Are you concerned about Dolphins' recent off-field troubles?

Look, out of a group of 100 or so guys in any walk of life 5-10 of them are going to have some legal trouble over the course of a couple of years. As long as it’s not major I don’t care.

Don’t get me wrong, I can’t STAND drunk driving. It’s recklessness bordering on evil. But there are different levels of it, from just being over the limit and feeling fine to driving plastered.

Also agreed on the domestic abuser thing – IF CONVICTED, I wouldn’t want them on the team. Hitting your wife would be the lowest of the low if it wasn’t for rapists and child abusers. But until convicted these things can be a real he-said she-said minefield – I’ve worked in criminal law. So, innocent until proven guilty and all that.

The second training camp kicks off or we get our first view of BMarsh in aqua all of this will be so irrelevant.

Does it bother me a whole lot? No. It’s not like I’m going to lose sleep over a player on the team I cheer for is getting in trouble. It does concern me a little for two reasons:

1) I’m not going to give them a free pass because I like the player. Reality is the majority of people really don’t care about a lot that doesn’t directly affect them. This applies to even those that claim they care. The majority of it is just talk. This is not to insult anyone, but it is a matter of nature. The thing that bothers me a little is because of the things that may happen. What is the difference between a Ronnie Brown or a Will Allen and a Leonard Little, who killed a woman when he drove drunk? It could have been a matter of five feet. I don’t know how drunk either of those two were or if any pedestrians or other people were at risk, but it’s just an irresponsible thing for anyone to do. I am also not going to judge on Merling or McDaniel because I, like nobody else on this board, was present when it happened. He may have punched her or shoved her to the ground (both terrible) or may have gave the woman a small laceration when she went off on him. Fact is, I don’t know what happened and I don’t really care to know.

2) Sometimes it makes me question how much heart the athlete has in his sport when they do something stupid such as DUIs and other crimes. What need does the player have to be out and about that late in the morning? Granted, I understand it’s not like we’re in week 10 of the regular season, but these guys are still involved in OTAs, Training Camp, and just overall getting back into physical shape.

You can call it cruel to not really be concerned, but the fact is there are billions of people in the world and you can never stress out about what each person is doing wrong. Matty has a great point with the typical sports fan. Nobody really cares about the player as long as they keep producing for their team. This is a double-edged sword. Nobody really cares about the legal issues t he individual faces as long as they don’t miss playing time. The other part is nobody really cares about how crippled a player may be when they’re done playing, how the player’s family or financial situation turns out, etc. Face it, how many people would really care about the athlete once they are no longer on your team? Outside of all-time greats like Don Shula, Dan Marino, and some others, nobody would care. How much would someone care if OJ McDuffie suffered a stroke and passed away tomorrow? Typical response: That sucks. Typical response to someone getting in legal trouble: I hope they don’t get suspended.

Just admit it, we’re all insensitive to the athlete’s lives.

With the domestic violence charges, you never know. Maybe they were arguing and she turned to walk away and he grabs her hand and asks her to stop. Assault.

I’m not defending them because I don’t know what happened, but I had a few friends in college that were accused of domestic violence due to girls wanting to mess with them. In both of the investigations, the girls recanted their stories, but it still cost the guys money, time, and embarrassment. One time, a friend of mine was accused of rape by a girl he had a one night stand with. She wanted a relationship but he didn’t, so she cried wolf. He was suspended from school, arrested, and lost his job while it was being investigated. After a few weeks, she came clean and said she just said it because she wanted a relationship and he didn’t. The bull$hit part is that nothing happened to her. She got off free and clear. My friend lost a semester of time in school, and spent a lot of money on bail and hiring a lawyer. Because his face was all over our school paper, he ended up transferring to another school. And because she was the “victim”, her name and face did not appear in any papers in the area, so she had nothing to worry about.

