Should owners be fined heavily for improper conduct of thier players?

[DarrylS]

The only way they can be held accountable is if they are aware of criminal misconduct and then do nothing about it or cover it up.. then they become an accomplice, often the greatest crimes are ones of ommision..

There is no other way that the Rooney's can be held accountable...

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

The only way they can be held accountable is if they are aware of criminal misconduct and then do nothing about it or cover it up.. then they become an accomplice, often the greatest crimes are ones of ommision..

There is no other way that the Rooney's can be held accountable...

Not true...the Rooney's would no way in shape or form allow players to downgrade that team until those players were caught by authorities,you could see they did not hold back in sending Holmes on his way out,the Rooneys are still a prideful ownership which goes back several decades and did not want to tarnish their team's image especially in which the fanbase is one of the biggest,if not THE biggest in the NFL

I am sure the Rooneys did not see this coming and probably thought last years incident from Ben was the one and only and Holmes surprised them as well

Regardless they could be fined $200,000 whether they realized this was happening behind thier backs or not

All teams have players with criminal pasts on thier team whether its a notable one or not and the Patriots are far from an exception....whether those criminal acts come back to the spotlight is where the issue is with this rule

 

[DarrylS]

Not true...the Rooney's would no way in shape or form allow players to downgrade that team until those players were caught by authorities,you could see they did not hold back in sending Holmes on his way out,the Rooneys are still a prideful ownership which goes back several decades and did not want to tarnish their team's image especially in which the fanbase is one of the biggest,if not THE biggest in the NFL

I am sure the Rooneys did not see this coming and probably thought last years incident from Ben was the one and only and Holmes surprised them as well

Regardless they could be fined $200,000 whether they realized this was happening behind thier backs or not

All teams have players with criminal pasts on thier team whether its a notable one or not and the Patriots are far from an exception....whether those criminal acts come back to the spotlight is where the issue is with this rule

Sorry read the post wrong, I disagree completely with this rule.. unless they knew about it and either ignored it or covered it up..

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

The Rooneys knew.
We had several Steelers fans post here recently saying Ben's bad conduct was well known in the area to fans but the media refused to cover it untill recently. The alleged incidents were public knowlege. A team certainly keeps tabs on its star starting QB.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Really? Apparentely you don't always live in the 'real world' either. An assembly line worker canned because of what Ben was accused of and was ultimately found meritless by the DA? It might not even have come to the attention of 'joe six pack's' employeer.

So while your employer/employee analogy is better than the parent/child one in this case, it is still flawed because the NFL is not a typical 'workplace'--for starters, most malcontent NFL players are much more valuable to their employers than an easily replaced malcontent office worker.

The idea of punishing NFL owners for their players offseason transgressions is just what's ludicrous, and arguing for it is silly and hypocritical at worst if you're someone who feels that Goodell already has gone too far in micromanaging behavior.

I can't think of any team, ever, who has shown a pattern of negligence in signing or not reigning in problem players so blatant as to warrant any action against the team.

Maybe we should admit that we're talking about this mainly because it's the Steelers and Jets in question. Never saw too many fans clamoring for the heads of Oakland or Cinncinati ownership before.

In the real world the assembly line worker would have been arrested on the spot and based on the statements I read the victim probably would have proceeded with the case absent it involving a wealthy celebrity replete with an army of lawyers and investigators intent on trashing her into submission and a small county DA with a 2 man staff might have been more inclined to prosecute if he was matched up against a PD.

Playing in the NFL is a priviledge and not a right. Players who don't appreciate that should not be accorded the priviledge, no matter what position or whom they play for. The code of conduct is all about repeat offenders, whether their offenses result in an arrest, conviction or merely causes embarassment to the league and therefore harms it's marketability.

 

[JMarr]

In the real world the assembly line worker would have been arrested on the spot and based on the statements I read the victim probably would have proceeded with the case absent it involving a wealthy celebrity replete with an army of lawyers and investigators intent on trashing her into submission and a small county DA with a 2 man staff might have been more inclined to prosecute if he was matched up against a PD.
Playing in the NFL is a priviledge and not a right. Players who don't appreciate that should not be accorded the priviledge, no matter what position or whom they play for. The code of conduct is all about repeat offenders, whether their offenses result in an arrest, conviction or merely causes embarassment to the league and therefore harms it's marketability.

Do you have a link? I haven't seen anywhere that the woman was "against proceeding with the case." Everything I've read indicates that she had no intention of dropping the case [assuming she even could have after the statements she made].

And if you truly believe that Big Ben's exploits are in any way threatening the NFL's overall marketability, then I don't know what to tell you. The NFL's "image problem" is a mirage. Stuff like this (and worse) has been happening for decades and the NFL marches on stronger than ever, amidst increasing flurries of accusations/transgressions like this.

 

[Nikolai]

Do you have a link? I haven't seen anywhere that the woman was "against proceeding with the case." Everything I've read indicates that she had no intention of dropping the case [assuming she even could have after the statements she made].

Ask and ye shall receive: Full text of letter Ben Roethlisberger's accuser sent asking DA not to prosecute

Excerpts:

After a great deal of deliberation, our client has instructed us to advise you that she does not want to prosecute this matter further.

What is obvious in looking forward is that a criminal trial would be a very intrusive personal experience for a complainant in the situation, given the extraordinary media attention that would be inevitable...

...this decision does not reflect any recanting of our client's complaint...