NFL Lockout: NFL Labor Dispute Leaving Players with Too Much Time on Their Hands

The NFL lockout is awful. I bet, even behind closed doors, both sides would admit--financial gain aside--that there's nothing good about what's going on with this labor garbage.

There are no trades, no free agent signings and no undrafted free agent signings. Rookies can't learn the new systems, and new head coaches can't implement their new philosophies and game plans.  And as great as the Draft was last month, the labor issue hovered over the festivities at Radio City Musical Hall like a thick cloud. During one moment of ESPN's draft coverage I really thought Jon Gruden was going to either start crying or break into a WWF-style soliloquy demanding both sides end the lockout.

But there's another detrimental issue surrounding this labor dispute that isn't getting quite as much publicity and one that has the potential to be far more destructive.

Look what's happened since the lockout:

Reggie Bush and Rashard Mendenhall shot themselves in the foot with Twitter.

Four pretty good players, Aqib Talib, Kenny Britt, Dez Bryant, even Mike Vrabel had highly public run-ins with the law.

And then there is Chad Ochocinco, who no one would mistake for "normal," but I don't think anyone expected him to a) play pro soccer, b) tweet about his "hurt feelings" and c) ride--if you can call 1.5 seconds riding--a bull all in the span of a month.

What's that old saying: "The devil finds work for idle hands"?

That's how I've felt throughout this NFL off-season.

Prior to the lockout, players weren't under lock and key. There weren't offseason bed checks and roll calls. Even the OTA's were "optional" to attend. But you'd have to think more structure and more day-to-day interaction with the head coach, the coordinators and the position coaches would keep players from getting into trouble, even a little bit.

Maybe Dez Bryant's incident at a Dallas mall wouldn't have occurred if he was in a meeting with Jason Garrett about reading coverages. Maybe Mike Vrabel wouldn't have gone to that casino if he had a defensive personnel meeting the next day. Maybe Bucs defensive end Alez Magee wouldn't have been arrested for marijuana possession if he was working with new teammates Adrian Clayborn and Da'Quan Bowers. According to FoxSports.com, 11 NFL players have been arrested since the start of the lockout.

(As a side note, I think Ochocinco's a lost cause: lockout or not, he's probably preparing to be shot out of a cannon or dive into a shark tank next month).

Sure the teammates can still hang out together, train together, run plays together, etc. But ever since pee wee football, these players have all had an authority figure to report to: their coaches.

For some,  maybe that thread is enough to hang on by and keep them from making bad decisions. Certainly not for all--long before the lockout and long after the lockout ends, trouble and NFL players go hand-in-hand.

But even if one bad situation--a DUI, an arrest, a sexual misconduct accusation--can be averted by players feeling some sense of  order being beamed down from the coaching staff or front office, then the players, the public, and the league is better off.