All I’m saying is dont judge until you have all the facts. In too many situations, the law automatically

I make like 1/10 of what these guys make, yet I always manage to get into a cab when I’m out drinking. I don’t understand why these guys won’t hire a driver for the night or just get cabs.

That’s the average number of DUISs in the US a year according to a Google search I did. It affects all facets of our society, not just athletes. Now, with so many forms of media, they use the negative to capture an audience. Sites like PFT and ESPN cater to the “negative” crowd and know they will get 1000"s of hits on a Mike Vick story as opposed to a Warrick Dunn story.

it is hypocritical for judging a football player for doing things that are “immoral” when you are participating, albeit as a spectator, in a sport drenched in violence, gambling, crooked business practices and other things could make up a long list……

so if you are bothered by “immoral” things that the players do in their personal lives and not bothered by the general “immorality” of the sport as a whole……then you are a hypocrite and professional sports is probably not for you……aside from curling and bowling…which can be equally as fun to watch, so there are options….

so you would be hard pressed to find a team with zero off-field troubles…….and c’mon…..these guys live in miami……….what do you expect……it’s not like the team is in boise…….

A person who leaves the scene of a vehicle accident scene can be charged with a Felony or a Misdemeanor. Because these cases involve victims, some who have been seriously injured, many Judges believe this crime to be more serious than other offenses and enforce harsher penalties.

Generally, charges for Leaving the Scene of an Accident or ‘LSA’ are misdemeanors (Florida statute 316.061) unless the people involved in the accident are seriously injured or have died. In those situations, State Prosecutors can charge a person with a Felony (Florida statute 316.027) for leaving or fleeing the scene (in which an accident took place). A felony can be charged even in cases in which a party doesn’t immediately die from the crash but eventually dies from injuries sustained as a result of that accident.

In order for the State Prosecutors to obtain a conviction for leaving an accident scene, they must prove, beyond reasonable doubt, the following:

   1. The person driving the vehicle that was involved in the accident that resulted in (damage to another vehicle or property) or (injury to or death of a person) was in fact the accused person AND
   2. The accused should have realized or knew that he an accident had occurred. AND
   3. The vehicle or property was driven by or attended by a person (for for a misdemeanor conviction only) OR The accused knew or should have known of the injury or death to the person. (for a felony only) AND
   4. The accused failed to stop and remain at the location of the accident until (he/she) had given the following information to the (driver/occupant/attendant to property) and any police officer at the accident scene investigating the accident:
         1. Name
         2. address
         3. Registration Information of vehicle
         4. Drivers License information
      (For a misdemeanor)

      OR

      (For a felony)
         4. (a) The accused failed to stop and stay at the accident scene until indentification information was given to other parties and to police officers investigating the accident
      Or
         4. (b) The accused failed to assist injured persons if it seemed necessary or was requested by the injured person.

From what I can gather Hartline is in the clear because the attendant of the other vehicle had already left their vehicle. There were no injuries and no police on scene investigating. Looks to me that he could end up with maybe a felony but since the other vehicle was unattended it won’t be a misdemeanor. Credit to Fr8train for initially pointing this out in another thread.

I don’t care, because almost every team has arrests during the offseason, and this is nothing compared to the Vick/Roethlisberger media circus

—Spider Man’s Uncle Ben:)

Seriously, though, Matty, your argument that they aren’t role models and “didn’t ask to be” is short sighted. A professional athlete is a role model always/already; aspiring to be a professional athlete is therefore aspiring to be a role model. Whether that should or shouldn’t be the case is beside the point—it IS, and therefore must be taken into account. Like it or not they occupy positions of power in our culture and they are responsible for how that power is utilized. Saying that they aren’t responsible for their power simply because they didn’t ask for it just doesn’t fly.

That being said, these are minor offenses, and deserve a proportional response. Disappointment, maybe a public tongue lashing by the owner. Slap on the wrist. But they shouldn’t—can’t—-be ignored.

How can that be even asked with any sort of seriousness on this website?

