Should It Be The National Football League or The National Felon League?

This offseason has been pretty dang boring unless you’re either a Brett Favre, Michael Vick or Tom Brady fan. So I’ve been roaming around just about every major football site I can think of and a few constants keep jumping out at me. It’s certainly not a new phenomenon, but the regularity at which players run into trouble with the law is certainly more than a little bit disturbing.

The recent troubles of Donte Stallworth, Plaxico Burress, Santonio Holmes and even ex-NFLer Ryan Leaf got me thinking about the criminal history of the NFL as a whole and not just the front page makers.

Of course, with this being the NFL, having some of the most devoted and emotional fans can be a double-edged sword when one team’s player is suddenly thrown into the hoosegow. Mortal enemies instantly pounce at the first smell of blood and are relentless in their jibes and attacks of the team they hate so fervently.

Being a Ravens fan, I know firsthand the stigma that goes along with having a player’s reputation and name tarnished by unfortunate incidences that have occurred in the past. Yes, I’m talking about Ray Lewis.

It’s not a complete surprise that I would bring the man up of course; He is after all the heart, soul and leader of one of the best defenses in football today.

Now for the sake of this article’s length, I’m not going to go into details about the whole incident. Anyone with Google and a few minutes can find that out for themselves if they’re not already familiar with the event.

To make a long story short, on January 31, 2000 Ray was hanging with some friends during Super Bowl 34, when at a party a fight ensued. During the fight, two men were stabbed and killed, allegedly by Ray and his two buddies. Charges were filed, indictments were handed down and the case went to trial.

Witnesses testified on Ray’s behalf. The prosecution dropped their murder charges and Ray eventually ended up pleading down to a misdemeanor charge of obstruction of justice since he didn’t want to testify against his friends. He was sentenced to one year probation and fined $250,000 by the NFL for the incident, a league record at that time.  

To add insult to injury, the following year Ray was back at the Super Bowl, but as a participant and not a spectator. The Ravens went on to win Super Bowl 35 and Ray Lewis was voted the MVP, but in a final twist because of the legal troubles a year earlier, Trent Dilfer, and not Ray Lewis got to say that famous line that every backyard QB has dreamed of saying since he could even hold a football: “I’m going to Disneyland.”

Whether you agree with the final legal outcome or not, the stigma of that event has followed Ray Lewis and the Ravens ever since. Even though Ray has since kept his nose clean and never been in trouble again, the Ravens were forever termed the team of “thugs” and “criminals.” Of course incidents with other players don’t exactly help, but none before or since have garnered the kind of debate that Ray’s incidence has. This begs the question. Are the Ravens really the “Thug Team” or is it all just an undeserved moniker?

I know some would argue that other teams more than fit the bill and depending on what team you root for, your mortal enemy might be that team just on principle. The Raiders come to mind as a team that is constantly tied to the idea of miscreants and no one can count out the Bengals for a decent byline or two every now and then.

With all the stories about DUIs, drug charges, car accidents and good old fashioned knuckle headedness, it got me thinking about what team truly is the league’s worst den of punks and troublemakers. So, I did a little digging and thanks to the website www.signonsandiego.com,

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