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Risk and Reward
New Policy Makes Character An Important Draft Focus
Rob Phillips - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
April 26, 2007 7:06 PM
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has strengthened the NFL's personal conduct policy. IRVING, Texas - Jerry Jones gave a long, audible sigh before replying, seemingly recounting in his mind the surreal events that took place Aug. 4, 2004, in Oxnard, Calif. - the day the Cowboys cut starting quarterback Quincy Carter.
The Cowboys owner and general manager had been asked during Monday's pre-draft media conference whether Carter's shocking release, amid published reports he violated the NFL's substance abuse policy a second time, caused the organization to become wary of drafting players with character issues even before the league strengthened its personal conduct policy this off-season.
Jones' answer was a definitive yes. And not just because the Cowboys had spent a 2001 second-round pick on Carter and made a significant financial investment in him.
The biggest investment, in Jones' mind, was the 30 games Carter started over three years - including all 16 during the Cowboys' 2003 playoff run.
"The thing that I regret the most about any time we've worked with a player for several years and it not pan out are those games that we invested in him," Jones said. "Those hurt. They ate up some of the benefit of the doubt collateral around here."
The Cowboys' patience in Carter ran out that fateful August day in Oxnard, less than a week into training camp. After a brief stint with the New York Jets and an even shorter one in the CFL, Carter is now playing for the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings of af2 just across the Texas state line.
Time will tell if Pacman Jones' off-field transgressions ultimately destroy his NFL career. While Carter's release awakened the Cowboys with regard to drafting players, Titans cornerback Pacman Jones is the prime example of the league's no-nonsense personal conduct policy heading into the 2007 NFL Draft.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Pacman Jones for the entire 2006 season after he was reportedly arrested five times and questioned by police 10 different times since Tennessee drafted him with the sixth overall pick in 2005.
Pacman Jones' punishment is the most severe yet under the league's new policy, which calls for expanded educational and support programs in addition to stricter discipline. Cincinnati's Chris Henry received an eight-game suspension for repeated arrests, and was one of nine Bengals players arrested in a nine-month span. He and Pacman Jones are suspended without pay.
Goodell has spoken, and the entire league - including the Cowboys - will keep Pacman Jones and Chris Henry in mind when drafting this weekend.
"I think we're on notice," Jerry Jones said of the league's 32 teams. "Roger Goodell has given notice. That was a product of a lot of input from his entire constituency of owners, players, players' representatives, most importantly our fans. I think that you're more vulnerable with bad decisions off the field than you've been prior to right now in the NFL, which makes it more risky if you're prone to make bad decisions."
Jerry Jones wasn't specific, but he said Monday the Cowboys have removed potential draftees from their draft board because of character issues.
The Cowboys have had very few off-field incidents involving players since Carter's release, and the club clearly makes character a high priority when evaluating college prospects.
Cowboys defensive end Chris Canty should never have been considered a character risk prior to the 2005 draft, but his stock might have slipped to the fourth round in part because of a nightclub altercation in Scottsdale, Ariz. Canty, an innocent bystander, was struck in the face with a beer bottle and needed two surgeries to repair a detached retina in his left eye. Initially tabbed as a first-round pick, Canty also suffered a season-ending knee injury four games into his senior year at Virginia.
"Chris is not even in the same world as the world that the commissioner is addressing relative to conduct," Jerry Jones said. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. The eye injury was more significant than how he got the injury."
The 2007 draft includes several talented prospects with somewhat checkered pasts. Players such as Miami's Brandon Meriweather, UNLV's Eric Wright and Florida's Marcus Thomas might have to wait longer to get drafted than their talent merits.
That all depends on what certain teams need, and what risks they're willing to take on a player.
The Cowboys have been in that position before.
"I don't think that that means someone that has had a bad decision in their college career is not going to be drafted," Jerry Jones said.
"I think it has everything to do in many cases with where he is drafted. Because the higher you draft someone, the bigger the risk in terms of using that pick or paying him the kind of money he gets when he gets picked at that level.
