Green Bay not immune from off-the-field incidents
The scene struck a chord with Rob Davis.

New York Giants star Plaxico Burress, nattily dressed in a black jacket and white shirt, leaving a police precinct in handcuffs with the distinct look of a man whose career and life never will be quite the same.

Ten months ago, Burress was a hero in Super Bowl XLII, catching the winning touchdown in the Giants upset of the New England Patriots.

Monday, he was arrested as satellites beamed his lowest moment around the country.

First and foremost, as a former player, I feel bad, said Davis, the former long snapper and the Green Bay Packers director of pro personnel.

I feel bad for the young guy, because Im sure that wasnt his intentions for that to happen that way, and it certainly puts a tremendous amount of scrutiny on him and on his family and on their organization.

But I guess hopefully, if theres any silver lining in this, maybe other young players see that and say, You know what? Maybe I need to change a little bit of what Ive got going on, if indeed this is the path Im traveling, because it leads to a dead end.

The Packers largely have avoided the sorts of high-profile incidents that have embarrassed NFL franchises in recent years a dogfighting operation or an illicit boat party or a strip-club brawl or, in Burress case, a player accidentally shooting himself in the leg at a nightclub, leading to two felony counts of illegal possession of a firearm.

If theres a place where Im going to that I need to have a firearm on me, Packers defensive tackle Colin Cole said, I think Im not going to go there in the first place.

But no NFL franchise is immune to trouble, even in a place like Green Bay, where character is no small consideration in player acquisition and there are no bright lights of the city to pull players into dicey situations.

Whether the implementation of a stricter personal conduct policy the centerpiece of Commissioner Roger Goodells pledged crackdown on bad behavior last year has had a significant effect is debatable. It remains a small minority of players who perpetuate the leagues antisocial reputation, magnified by an ever-expanding media and blogosphere, but that reputation isnt going anywhere as long as repeat offenders like Dallas Adam Pacman Jones and Cincinnatis Chris Henry keep their careers alive and players like Burress draw national attention with their missteps.

The reality is the bad guy who can play almost always gets an extra chance, and even good guys can find themselves in bad situations.

Big town, small town trouble can be found, Davis said. They really try to bring a lot of high-character guys in here, and thats been the blueprint since Ive been here the last several years.

But I think the quote-unquote bad apples deserve a shot as well, because its ultimately about winning football games. Not everybody that you put on the football field is going to be Rhodes Scholars and guys that you want to take home to meet your mom.

Safety net
[ul]The question isnt even complete before Justin Harrell pulls the gold keychain from his pocket.

On the front is a Packers logo. On the back is the phone number for team headquarters and the words Make the right call, which Harrell reads aloud.

Every newcomer gets the keychain and a business card with a list of important phone numbers. Theyre reminders that, if a bad situation arises, help is a phone call away.

Its not saying you can go out there and do anything you want to and get off of it, Harrell said. As long as its kind of understandable what may have happened, you may have made a mistake or something, yeah, its good to have people you can call. But you dont want to go out and just try to see how far you can take it.

The first contact is Doug Collins, the Packers omnipresent director of corporate security. From there, it can be relayed to the Packers football administration coordinator, Matt Klein, and eventually coach Mike McCarthy, Davis and others, depending on the situation.

The preference, though, is to intercept problems before they occur. It begins during rookie orientation the longest four days of your life, Harrell said in which players learn about everything from dealing with situations in clubs to drugs to practice habits to lending people money. The NFL also requires rookies to attend eight conduct management sessions, ranging from an NFL security presentation on guns and gangs to the life-skills seminar A Call to Men, which focused on ending violence against women.

Players say they would be comfortable making the trouble call, but many havent had to.

And we hope they never do, Davis said. But if they do, I think the organization has enough things in place where they can support those guys and help them get the help that they need.[/ul]


Moment of truth
[ul]Johnny Jolly had to make the call.

We have a good support team, the third-year defensive tackle said on Friday.

Thats about all Jolly has said in regard to his July 8 arrest in Houston on felony drug possession charges.

According to police, officers of a specialized unit were patrolling the parking lot of a nightclub known for narcotics and weapons violations when they approached a vehicle driven by Jolly a little after 1 a.m. Police say they found a bag of marijuana on one of the four men inside the vehicle, as well as a semi-automatic pistol on the floorboards and a couple of cups containing codeine syrup, which can be mixed with soda to make a mind-altering drink called lean that originated in the Houston area.

Free on $10,000 bail since his arrest, Jolly was indicted on Oct. 1 for felony possession of a controlled substance, given a 7 p.m. curfew and ordered to submit to random urinalysis for drug monitoring. He is expected to enter a plea or have the case scheduled for trial in his court appearance on Tuesday.

