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HOT TOPIC
May, 1998
By Guest Contributor Michael J. Fresina
EXPENSIVE, BUT WORTH IT
If the best test of character is what one exhibits when no one is watching, what is its value of character in the glaring view of the public eye? The NFL is one of the first professional league to take a public stand regarding the role of character analysis in player evaluations. In the recent draft, players whose integrity was deemed questionable fell to lower rounds or off the draft boards of many teams altogether. The most notable question mark did not drop from the face of the earth but to 21st in the first round. This might not seem extraordinary, but it is, and signals the beginning of a time when a player's character will be scrutinized as closely as his strength, speed, health or talent.
Randy Moss, the world-beating receiver from Marshall, was widely regarded as one of the top two athletes in the draft. How does a young man, whose talent and potential seem limitless fall to the end of the first round? Why? What are these teams placing above possible success? CHARACTER.
In this age of multi-million dollar contacts, teams are looking to make long-term investments. Moss is simply the most recognizable example of their increasing commitment to finding players who are not only talented, but free of the baggage that might foretell future problems. In the search for low maintenance athletes, Randy Moss, with his history of recreational drug use and domestic violence, was too great a gamble. In his NFL Preview Paul Johnson of SPORT magazine reminded his readers that teams "don't want characters, they want players with character". It is no longer feasible for teams to waste high picks (and big bucks) on talented bad boys that they might have to release.
Moss' drop to 21st may have cost him as much as three million dollars. In other words, the price for acting foolishly is very high and on the increase. As the spotlight on teams and their individual players becomes brighter, teams must be very careful about the players they choose. The NFL now investigates potential draft picks and makes information available to teams on draft day regarding a player's profile. These investigations include checks into criminal records, academic performance, class attendance and family history. Also, teams contact coaches, roommates, fraternity brothers, even former girlfriends of players to piece together a picture of who the young men are and will become. It is very thorough and necessary.
Sure, in the past a team like the Dallas Cowboys would have taken a shot at Moss, but with their current "image issues" it wasn't even an option. Adding another player whose resume includes a working understanding of the American legal system wasn't something they could risk. Teams are no longer willing to chance mistakes and gamble on questionable characters. When organizations occasionally falter, as the New England Patriots did in drafting Christian Peter in '97 without knowing his history of violence and substance abuse, they very swiftly address the problem. Peter was traded to the Giants for a box of socks and an all-expense paid trip to Newark. Image is so critical that Peter's brother, Jason, selected by the Carolina Panthers 14th in this year's draft, opened his first press conference assuring the people of Charlotte and the organization that, "I am not my brother".
Writers around the country are asking if the judging of character as a tool of establishing a player's worth is fair. It is not only fair, but long overdue and the wave of the future. With organizations asking for taxpayers to support the construction of new stadiums, athletes making unimaginable sums, children in search of role models, it is necessary for those in control to stand in judgment.