Was Roger Goodell too hard on Pacman and Henry?

Absolutely he was too hard. The man has not been convicted of anything yet. Innocent until proven guilty. (Jones). Now Henry has been arrested 3 or 4 times over the last year, he is showing signs of having a real problem. His punishment should have been the 1 year ban. He HAS been convicted of the crimes he was charged with. As for Pacman, he is still innocent until time he is proven guilty. If proven guilty he should be suspended for 1 year. I do believe it is about time these players started paying for their behavior. The days of Michael Irvin being caught with cocoaine and lord knows what else and still being able to play football on Sunday are over and I for one and glad to see it.

if anything, Goodell is giving Pacman (ridiculous even typing that name) a chance to save his career because if Goodell does nothing then Pacman's career would be over pretty soon anyway at the rate he's going.

I also think the length of the suspension is significant because a lot is still going to come out of this Vegas incident and Jones may be in jail for a while anyway.

The NFL is the best professional sports league and they can't have knuckleheads like Pacman Jones or Chris Henry tarnishing its name or the name of its players that are upstanding citizens. What the NFL is doing is great and once again it's something that sets them apart from all other professional sports leagues. Kudos to the new commissioner.

Pacman was arrested 12 times in 2 years. His own mother said he's a problem. Pacman ruined his career not Goodell. Theres too much money in sports in general and they don't fear consequences so this punishment is perfect. Jones represents the NFL as an employee, and that's why he can get reprimanded in this way. If he's gonna muck up the image of the NFL then they have every right to do this.

Here's the thing...the NFL is a JOB. In any other job, if Henry and Jones had done the things they did outside of work, they would have been fired. I think sometimes people confuse sports with something above the law. At the same time, this is what most of the players wanted. They are tired of being labeled thugs, and supported Goodell on his stance. They actually asked for a 3 strikes rule that would ban a player for life involved in felony or misdomeanor violent or drug offenses. Pacman isn't the only player to be suspended for a year, but he is the first to be suspended on a code of conduct violation. There needs to be more of it, because every player has a morals clause in their contract, but it is rarely called upon.

No he was no too harsh. Goodell laid the ground work last year talking about behavior and image clauses being evaluated and those who violate being punished. Both the owners and players union agreed with that position and voted to harshly punish those that violated those off the field standards.

You can't blame Goodell for possibly finishing Jone's career, you have to blame Jones. As a parent I don't ground my daughter, she ground's herself by doing things she knows she isn't supposed to be doing.

I think the NFL Players Union is answering your question for you...it appears as though they don't plan to appeal either suspension believing the punishment was not too harsh. I've read and heard that most of the players in the league actually want a ban for the types of images that Jones and Henry are creating in the league. The question is who's next? What will happen to someone like Tank Johnson how made news just prior to the Superbowl???

No, I don't think he was too hard at all. I think Pacman deserved what he got....his off field issues were too the point that the Titans were thinking of releasing him, he is that much of a distraction. Maybe a year from the game will allow him ample to time to reflect on what he did and how he jeopardized his own career and his future financial earnings. If you or I did what he did, we would have been locked up by now and awaiting trial and in the meantime the key would of been thrown away....a lot of athletes get a 'pass' on stuff because of who they are.

Henry has had nothing but trouble since arriving in Cincy...DUI's, numerous arrests...and he only got 1/2 a season? I think he got off easy....he should of got a full season too. I think Tank Johnson of the Bears will get a 12 game suspension and he deserves it too.

Just because they are NFL players are they entitled to special treatment....I don't think so.

No it is not too severe. This is not the first incident of trouble for Pacman. The first time is a accident, the second time is a coincidence, the third time is a pattern! I bet Jones is a very nice person however, he seems to have a problem with letting go of friends and places that he should no longer be associating with. When you are a high profile person (politician, priest, CEO) you have to be very careful who and what you associate yourself with. If you surround yourself with people that have nothing to lose you will eventually have nothing left to lose yourself. I had to learn this the hard way and unfortunately Pacman has to do the same.

I can understand some problems, like DUI, or drugs, but when thing involve guns and people getting shot I think you have to draw the line. Drink and Driving and drugs can happen to anyone, but guns and shooting people only happen to criminals, and in that respect I think the NFL is right. Anyone can slip and have a bad day or one too many or need a little something something to get you through the day, but guns have no place in the lives of any player in the NFL. So coming down with the Hammer on both of these men sends a message to everyone in now and in the future. Ending his career that is his own fault he knew he had to act like a responsible person and he has yet to do that

Pacman ended his own career. Its not like this is the first time he has gotten in serious trouble. I thought both suspension were appropriate. A bigger concern for me at this point is Goodell's new policy, if a player is even accussed of something he is going to be disciplined. I dont neccessarily agree with that because there a such thing as innocent until proven guilty in this country, eventhough most players do seem to get sympathetic judges now a days. What happens if someone falsely accusses a player of doing something? I mean they are human you cant ask them to live in isolation to assure they dont get in trouble. Things do happen in real life to normal people, I am not talking about the guys that put themselves in stupid situation like Pacman Jones. It is going to be interesting to see what happens with that.

Not hard on them at all. These players earn a huge paycheck to play football. They should be so grateful. I understand that Pacman and Henry had a hard life growing up, but things should have changed when they saw their huge paychecks.

It was Pacman who carried guns and shot people, it was Pacman who got caught by the police. (Same with Henry.)

You can't blame the NFL for possibly ending their careers. They did it on their own. Good for the NFL to punish them.

No ... why should there be special considerations for someone because he plays a game. If you break the law, then you should pay the consequences. Seriously, a year suspension should wake Jones up as well as give Henry something to mull over as he rides the bench for half the season.

Hopefully this will send the message throughout the NFL that this form of behavior will no longer be tolerated.