Commissioner Roger Goodell is continuing to clean-up player conduct in the NFL. Yesterday, multiple media outlets reported that the league and “experts” have been reviewing tapes of celebrations where players made possible gang signs with their hands. The experts they hired are supposedly knowledgeable on gang signs and activity.
“There have been some suspected things we’ve seen,” said NFL V.P. of Security Milt Ahlerich to the L.A. Times. “When we see it, we quietly jump on it immediately, directly with the team and the player or employee involved to cease and desist. Period.”
According to Ahlerich, two circumstances have inspired the NFL to look into this issue. The first was the Paul Pierce incident in the 2008 NBA Playoffs. During Game 4 of the Celtics-Hawks series, Pierce flashed a gang sign towards the Hawks bench and was fined $25,000 as a result.
“We were always suspicious that [gang signals] might be happening,” said NFL V.P. of Officiating Mike Pereira. “But the Paul Pierce thing is what brought it to light. When he was fined . . . that’s when we said we need to take a look at it and see if we need to be aware of it.”The second circumstance was the murder of Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams in January 2007. His death was done at the hands of well-known gang members following an altercation at a Denver nightclub.
Ahlerich says the NFL has already taken some strides in cleaning up this problem. They have contacted the anonymous players on the tapes that are in question and have also counseled rookies on the potential danger of making these signs.
The NFL will handle this in a unique fashion. NFL referees and game officials will alert league officials on signs they might deem suspicious. Pereira said that each case “will be dealt with harshly.”
In 2001, the NFL put a similar ban on bandanas and do-rags because they were deemed to be “too-closely related to gang symbols.”
It’s great to see Commissioner Goodell and the rest of the league stay true to their word about improving the NFL’s image.
