Flawed

I remember the days when I was younger watching football and enjoying it. That's what I wanted to be, a professional football player.

I don't remember the professional athlete being worried about prestige, protection or image, to me it seemed like they just wanted to play the game. Then again there wasn't ESPN 360 or the internet to bring to light the mistakes an athlete made. Now if we want information it's at our fingertips in a heartbeat.

Recently Donte' Stallworth signed a one-year contract with the Baltimore Ravens for $900,000 and with incentives could earn slightly over $1 million. In today's sports world that is quite a low salary, but there is a catch.

Stallworth has a vehicular manslaughter conviction and has spent 25 days in jail. Yes, this former and soon to be active NFL player killed another person with his car when he was drunk.

Now questions might arise from this like was he suspended. Yes, he was but only for a year. Is 25 days in Jail a reasonable sentence? No, because Stallworth was facing a possible 15 years, but got his sentence reduced because an undisclosed settlement he made with the family of the victim.

"We've given a lot of thought to this and we've done extensive research into Donte' beyond football," said Ozzie Newsome, the Ravens GM in an Associated Press article. "He made a huge mistake. There's no doubt about that. He has paid a significant price for that and, as he has said, he carries a heavy weight. As [Ravens' owner] Steve [Bisciotti] has said, we believe in second chances, and Donte' does deserve that."

Yes, I agree with Newsome that everyone deserves a second chance, but is that second chance only worth 25 days in jail and some money spent? I believe the legal system is unfair, flawed and biased. If that was me that killed a 59 year old man on his way home from work, I would probably spend 15 years in jail. And to tell you the truth I would want to because I believe in paying the price for my mistakes.

It's not only the legal system that's at fault here. I blame the NFL too. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell created a Code of Conduct for his players. He has suspended players that have broken it, like Michael Vick (fought and killed some dogs) and Plaxico Burress (shot himself in the leg) which both of them have spent or will spend some time in jail for their mistakes.

Currently after a few year hiatus from the NFL, Vick is playing for the Philadelphia Eagles. He spent nearly two years in a federal prison for killing some dogs. Two years in jail for killing dogs and 25 days for killing a person. Anyone else think that's skewed?

Is the Code of Conduct doing what it was intended to do and stop players from breaking the law? Or is telling players go ahead and break the law, do a bit of jail time and we'll take you back no questions asked.

"But, we've signed him because we want to get better, and we think he has a chance to help us. We worked him out and it's obvious he is working hard to be effective," said Newsome in the AP article. "We thought it was important to sign him now, because other teams were pursuing him and we want him in our offseason program, which starts next month."

Sorry, I forgot that in today's world professional athletes are above the rest of us. Also if having a convicted felon on your team, that has killed someone will make you a better team, you better get him first. Like there wasn't another athlete that could be found.

I believe that athletes work hard and deserve most of what they earn, but that it should go both ways. They should be able to lose things also. Just because Stallworth has been punished for his crime and does seem regretful for his mistake doesn't mean he has to play football again. Let him work at McDonalds or where ever he can find a job.