The Criminal Athlete in Today's Sports

Are major league sports becoming a breeding ground for criminal behavior?  It does certainly look that way with multiple big arrests for some high profile athletes recently.  Now I do realize that most of these are never prosecuted but my theory is always that the athletes are putting themselves in these situations in the first place so they are partly responsible in almost all of the accusations.  At least for acting irresponsible in most cases.  What I have been very glad to see is whether charges are filed or not, all of the major sports leagues have stepped up with penalties for irresponsible behavior.  This is a necessary step for one reason only -- these athletes are looked up as role models to the younger generation of fans (and even older ones too) and their behavior on and off the field are supposed to set positive examples for them. 

So why have so many athletes been accused of crimes recently?  Some people claim that the accusers are just out to get money from these athletes while others argue that in most sports players do not have to complete college so they enter the leagues with not enough maturity.  I think both of these arguments are valid to a point but are not the main reason.  To me, the answer is simple.  It does not matter what area of work is involved, there will always be people in these positions who violate the law and that can be seen in every walk of life.  I do believe though that more people feel more comfortable nowadays to go to the police while in the past this might not have been the case.  Our media has also really focused on these topics when an athlete is charged with a crime especially if that athlete is very famous. 

Now lets take a look at some of the athletes that have been accused or charged with crimes in the last few years:

1.)  Lawrence Taylor -- Accused of raping and physically beating a minor in a New York Hotel.  (just charged on May 6, 2010 so stay tuned for updates on this one)

2.)  Ben Roethlisberger-- (probably the biggest hype was on this one)  Accused of sexual assault to a 20 yr old woman in Georgia.  This was Ben's third accusation for sexual misconduct or assault in the past few years.  While charges were eventually dropped, the NFL did apply a several game suspension for inappropriate behavior on Ben's part.   

3.)  Gilbert Arenas -- Charged with bringing unloaded weapons to the Verizon Center.  Ended up receiving probation and community service tasks.

4.)  PlaxicoBurress-- Accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unregistered illegal gun.  Sentenced to two years in prison for offense.

5.)  Adam "Pacman" Jones -- Involved with multiple arrests and charges.

6.)  Dwight "Doc" Gooden -- Arrested and charged with multiple drug related offenses but most recent was in March 2010 and involved driving while under the influence of drugs, child endangerment and leaving the scene of an accident. 

7.)  MutipleSteriod Accusations in MLB -- I could list a lot of names here but some of the big ones will work:  Alex Rodriguez, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire are the most prolific ones involved with this scandal.

8.)  Isiah Rider -- Arrested for suspicion of assault on his wife along with not paying a cab bill (stealing).

While the above list is in no way complete as to the number of arrests of recent athletes, it does give you a picture of some of the more high profile ones.  It would be almost impossible to actually list the arrests and accusations of all of the major league athletes recently(not to mention the multiple arrests of star college athletes).  Unfortunately that certainly does not bode well for the images of each of the major sports leagues and will most likely continue to remain an issue in the coming years.  But, as long as the police still remain willing to prosecute these criminal athletes and the major sports leagues continue to enforce penalties for these transgressions then hopefully the increase in players accused of these crimes will start to level off or maybe actually decrease.  Only time will tell.....