It's Hard Out There For a Role Model

Michael Vick has found gainful employment, weeks after being released from federal prison on dogfighting charges, and days after confessing his sins on CBS' "60 Minutes". He'll be playing quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, pending reinstatement from the National Football League. If he gets it, he could be backing up Donovan McNabb come October. And PETA could be holding protests outside the Eagles' home stadium.

Donte Stallworth of the Cleveland Browns has pleaded guilty to charges of drunken driving, which came about after he killed a Miami pedestrian with his vehicle. The one year suspension Stallworth got from the NFL is harsher than the time he served in prison, which was less than a month.

Plaxico Burress, who used to play for the New York Giants, shot himself in the leg with an unlicensed gun at a Manhattan nightclub. He has pleaded guilty to weapons charges, and will be serving two years in prison.

Those three, and others like them, are examples of why the NFL has an image problem these days. They're not the only ones, of course: Steroid use in Major League Baseball, cheating scandals in college sports, etc. It's just that commissioner Roger Goodell has been more proactive in disciplining the bad apples before they spoil the whole bunch.

Being an athlete has its privileges. The more proficient you are on the field, the court or the ice, the more money and endorsements leagues and corporations throw at you. You can move from that humble shack you call home into a glittering palace in a gated community. You can buy a better ride. You can have any woman in the world, whether they're married or not. Anything you say or do on Facebook or YouTube is magnified a thousand times. And you have every right to thumb your nose at the recession.

But all that money and fame can go down the tubes if you (A) suffer a career-ending injury, (B) get caught with the wrong woman--or man, (C) get charged with a blood-alcohol level past the legal limit, or (D) post racial or sexual slurs on Twitter. If you're not sent to the slammer first, then you have to worry about how you're gonna pay for health care like the rest of us.

We're sure the majority of NFL players are fine, upstanding citizens who have stable families and are active in their communities. But we're not interested in those people. They're too boring. Give us the divas, the malcontents, the ones who emulate Jay-Z or have a rap sheet. This is why we watch the games, right?

Just like fans who no longer care which ballplayer has been juiced up, so long as they help the home team win the pennant, we'll once again be cheering for Vick, Stallworth, Burress, etc. Winning is the name of the game, baby. Don't let dead dogs or dead pedestrians get in the way of a world championship.