Why There Is So Much Bad Behavior In The Nfl
The negative conduct of players in the NFL is at an all time high. As a former NFL player I have seen many incidents of bad player conduct both on and off the field. In this article I am going to discuss why I believe player conduct is getting worse every season.
First of all, the NFL player culture is evolving. When I came into the league in 1999, there were veteran players who would mentor you and basically take you in as their little brother. My mentors included Tony Siragusa, Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden, and other fantastic veteran players. Besides acting as mentors and team leaders, these veterans also made sure the young players behaved themselves and stayed out of trouble. Where the NFL is evolving now is that the average veteran player is only 28 years. The younger 21-23 year old players do not respect the older players because the older players are on average only 5-6 years older.
But here is the real problem. The young high draft pick players entering the league are making just as much money and sometimes even more money than the experienced veteran players. This creates two major problems. First, it is...