NFL Data Reveals Decline in Number of Player Arrests

The NFL has compiled data that suggests "the number of NFL players arrested has declined significantly over the past year-and-a-half," according to Mark Maske of the Washington Post.

Maske wrote: "The league's data...shows a 40 percent reduction in the number of players arrested between Jan. 1 and July 31 of this year compared to a similar period last year. That comes after a 38 percent drop in the number of players arrested for the entire year in 2015 compared to 2014." 

According to the NFL's data, there were 21 player arrests from Jan. 1 to July 31 in 2016, 14 fewer arrests than the same period last year. Of those 21 arrests, six were for violent offenses, including four for domestic violence or sexual assault. There were 11 arrests for violent offenses in the same period in 2015, eight of which were for domestic violence or sexual assault.

In 2015, there were a total of 42 arrests, 26 fewer than in all of 2014. Eleven of those arrests were for violent offenses, nine fewer than in 2014.

"We're pleased with the numbers," Anna Isaacson, the NFL's senior vice president of social responsibility, told Maske. "But it's just one step. We're not satisfied there. There's more to be done. We're looking at what more we can do."

Isaacson credited the NFL's social-responsibility education for players—which focuses on issues such as domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and driving under the influence—and tougher penalties for violators of the league's personal-conduct policy.

Owners approved those tougher penalties in 2014 after the NFL was criticized for its handling of a number of high-profile cases, including those of Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy, per Maske.

However, the NFL Players Association has continued to oppose Roger Goodell's wide-ranging power to levy discipline against players as dictated by the collective bargaining agreement. The NFL and NFLPA held preliminary discussions in March to strip Goodell of that power in regard to off-field incidents. 

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