I’m watching Sunday night’s game between the Jets and the Dolphins. Just watched Braylon Edwards score a long touchdown and do a little dance. Okay, let’s talk about this.
Just in case you don’t know, let’s get all the facts out before we discuss. Edwards was arrested and charged with DUI last Tuesday at 5am. His blood alcohol level was measured at 0.16, twice the legal limit in New York. Teammates D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Vernon Gholston were with Edwards. The collective bargaining agreement between the players union and the league prohibits the Jets from suspending him or even deactivating him. The Jets decided to not start him and let him play though later in the game. Jets GM, Mike Tannenbaum, said that the reason Edwards wasn’t starting was because he was out at 5am.
Wow. I want to start with the action of the Jets. Again, they didn’t have the option of not dressing him. That said, no one can force the Jets to play him. What do they do? My first reaction is that he should sit, be taught a lesson. And if he doesn’t learn, maybe others will notice and be deterred. But this is an interesting issue. I know that we can’t totally compare professional sports with other professions. But what if this happened to someone where you work. They got a DUI after hours and didn’t impact any other employees or customers. Would they be punished by your company? I have to admit that I am not sure of that answer. Those of us who think Edwards should have sat, are we being too harsh just because he is a professional athlete? Should they be held to higher standards? If so, why?
Mike Tannenbaum’s comments are interesting. I don’t think Tannenbaum was minimizing the effect of the alcohol by saying Edwards was benched for being out at 5am. I think he was saying that alcohol or not, Edwards would be benched for being out that late. That doesn’t mean he didn’t care about the alcohol. But I wonder why Ferguson and Gholston weren’t benched then. They were out at 5am also.
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