idzik.
To be fair, you probably had the ability to wreak a lot more havoc in the Air Force than on the Jets practice squad.
