loafoftatupu wrote:ivotuk wrote:If Divens backs out, I hope Goodell suspends him for at least 4 games. Because basically he would be condoning that kind of behavoir. I see it all the time with domestic violence, somebody calls, the Troopers show up and no one wants to press charges. Ridiculous.
Brooks needs a year suspension if for no other reason than that he threatened to go get his gun. That to me is crossing the line because it indicates 1. He has a gun and 2. when he is drunk, he would consider using it. Enough of this shit, if a PED charge requires a 4 game suspension, then any kind of violence requires 8 games, minimum.
There is nothing wrong with having a gun, but anyone that says "do I need to get my gun" shouldn't have one.
I see nothing wrong with owning guns, I have quite a few as I used to guide and do a lot of hunting. But too many people see guns as a status symbol, especially pistols. Whenever I had a client that showed up with a pistol, I would tell them to put it away because we were hunting with rifles and he was more likely to shoot himself, or me with it. I did have a few clients that hunted with a .454 Casull and I did pack one of those when I was guiding for Brown Bear, but only when it wasn't convenient to carry a rifle because all most pistols will do is piss off a bear.
But in this day and age, I believe the best weapon for self-defense is a stun gun. It will incapacitate an intruder or assailant much more efficiently than a gun sometimes. If you don't hit them in the right spot with a gun, they can still come at you, with a stun gun, you just have to make contact. Plus a stun gun is not deadly, so if you are a football player with an ego (which is 99% of them), and you've been drinking, you're not going to kill someone. A pistol is good for one thing only, killing, and that should never be done except in extreme situations.
Too many people who own guns have never taken safety courses or done any kind of shooting to become proficient with their weapon, then to add alcohol, and egos, it only makes it worse. I think it should be an NFL policy for players who insist on owning guns to register them and take some kind of training. Of course I someone would squawk about that, maybe the NFLPA, I don't know. But athletes and guns do not mix.
But no matter how much they do rookie symposiums and send out letters, and suspend players, there will always be some idiot who has to throw a party while associating with the dregs of society, or who feels the need to own a gun, combined with their desire to be "gangsta" and there will be ugly consequences. I've seen it before, as I'm sure many have and the only thing these people understand is incarceration. Maybe a good long suspension for Brooks will make other players take notice, but I doubt it.
Sounds like the local authorities are already trying to make this go away and my only hope is that Goodell is able to enforce some kind of penalty for this incident. If it goes unpunished, there will only be more because the attitude that a football player can do no wrong will be reinforced.