Are you kidding me? If NFL fans cared about character, off-field issues, and players acting like adults in general….well, then they’d have to cease being NFL fans as the league is rife with bad behavior as we all know. In the interest of fairness, it isn’t just the NFL but most of the big name sports leagues.

So if you watch/follow most big pro sports, and here we being on a big pro sports fansite obviously do, then the question is clearly not even worth asking.

The only disconcerting aspect from my pov is the “respect” factor from Parcells. I guess they don’t fear him or Sparano? That could lead to problems in the W/L column.

I could care less about what they do off the field, unless they are at risk of suspensions, then it upsets me. But I am not going to get mad or angry, I don’t know them I don’t have a relationship with them I just want them to win games. And if they are rapist, murders, beaters, or drug users it doesn’t matter to me. I won’t look up to them I won’t wear their jerseys and I may not care what they do on Sunday, but I will not protest for them to be off the team. Thats the coaching staff and FO’s job.

McDaniel’s and especially Merling’s, because these two (maybe), who are very big and strong physically (but not mentally, eh), hit on those who are weaker, and esp. Merling because she was pregnant. If these two did do these acts, put ’em in jail, period, and expel them from the NFL for good. Niether McDaniel nor Merling are irreplaceable on the Fins. Yet, the facts may be that their women provoked them to that point…and the worst you can say about these two is that they are very immature.

Ronnie’s and Will Allen’s DUIs are a pain, but DUI is a “victimless crime” so I couldn’t care less, since both are likely to not see jail time.

The only thing about Hartline’s case is that if no one saw it and no one can prove it, why the heck is the media making such a big deal out of it? why is this even an issue? The vehicle that was hit was abandoned, and no one (I hope) was hurt. Now if Hartline was to get suspended, that would really piss me off! He’s a darned good WR, and what the heck did he do, anyway? the worse you can accuse him of is stupidity…

And IMO, Who gives a f*ck?

then I’m not too concerned……About the same feeling I get for some random 18 year old in some random town,breaking some random law,that I never hear about,because it doesnt make the news…why?..because he’s a nobody,and not sensationalized for the sake of selling papers…..Just like the rest of america, you’ll forget about Hartlines issues(which should be personal) when he catches an 80yd’r to win the game….because if you sit on yer hands cuz you were thinking..“who drove his truck”..then you might be the one with problems……

Sure, being a morally-sound team would be more ideal than having a bunch of criminals, but I don’t watch football to get spiritual inspiration. I watch it because it’s entertaining to me and I’m a die-hard Dolphins fan as I’m sure we all are. As long as the guys aren’t getting suspended and they don’t act like criminals ON the field, I’m fine with whatever they do in their spare time because it doesn’t affect me, and it most likely doesn’t affect you either.

Give me a team full of convicted felons who manage W’s on Sundays, I’ll take them any day of the week over a roster full of Tebows.

i think the ronnie thing hurt the most bc its ronnie, the definition of class. i mean we’re not the ny jets im wondering why this shit is happning

i dont understand how you can justify anybody on our team screwing up. it shows bad examples for younger players, it makes our team look like shit, and creates media shitstorms which are ultimately negative. we have been making progress to build a great team , we have a good coach and as great of a management team as you could possibly have. we dont need players going out an gettin dui’s and punching their pregnant gf’s. look at what championship teams are made of. any team that is successul runs a tight ship. jeremy shockey is a fuck up, but not with the saints he wasnt, he knew his roll and played it well. these guys are millionaires, if you wanna go out and get bombed, fine, but calling a fucken limo service.

Are Brown, Allen and Hartline(assuming he wasnt out of town like he says, or tweets) really bad guys? Of course not, they are not thugs, now they have done some stupid things recently but they are not bad people.

And whether or not it was Hartline, you can’t help but wonder why these kinds of things always seem to happen to professional athletes and not to you or me.

It’s happend to me