New York Jets and the Biggest Crime Happy Teams in Sports
The arrest of New York Jets wideout Braylon Edwards this week is just another case of a professional athlete running into trouble with the law.
Plenty of teams have dealt with it in sports, but some teams have been bitten by this bug more than others. Inside you'll find 10 programs who have had issue with it and have players who have had run-ins with the law.
Disagree? Leave it in the comments.
No. 10: Chicago Blackhawks
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One of the Blackhawks' stars, Patrick Kane, was arrested last year for assaulting a cab driver with his brother. He was charged with theft of services after they took the $15 fare because he didn't have the 20 cents he needed for change.
When you're a multi-millionaire athlete, of course you get mad over 20 cents. This was Chicago's only incident, but boy was it a strange one. It didn't affect the Blackhawks any though, as they went on to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers for the Stanley Cup.
No. 9: Los Angeles Lakers
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It didn't take long for Matt Barnes to make the Los Angeles Lakers look bad. Barnes picked up a felony domestic violence charge for an incident after he signed a deal with the Lakers as a free agent.
The Lakers haven't had a ton of criminal incidents, but they did have the big controversy around Kobe Bryant's alleged rape of a woman at a hotel in Colorado. The charges were dropped, but there's a mugshot out there and we may never know what actually happened in that hotel room.
I wouldn't be shocked if Barnes is back in the news for all the wrong reasons sooner rather than later.
No. 8: Boston Celtics
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These incidents didn't happen while they were members of the Celtics, but Delonte West and Nate Robinson both have found themselves in the news for criminal issues.
First there was Delonte's incident last summer when he was pulled over with a ton of weapons in his possession, including a shotgun. Always a very sane and rational thing to do as a professional athlete. Did I mention he was on a motorcycle? Oh yeah, that too.
Nate Robinson's was less severe and he was pulled over for driving without a suspended license. How did they find that out you may ask? Well, Robinson was driving without wearing a seat belt. Brilliant!
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No. 7: Philadelphia Eagles
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The two biggest offenders on the Eagles are Michael Vick and Juqua Parker.
We all know about Vick's past legal troubles surrounding his dogfighting ring and all of the brutal, heinous things that were committed on his property and by Vick himself. It was one of the more heinous incidents we've seen from an athlete in quite some time.
Parker, on the other hand, was arrested for possession of marijuana after committing a traffic violation. Maybe Parker should have talked to Andy Reid's kids about how to handle drugs.
Too soon?
No. 6: Tennessee Titans
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While Pacman Jones used to take up most of the Tennessee Titans' spot on the sports crime blotter, now it's a bunch of little things that have added up for the Titans.
Then-quarterback Chris Simms was arrested for driving while under the influence of marijuana. Not long after, first round pick Derrick Morgan was arrested for speeding and driving with a suspended license.
These incidents followed wideout Kenny Britt being arrested for not paying his outstanding parking tickets, which somehow became an issue for a millionaire. Of course there was Vince Young's fight in a strip club that didn't result in any charges.
Bravo fellas. Bravo.
No. 5: Baltimore Ravens
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The Ravens have two high-profile criminal cases on their roster in Donte Stallworth and Ray Lewis.
Lewis' being charged with murder was one of the biggest stories in football about 10 years ago. Lewis was eventually acquitted of the charges, but it stained his character for a long, long time. Stallworth was another player who caught major media scrutiny for his legal issues.
Stallworth drove drunk and hit a pedestrian, killing him. It was an awful, horrible incident that really hurt his value to other teams. Now Stallworth is on the Ravens doing very little for anyone.
No. 4: New York Jets
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The latest team to have an issue with players having run-ins with the law is the Jets.
We've discussed Braylon Edwards' issues including this weeks DWI charge. Last year Edwards found himself charged with assault after punching a friend of LeBron James outside of a nightclub.
Another Jets' wideout, Santonio Holmes, is currently serving a four game suspension for violating the substance abuse policy. This is what happens when you let your players run wild. I'm not saying it's all Rex Ryan's fault, but he needs to crack down on his team.
No. 3: Cincinnati Bengals
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At one point the Bengals had 10 players arrested in 14 months. That's a rate that's hard to top. However, since the Bengals have cleaned up their act for the most part, they're not the top spot on this list.
Cincy still has Tank Johnson and Pacman Jones on its roster and I'm not so sure how long those two can go without committing some sort of crime, especially Jones. Johnson looks like he's cleaned up his act somewhat and that's to be commended.
However, as a Titans fan I've learned not to trust Pacman Jones whatsoever.
No. 2: New York Knicks
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Not only are the Knicks terrible at basketball, they're terrible at staying out of trouble off the court.
Wilson Chandler was arrested for marijuana possession, and by possession I mean a joint and a dozen bags of pot inside of his car. In late July Eddy Curry had a warrant issued for his arrest because he didn't pay part of his settlement for having sex with an underage girl.
Brilliant Eddy. Just brilliant. It was the second time such a warrant was issued for Curry's arrest. The Knicks just can't do anything right.
Also, don't forget that lovely sexual harassment suit involving Isiah Thomas and a former Knicks executive.
No. 1: Florida Gators
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In Urban Meyer's five seasons at Florida he's won two national championships. However, those championships came at the expense of the community.
During that time span, 30, that's right 30, members of the Gators have been arrested for various charges.
Maybe people ignored it or missed it altogether because of Tim Tebow's presence on that team and how friendly, nice, and sincere he was, but it's an unacceptable level of misbehavior.
Programs like Miami and Penn State have recently been taken to task for their lack of discipline and I think it's Florida's turn. Winning may be important, but doing it with some character is what's really important. Florida hasn't done that in a long, long time.
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