I’ve harped before on NFL and other professional athletes who find themselves getting in trouble off the field. Basically, I’ve felt that athletes are not used to the fame and money and pressures of performing at the highest levels for professional sports teams and therefore don’t know how to handle the responsibilities of being pro athletes.

Well today, two more NFL players of prominence are in trouble. The New York Jets’ Jesse Chatman, who had a very nice game this past week, has been suspended four games for violating the league’s steroid policy. You can read the original story here: http://www.nfl.com/news/story;jsessionid=396FCAA84E31B5C82BFEE37F68643B3...

Chatman, you’re an idiot. You just guaranteed yourself some additional playing time with that performance but you just threw it away by your own actions. Dumb.

The other player getting in trouble yesterday was the Jaguars’ Fred Taylor and Jimmy Smith both getting arrested – in the same day! Taylor was arrested outside a nightclub for disorderly conduct (yet another nightclub arrest) and Smith for a drunk driving charge (yet another one of these). Story here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/football/nfl/specials/preview/2008...

Just horrible. Same team, leading rusher and leading receiver on the Jags career-wise. Makes you shake your head and wonder. I really think the league and teams bear some responsibility for this, as do the individual athletes. It’s a sad statement about this sort of climate that makes these activities commonplace. The beat goes on, unfortunately…