NFL Teams to Choose Carefully

Conduct Policy May Affect Draft

Many NFL team officials say they will be less likely to draft players who misbehave off the field because of the league's new conduct policy, which allows Commissioner Roger Goodell to impose lengthy suspensions on misbehaving players and punish clubs with significant numbers of offenders.

Baltimore Ravens General Manager Ozzie Newsome said that he and his peers have been feeling additional pressure since Goodell first told them during a meeting of general managers at February's NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis that teams would be held accountable for players' misdeeds.

"That falls on us," Newsome said, "that there are some players now we may have to pass on because I don't want to put [Ravens owner] Steve Bisciotti in that position or put this organization in that position to be held accountable for a player that I knew had some issues."

Such considerations during the pre-draft evaluation process are not entirely new to scouts, executives and coaches. With millions of dollars in player contracts at stake, it has long been standard practice for teams to conduct background checks and probe players' psyches in interviews. With some regularity, players have plummeted on draft day because of fears by teams about possible misbehavior.

At next weekend's NFL draft, the issue could be an important one. Pro Football Weekly reported Wednesday that three top draft prospects -- Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson, Clemson defensive end Gaines Adams and Louisville defensive tackle Amobi Okoye -- admitted to past marijuana use during interviews that the league tapes with players at the combine and distributes to the teams. But there's been no indication that any of the three failed the drug tests taken by players at the combine. That falls under the league's substance abuse policy, not the conduct policy, and it's unlikely that their draft status will be significantly affected.

Other draft-eligible players with conduct-related issues include Florida defensive tackle Marcus Thomas, who was dismissed from the team in November for violating the terms of his pending reinstatement from a suspension for violating the school's substance abuse policy; Texas running back Ramonce Taylor, who was arrested last year on a marijuana charge; Texas cornerback Tarell Brown, who was arrested in September on drug and weapon charges and last month on a marijuana charge (the drug charge from September was dropped); UNLV cornerback Eric Wright, who left Southern California after being arrested in 2005 on suspicion of sexual assault, although prosecutors declined to press charges because of insufficient evidence; and California running back Marshawn Lynch, who in January was accused of sexual assault and domestic violence by a former girlfriend but was not charged. Lynch is being projected by many draft observers as a first-round selection.

Goodell acted decisively after approximately 50 NFL players were arrested last year and in the first 3 1/2 months of this year. He suspended Tennessee Titans cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones for the entire 2007 season and Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry for the first half of it. He issued a new conduct policy that allows him to impose a lifetime ban on a player for repeated serious criminal infractions, and to discipline a team. The potential punishments for clubs were not specified in the four-page policy that was distributed to the teams, but Goodell has said the possibilities include a fine or the loss of draft selections.

Goodell sent a clear shape-up-or-else message to players and teams with a policy sanctioned by the NFL Players Association. The league's leaders have said they believe the NFL's financial health could be threatened if sponsors and business partners come to believe the league has an image problem. The question is whether the message will be received. Some say they don't see how it couldn't be.

"I think it's a big deal," Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs said. "I think people are, to be truthful, tired of getting up in the morning and picking up the paper and reading about somebody in trouble. . . . Generally, that's the only thing that gets people's attention: If you cross this line and you get caught, then you're going to get the following results. Obviously, you've got to have educational stuff and you've got to have programs and all that kind of stuff. But I think in the end, it's got to have teeth to it."

Said John Lynch, a veteran safety on the Denver Broncos: "I like the fact that [Goodell] held everybody accountable. People have been talking the players, players, players. But I think what's been missing is the teams have some responsibility, too, for drafting guys who have long, long histories. I'm a firm believer in second chances because I've seen a lot of people flourish when they've had them. But when you start talking about fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth chances, I think that gets ridiculous. . . . When Tennessee has got to sit Pacman Jones . . . for a year, other teams are going to take notice.

"A lot of teams talk about character but don't always follow through with it. I can see why, because their job is to win championships. But I think now when this starts affecting teams, with tangible examples with Chris Henry and Pacman Jones, teams are going to think twice."

Bengals Coach Marvin Lewis said at the league meetings earlier this year that his team, after having nine players arrested in a nine-month span, no longer can afford to select a player who falls through the draft order because of concerns about character. "There's a tendency to buy the bargain," Lewis said, "and we're not in a position to do that anymore."

But others around the league said that if a player has talent, there undoubtedly will be a team willing to give him a chance, believing that a change of scenery and perhaps some nurturing can change behavior.

"It depends on the team and the coach," said Charley Casserly, former general manager of the Redskins and Houston Texans. "With us, we always put an emphasis on it. With some other teams, it's up and down a little bit."

Said Eric DeCosta, the Ravens' director of college scouting: "We've always felt pressure to avoid the troubled kids, the bad-character guys. We'd rather not deal with those type of players. I think other teams may be more willing to take those chances, with some success. But unfortunately for them, they've had some problems, too."

Newsome, speaking with DeCosta at the Ravens' pre-draft news conference, said each team must rely on its past rate of success with such decisions about borderline players to determine what its tolerance level will be in this new NFL environment.

"We have a history now of guys, not only that we have taken but other teams have taken, and when you come across other players that have those histories, that have those problems, then that presents a red flag to us," Newsome said. "So therefore we'll pass on them. But then there are other guys that have other issues who came into our league, matured and became good citizens for the league. So I think it's the history of the players that have been drafted over the last 12 years which allows us the opportunity to take guys off the board or to be willing to give them a chance. . . . We will have a conversation prior to the draft about character guys with Steve and Dick [Cass, the Ravens' president] to alert them who they are, not only character guys but also injured guys who have a medical grade that puts the player at risk for us. We will have those discussions before the draft so that once we get on the clock, we don't need to have those discussions."

Special correspondent Rich Campbell contributed to this report.