NFL behavior under scrutiny after last week’s two arrests

It was a startling two days for the image-conscious NFL.

On Wednesday last week, in Massachusetts, Bristol native and tight end Aaron Hernandez of the Patriots was arrested for first-degree murder. A day earlier, in New Jersey, rookie linebacker Ausar Walcott of the Cleveland Browns was charged with attempted murder.

Both players were immediately released by their teams, but under the national media spotlight, the NFL was painted as a lawless organization.

There have been 38 arrests of NFL players this year, ranging from disorderly conduct and DUI to domestic violence and assault, according to a database kept by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

But last week’s arrests raised the issue of violent behavior in the NFL to a new level.

“There does appear to be a growing culture of violence and guns in and around the NFL,” said former NFL quarterback Don McPherson, a college football commentator for SNY and a social activist who often speaks to college athletes. “I say ‘appears’ because there is more to it.”

McPherson points out that the very same culture of violence and guns that touches the NFL is prevalent throughout society. In fact, the data maintained by the Union-Tribune show the NFL’s rate of arrests is lower than that of the general population.

The FBI estimated the arrest rate for 2011 at just under 4 percent — four people for every 100 were arrested that year. For the same calendar year, 48 of about 1,700 players on NFL active rosters were arrested for a rate of 2.8 percent.

“Generally, the egregious behavior of pro athletes is not much different from men across the landscape,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern University’s Sport in Society program.

“We’re sort of talking about an American culture that’s rife with men behaving badly. This is a social construct problem.”

Of course, a straight comparison between NFL players and the general population is not exactly clean. NFL players have a strong support system in place from the league and teams, they have counselors at their disposal and the league offers rookie transition programs that educate players on the perils before them. That system is not in place for just any young male in society.

“The NFL gets t hem when they’re 22 years old,” McPherson said. “A weekend seminar like the rookie transition program or three mandatory 90-minute sessions a year is not going to change 23 years of socialized behavior. They’re very immature men who, by the time they were classified as potential stars, have been really taken care of.”

On the other hand, the perception of an out- of-control band of NFL players might be overblown because every brush with the law — from speeding tickets to serious charges — is reported by the media. The high-profile incidents cloud the fact that the vast majority of NFL players are not getting arrested.

“I think at some point you can say it’s unfair,” McPherson said. “But I talk to student-athletes all the time and I say, ‘Yeah, (the attention) is unfair, but keep in mind we don’t build stadiums around the chemistry lab, right?’ So you have to take the good with the bad.”

There has been a steady decline in arrests over the past seven years in the NFL.

In 2006, 68 NFL players were arrested. The number was at 40 last year, although that data didn’t include the murder-suicide by Kansas City Chiefs’ player Jovan Belcher, who killed his girlfriend before taking his own life and therefore avoided an arrest.

Halfway through this year, the 37 arrests in the NFL go against recent trends of a decline, but soon players will be in NFL camps, so the season will start, and their lives will be much more structured. Titus Young, a free agent receiver, was arrested three times ( burglary, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer) in the span of a week in May.

As a comparison, The Associated Press reported that six NBA players and three Major League Baseball players have been arrested since July 1, 2012. Of course, there are far fewer players in those sports; an NFL active roster consists of 53 players, while NBA teams dress 12 players and the MLB active roster is 25.