Jolly could face prison time if convicted, though as a first-time offender he could get as little as probation. Even a guilty plea to a lesser charge likely would trigger a fine and possibly a suspension under the personal conduct policy.

The toughest thing for young kids to understand is nine out of 10 times, the crime youre guilty of is the people you surround yourself with, Brian Overstreet, Jollys agent and a criminal defense lawyer, told the Press-Gazette in August. You may not have necessarily broken the law, but you have surrounded yourself with people who are of that kind of character, which in the eyes of the commissioner is a crime if it continues to happen, looking at it on its face.

The NFL suspended linebacker Nick Barnett for this years season opener after he entered into a deferred prosecution agreement, which allowed him to avoid a criminal conviction on a disorderly conduct charge stemming from a June 2007 altercation at a downtown Appleton nightspot. Barnett successfully appealed the suspension, but he the fine stuck: one game check, $117,647.

Those two incidents earned the Packers 10 points in standings compiled by the popular blog profootballtalk.com, which logs NFL player arrests and keeps a days without an arrest counter. As of Saturday afternoon, the counter stood at five. Twelve teams had more than 10 points, led by the Denver Broncos 31. Only four teams Washington, Dallas, St. Louis and the New York Jets had none.

That both of the Packers issues occurred during the offseason is significant at least in terms of the level of distraction they caused. At least 10 teams have had a player arrested and/or charged with a crime since the start of training camp in August.

Weve got a real home atmosphere around here, Packers guard Daryn Colledge said. I think weve got a lot of family guys on this team. I think weve got dudes that, theyve got families and kids and theyre just not out doing things on the weekends. Thats good for us. Weve got a lot of guys that are committed to this team getting better.

Then again, good behavior is by no means a consistent indicator of on-field success. Burress was at least the third Giants player arrested in a little more than two months, and they lead the NFC with an 11-1 record.

The Packers largely have avoided substance-related suspensions, too. Receiver Koren Robinson was suspended one year for a violation of the NFLs substance-abuse policy, spanning parts of the 2006 and 2007 seasons, but that was related to a drunken driving arrest while he was a member of the Minnesota Vikings. The last Packer suspended for violating the NFLs steroid policy is believed to be linebacker Jude Waddy in 1998.[/ul]


Turning the corner?
[ul]Goodell made a statement in 2007 with the preseason suspensions of Jones, Henry and Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick and a later eight-game ban for Chicago defensive tackle Tank Johnson. The NFL further strengthened its policy this past offseason, announcing it would begin fining teams that had players suspended beginning June 1.

However, deterring players bad behavior and stopping it are two different things.

Everybody knows whats happening out there in the NFL, and (Packers coaches and staff) remind you whats good conduct and bad conduct, Colledge said. But were a bunch of adults, and you cant tell a guy what hes going to do and what he cant do.

Cole, who joined the Packers in 2004, said he has noticed changes in the locker room.

Your job is to be not only a good player out on the field, but to also to be a good citizen around town, Cole said. They take that very seriously here, and I think over the last couple of years, theyve weeded out a lot of guys that have been distractions and have been constantly getting in trouble.

Asked in an e-mail on Friday whether the league has compiled any hard data on the impact of the more stringent personal conduct policy, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello responded: We believe the Personal Conduct Policy has had a positive impact on all NFL employees. The number of negative incidents involves a very small percentage of our people.

In April 2007, a San Diego Union-Tribune study counted 308 arrests or citations, not including minor traffic infractions, for NFL players since January 2000. Nearly 40 percent of the incidents involved 50 repeat offenders less than 3 percent of the roughly 1,700 players on NFL rosters.

About 90 percent of the incidents in the Union-Tribune study involved black players, who make up roughly 70 percent of NFL players. That mirrors the disproportionately high arrest and incarceration rate of blacks in the general population statistics researchers have connected to the number of blacks who grow up in poverty, which can breed criminal behavior, as well as documented racial profiling in law enforcement. The types of crimes committed followed the pattern among young people, most commonly driving under the influence and drug-related offenses.

These are societal issues, and society doesnt go away when you walk into an NFL locker room, said Davis, who is black. These guys, myself included back then, were still a part of society, and so guys are going to have issues. Thats just how it is.

Like with most things, its a maturation process. I cant sit here at (age) 40 and say that I had the same thought process at 22. Theres a maturation process that takes place with these players, and its so very easy for people to point fingers and say, Well, this guy should have did this, this and this. But what would you do at 22 years old, with instant fame?[/ul]