"In the last 18 years, I've had a lot of different circumstances, plusses and minuses. It is an issue."
One the Cowboys and the rest of the league will tackle over the weekend.
New Policy Makes Character An Important Draft Focus
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
April 26, 2007 7:06 PM
The Cowboys owner and general manager had been asked during Monday's pre-draft media conference whether Carter's shocking release, amid published reports he violated the NFL's substance abuse policy a second time, caused the organization to become wary of drafting players with character issues even before the league strengthened its personal conduct policy this off-season.
Jones' answer was a definitive yes. And not just because the Cowboys had spent a 2001 second-round pick on Carter and made a significant financial investment in him.
The biggest investment, in Jones' mind, was the 30 games Carter started over three years - including all 16 during the Cowboys' 2003 playoff run.
"The thing that I regret the most about any time we've worked with a player for several years and it not pan out are those games that we invested in him," Jones said. "Those hurt. They ate up some of the benefit of the doubt collateral around here."
The Cowboys' patience in Carter ran out that fateful August day in Oxnard, less than a week into training camp. After a brief stint with the New York Jets and an even shorter one in the CFL, Carter is now playing for the Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings of af2 just across the Texas state line.
Time will tell if Pacman Jones' off-field transgressions ultimately destroy his NFL career. While Carter's release awakened the Cowboys with regard to drafting players, Titans cornerback Pacman Jones is the prime example of the league's no-nonsense personal conduct policy heading into the 2007 NFL Draft.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended Pacman Jones for the entire 2006 season after he was reportedly arrested five times and questioned by police 10 different times since Tennessee drafted him with the sixth overall pick in 2005.
Pacman Jones' punishment is the most severe yet under the league's new policy, which calls for expanded educational and support programs in addition to stricter discipline. Cincinnati's Chris Henry received an eight-game suspension for repeated arrests, and was one of nine Bengals players arrested in a nine-month span. He and Pacman Jones are suspended without pay.
Goodell has spoken, and the entire league - including the Cowboys - will keep Pacman Jones and Chris Henry in mind when drafting this weekend.
"I think we're on notice," Jerry Jones said of the league's 32 teams. "Roger Goodell has given notice. That was a product of a lot of input from his entire constituency of owners, players, players' representatives, most importantly our fans. I think that you're more vulnerable with bad decisions off the field than you've been prior to right now in the NFL, which makes it more risky if you're prone to make bad decisions."
Jerry Jones wasn't specific, but he said Monday the Cowboys have removed potential draftees from their draft board because of character issues.
The Cowboys have had very few off-field incidents involving players since Carter's release, and the club clearly makes character a high priority when evaluating college prospects.
Cowboys defensive end Chris Canty should never have been considered a character risk prior to the 2005 draft, but his stock might have slipped to the fourth round in part because of a nightclub altercation in Scottsdale, Ariz. Canty, an innocent bystander, was struck in the face with a beer bottle and needed two surgeries to repair a detached retina in his left eye. Initially tabbed as a first-round pick, Canty also suffered a season-ending knee injury four games into his senior year at Virginia.
"Chris is not even in the same world as the world that the commissioner is addressing relative to conduct," Jerry Jones said. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time. The eye injury was more significant than how he got the injury."
The 2007 draft includes several talented prospects with somewhat checkered pasts. Players such as Miami's Brandon Meriweather, UNLV's Eric Wright and Florida's Marcus Thomas might have to wait longer to get drafted than their talent merits.
That all depends on what certain teams need, and what risks they're willing to take on a player.
The Cowboys have been in that position before.
"I don't think that that means someone that has had a bad decision in their college career is not going to be drafted," Jerry Jones said.
"I think it has everything to do in many cases with where he is drafted. Because the higher you draft someone, the bigger the risk in terms of using that pick or paying him the kind of money he gets when he gets picked at that level.
"In the last 18 years, I've had a lot of different circumstances, plusses and minuses. It is an issue."
One the Cowboys and the rest of the league will tackle over the weekend.
