Jared Allen, The NFL, And Alcohol
The NFL has a problem with alcohol and it seems to be getting worse. Not that this is anything new, but it seems like the NFL can’t go a week without one of its players getting arrested for a DUI or some alcohol-related arrest. Just check Pro Football Talk and see how many times their turd watch actually makes it to seven days. I mean just recently Jevon Kearse got a DUI, Cedric Benson got arrested again, Dwayne Jarrett pleaded guilty to DUI, and Falcons safety Darren Stone got a DUI. That has all happened since June 7. You shocked? Probably not.
This brings me to the point of this post. Jeffri Chadiha recently wrote about Jared Allen’s continuing battle to stay away from alcohol. The only problem is that in our society it is everywhere you go, especially for NFL players.
“Alcohol is everywhere,” Allen says of life in the NFL. “It’s on the team plane, at off-season golf tournaments. And it’s something that I like to do.”
When Herm Edwards got to Kansas City he decided that he would ban alcohol from all team events, but that still hasn’t always stopped players from drinking at them. Like Boomer Grigsby, for instance.
After arriving in January 2006, Chiefs coach Herm Edwards banned alcohol at team functions. But Grigsby still wound up downing shots of whiskey after every hole of Edwards’ charity golf tournament that summer. Grigsby, it turned out, had been teamed with four local businessmen who were eager to drink with one of the team’s biggest-known partyers.
Jared and Boomer are now in different cities trying to contribute to different teams. It seems that Jared is fighting every day to live life sober, while Boomer is probably still having a little fun. Heck, he lives in Miami. The Vikings are trusting that Jared will stay away from alcohol and any future problems with the law. So far he has done an excellent job and it seems like Jared has figured it out. The NFL might want to start trying to figure it out, too.
Newly-Rich Allen Battles Age-Old Alcohol Problem - ABC Sports
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Jared Allen is a guy who genuinely cares about his career. I’m a fraternity man, and I’ve been drinking since high school, so I’m all in favor of partying. However, alcoholism is the line. Jared Allen crossed that line, and he knows it. I really believe that is doing the best job he can to change that part of his life for the betterment of his career.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:33 pmI hope he does (and I think he does), but he does have 70+ million reasons to care.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:55 pmWhat I dont understand is why players would even do stuff like this anyway. I mean, if you get the privelage to play in the nfl, why would you want to do anything at all that could mess up your career. Things such as drinking and driving, going to strip clubs, and even dogfighting are just assenine things to try, especially if your an nfl player. These guys are suposted to be setting a role model for kids.
OFF TOPIC–Ive read on a couple of sites that we’ve shone interest in ex lion running back Kevin Jones. This can’t possibly be true; I mean we have a definite starter, and behind him we have a third round draft pick and another young guy who showed promise last year. And the way that we barely signed any positions of need in free agency says to me that we arent going to sign a position that we’re set at.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:35 pmI don’t know if I’d call us “set” at RB. Remember, we have a guys coming off record-breaking year of carries followed by half a season of injury, an unproven second year guy who only started in college because Michael Bush got injured, and a guy who’s never played a down in the NFL.
Although I’m really not too concerned about RB either. I’d much rather spend money things like O-linemen and corners.
June 24th, 2008 at 1:56 amAnd I also don’t want one of Detroit’s rejects.
June 24th, 2008 at 1:57 amNice find, Zach. That Boomer part is hilarious. I’m actually rooting for Jared as well. We got a great deal on our end, too, so there’s no reason not to. I said what we had to say. The Addict broke up with him. We can be mature adults at this point, can’t we?
June 24th, 2008 at 2:18 amThis isn’t an NFL problem. DUI is becoming a focus of law enforcement all over the nation. You don’t have to be in the NFL to get a DUI, you just have to be in the NFL to have your DUI make the news. The problem of DUI is a social one, not a NFL one. I’m not sure why we believe that a NFL player should think about his career when he gets in a car, but the local lawyer shouldn’t. Personally I think its a good thing that these young superstars get busted and receive the smack down. Now I can tell my kids, “If they did that to Jared Allen, imagine what the cops are going to do to you if they catch you drinking and driving.”
June 24th, 2008 at 6:28 amNever said it wasn’t a societal problem.
June 24th, 2008 at 9:46 amHere here, Mushin.
Here here, Zach.
-cw
June 24th, 2008 at 11:31 am