stwasm
April-13th-2007, 08:07 AM
http://www.washingtontimes.com/sports/20070413-010934-3932r.htm
First-year commissioner Roger Goodell's disciplinary crackdown on player misbehavior off the field came in the wake of more than 50 arrests in the past 15 months, including six in the week before his Tuesday announcement of the lengthy suspensions of Tennessee cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones and Cincinnati receiver Chris Henry.
Surprisingly, the one-time NFL bad boys, the Dallas Cowboys, had only one player arrested in that span. That was safety Marcus Coleman, who was cut by no-nonsense former coach Bill Parcells soon after being arrested for driving while intoxicated.
Whether new Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, who was hired from San Diego, where the Chargers had numerous players in trouble with the law last year, will be as unforgiving as Parcells remains to be seen.
The most high-profile of the former Dallas bad boys, newly elected Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin, has advice for his successors in the high life and the fast lane.
"When you're 23, 24, 25, you don't think you will regret the things that you are doing," Irvin, now a born-again Christian, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I'm 41, and I'm telling you -- it's what I tell these guys all the time -- you are so going to regret this."
Irvin pleaded no contest to cocaine possession charges in 1996 and remains a controversial figure despite his coming enshrinement.
"Nobody is going to let you live it down," Irvin said. "Every time you walk in a room, this is what they're thinking about. You don't think this when you're young because you have that 'I'm invincible, and I can overcome anything.' That mentality and that attitude is what makes you great on the football field, but the reality is [that] people do not have short-term memories."
The closest thing the Cowboys have had to Irvin since in on-field talent as a receiver and as a magnet for criticism, Terrell Owens, was among the players at Valley Ranch last week for a conditioning and teaching program. Owens, recuperating from a second surgery in six weeks on a broken finger, probably won't be cleared to start catching passes until training camp in July but was eager to begin learning new coordinator Jason Garrett's offense.
First-year commissioner Roger Goodell's disciplinary crackdown on player misbehavior off the field came in the wake of more than 50 arrests in the past 15 months, including six in the week before his Tuesday announcement of the lengthy suspensions of Tennessee cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones and Cincinnati receiver Chris Henry.
Surprisingly, the one-time NFL bad boys, the Dallas Cowboys, had only one player arrested in that span. That was safety Marcus Coleman, who was cut by no-nonsense former coach Bill Parcells soon after being arrested for driving while intoxicated.
Whether new Cowboys coach Wade Phillips, who was hired from San Diego, where the Chargers had numerous players in trouble with the law last year, will be as unforgiving as Parcells remains to be seen.
The most high-profile of the former Dallas bad boys, newly elected Hall of Fame receiver Michael Irvin, has advice for his successors in the high life and the fast lane.
"When you're 23, 24, 25, you don't think you will regret the things that you are doing," Irvin, now a born-again Christian, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I'm 41, and I'm telling you -- it's what I tell these guys all the time -- you are so going to regret this."
Irvin pleaded no contest to cocaine possession charges in 1996 and remains a controversial figure despite his coming enshrinement.
"Nobody is going to let you live it down," Irvin said. "Every time you walk in a room, this is what they're thinking about. You don't think this when you're young because you have that 'I'm invincible, and I can overcome anything.' That mentality and that attitude is what makes you great on the football field, but the reality is [that] people do not have short-term memories."
The closest thing the Cowboys have had to Irvin since in on-field talent as a receiver and as a magnet for criticism, Terrell Owens, was among the players at Valley Ranch last week for a conditioning and teaching program. Owens, recuperating from a second surgery in six weeks on a broken finger, probably won't be cleared to start catching passes until training camp in July but was eager to begin learning new coordinator Jason Garrett's offense.