While I agree that the Raider way should not be the Patriot way, I think you emphasize the opposite too much. The Patriot Way was about the here and now, where even if you had some trouble in your life, when you come to the Patriots your off field activities that resulted in trouble are done! Your off field life will not result in things that get you arrested and negative attention to the organization. You will take your on field job extremely seriously and you will take your representation of the Patriots brand to the public seriously. Sure, A Dennard had trouble but is there anything to suggest that since then he has been a problem off field? Aaron Hernandez, has he ever been arrested for violence prior to being drafted and most especially since the Patriots brought him aboard? AH never gave me the sense he was a boy scout but has there been any official reports that said AH was in trouble with the law prior? Maybe I lacked awareness but prior to this, AH, for all his life choices, had not publicly put the Patriot brand in jeopardy. But now because he appears to have done something sickening, boy we should have all known! and drafted John The Apostle out of Liberty University??? Football is a 'way out' for quite a few guys, guys who may have had troubled youths/gotten in trouble with the law. They should never have the opportunity with the Patriots to grow up, to make a better life??? All I can say is I never thought the Patriot Way was not drafting someone like A Dennard or A Hernandez. But I always did think, and still do, that some guys who are on an AH path don't end up on that path because the Patriots organization gives them an environment and gives them boundaries that point them in the right direction, a direction that otherwise could lead to what happened yesterday.
As for the on field product, to me it is too high a standard to believe the Patriots or the Patriot Way could equal passing on anyone that had trouble in their youth/prior to the draft, was far from a model citizen. I'd certainly been out, I'd bet some others here would too. There's a reason why the thug-ster teams of college frequently were vying for the championship. Their ability can translate to the field. If the Patriots drafted from the stance of no one can be in trouble (Dennard), imho, we've got a serious uphill battle to be a competitive organization.