NFL and booze.

[Lomax]

Been wandering around the NFL website again (partly but not exclusively in the hope of learning that something deeply unpleasant has happened to young Mr Manziel...) - and I read that the Broncos' Matt Prater has been suspended for four games for violating the league's alcohol policy.

I read on, expecting to find a report of him being tired and emotional as a newt some Denver bar (or that he was a mile high at Mile High ...) - but no. Seemingly, he had a drink in his own home during the holidays.

I mean, what? Does the NFL expect players to be entirely tee-total? Blimey, that's strict. Or have I missed something?

[kham]

It's run by retards

Simplest explanation I can think of

Pull moronic stupidity like this, yet excuse murdering scum, think dog killers are cool people and generally approve any illegal behavior as long as the scumbag can buy his way out of things

Disgusting

[Fred588]

I make no comment regarding the NFL leadership or its overall record on the behavior of players, but there is more to this than having a drink at home. According to USA Today the player in question was already enrolled in the league's substance abuse program due to two prior DUI arrests. It is true that the most recent one was three years ago. That, to my mind, should be mitigating and probably was, if I read the article correctly, as the stipulated punishment for a player at his stage in the program is actually a full year suspension.

[Sydney]

Been wandering around the NFL website again (partly but not exclusively in the hope of learning that something deeply unpleasant has happened to young Mr Manziel...) - and I read that the Broncos' Matt Prater has been suspended for four games for violating the league's alcohol policy.

I read on, expecting to find a report of him being tired and emotional as a newt some Denver bar (or that he was a mile high at Mile High ...) - but no. Seemingly, he had a drink in his own home during the holidays.

I mean, what? Does the NFL expect players to be entirely tee-total? Blimey, that's strict. Or have I missed something?

From what I read (I did a quick search), he had a DUI in 2011, and the NFL folks can ask that someone with a known abuse problem (even a single DUI might just qualify, depending on exactly what happened during that DUI) abstain totally from the substance, per their policies.

(For the record, my brother was in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. I treat DUI as serious business, all the time, and part of why I don't care for professional sports much is because there IS a serious substance abuse problem, most high profile with the NFL.)

Pull moronic stupidity like this, yet excuse murdering scum, think dog killers are cool people and generally approve any illegal behavior as long as the scumbag can buy his way out of things

I do agree, substance abuse is WAY down on the list compared to some of the other stuff we see from some of the psychopaths they've got in just because they play really fucking well. This is the OTHER reason I don't care for professional sports much, PARTICULARLY football, is because they've got a serious problem with people who have no sense of proper social requirements of their rather deep penetration into the spotlights.

[nachtjaeger]

I seem to remember Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills having gotten his posterior banned from just about every watering hole in the Buffalo area. I'm guessing the league has tightened its alcohol policy since then.

Been wandering around the NFL website again (partly but not exclusively in the hope of learning that something deeply unpleasant has happened to young Mr Manziel...) - and I read that the Broncos' Matt Prater has been suspended for four games for violating the league's alcohol policy.

I read on, expecting to find a report of him being tired and emotional as a newt some Denver bar (or that he was a mile high at Mile High ...) - but no. Seemingly, he had a drink in his own home during the holidays.

I mean, what? Does the NFL expect players to be entirely tee-total? Blimey, that's strict. Or have I missed something?

[Mynock]

Don't follow NFL myself but I heard a couple of guys at work talking about it, apparently he already had a drinking problem, so the "one little drink at home" was in fact a serious issue.

[Lomax]

Update - now I read that an OWNER (some chap called Irsay of whom I was not previously aware) has been done for driving under the influence of painkillers, and is not only banned from a certain number of games, but is prohibited from even possessing alcohol.

From the outside this just seems weird. Over here, all too many football teams are owned by foreign oligarchs, but the league has no power over their private lives. OK, we'd prefer it if they didn't precipitate Armageddon, but apart from that anything else seems to go.

Now - before I upset Ted again, let me emphasise that just because, as a foreigner, I find some American attitudes and practices odd, that doesn't mean that I think they're wrong.* I'm sure you find some of my attitudes bizarre in the extreme. But boy, you do seem to have a love-hate relationship with booze.



* Except your habit of putting ice in whisky (or, indeed, whiskey). That IS a crime against civilisation.

[Mynock]

If you can drink moderately and not cause a problem nobody cares. If you start doing asinine things like getting DUI's and beating your girlfriend it becomes an image problem (role model for young adults and all that nonsense). There's also the financial risk involved. You're paying this guy millions of dollars to kick a ball around. If he gets drunk and wrecks his car and breaks his foot there goes your investment. If he gets drunk and wrecks his car into a busload of orphans and breaks his foot you've lost your investment AND you've got a multi-million dollar lawsuit on your hands.
Money is power. Power corrupts. The more money you give the idiots for throwing little balls around the more they act like assholes and the more you have to rein them in.

[kham]

Not to mention kissing their ass and telling them how awesome they are from about age 12 onwards. Frankly,this crap will go on until someone wakes up and the league and law enforcement collectively snaps the fuck out of it, and charges the motherfucker in question with the proper charges , and stamps NO FUCKING DEAL on the perps forehead

[Duncan Edwards]

Keep in mind that in America you have at least the concept of a classless society so the billionaire owners are subject to the same rules they impose upon their millionaire players. What you don't hear about as much are the many players in the NFL, some of whom I have known personally, that are genuinely well behaved people. Either way the league is not interested in promoting a bad image or possibly being held liable in our super litigious society. As a fan who is at every home game of my team I wish they could impose the same rules of behavior on certain fans. I have been in the same seat for 15 years and am pretty much the Lord Mayor of my section. We have few problems as a result but that is not always the case in other stadiums around the league.