Donte Stallworth just plead guilty to DUI manslaughter. It makes you wonder. He seemed to be doing well when he was playing for the Philadelphia Eagles but now that he is playing for the Browns it seems things have gone downhill. Although he did have that one incident while in Philly he seemed like a stand up guy. He got 30 days in jail, 1000 hours community service, his driver’s license suspended for life and has been suspended from the NFL indefinitely. Granted he was facing 15 years in jail so I guess it could have been worse. Either way the incident begs the question how did we get in this situation and could anything have been done to prevent it?
The Call a Car service provided by the league seems to be a solution but even that is a catch-22. If you use the service then you avoid drunk driving but it could be held against you during contract negotiations. Players are worried that if they call the service too often they will get in trouble or gain a negative reputation. I understand their concern but at the same time with all the money they’re making they can’t call a cab? There are changes to be made to the program like possibly making the calls anonymous or have a clause so participation in the program cannot be held against a player. What is the point of having such a program if the players are afraid to use it?
