It was announced today that the Titans’ Pacman Jones will be suspended for the 2007 season and Cincinnati’s Chris Henry will get 8 games off without pay for their numerous violations of the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

Does anyone truly feel remorse for these two hoodlums?

Pacman and Henry are two excellent examples of how, until now, the NFL has failed to relate to the average fan. Sure, everyone makes mistakes, but getting questioned by police 10 times within a year (Jones) or being arrested 4 times in 14 months (Henry) is a good indication that A) you’re not learning from those mistakes; B) you don’t care because you’re not getting punished anyway.

The fans are tired of seeing multimillion dollar athletes act like deplorable trash and get nothing more than a slap on the wrist, be it from the legal system or the NFL, every time. In fact, I have heard it said by others that the behavior of some of these players was beginning to turn them off to the NFL. The unwillingness of the league to police its players was one of the most oft-mentioned criticisms of Paul Tagliabue, and Roger Goodell seems to understand this (finally).

Let’s hope these two suspensions have a tangible effect on the actions of other NFL players – as well as athletes in all leagues.