Cullen’s sentencing gives closure, shows twisted values

By Os Davis  |   Monday, February 19, 2007  |  Comments( 1 )

Detroit Lions
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Flying by on football's hype radar screen faster than a speeding blip was the story of Detroit Lions defensive line coach Joe Cullen's sentencing by a judge in Dearborn, Mich. The end of Cullen's legal troubles provided both an odd sort of closure for the Lions' 2006 season and another indication of the twisted values that sometimes pervade the great sport.

Cullen's story acted as a metaphor for Detroit's year (No, really, it must be. Let me think on it for a few minutes; I'll get back to you...) by getting himself busted twice in the space of one week for driving drunk. One incident involved Cullen ordering a Wendy's single combo (Fox News dutifully reported this little factoid) while naked, thereby illustrating the dangers of drinking alcohol in front of a television bombarding the audience with "This is our country" and "$2.99."

Cullen got two years probation, a $1,600 fine, a mandatory order to attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and a whole lot of undeserving respect from the mass media, who seemingly did their best to keep this story as quiet as possible. While Jay Leno jokes about the Cincinnati Bengals are gleefully parroted, Koren Robinson was hung out to dry despite pleas from Brett Favre with a one-year ban from the league and jail time in his future for...DWI incidents.

Like Robinson, Cullen has a past history of alcohol abuse - geez, he only lost his job at the University of Mississippi because of it. In 2005. Yet, Cullen's irresponsible behavior isn't joked about and the man isn't threatened with suspensions. Instead, after meeting with Commissioner Goodell three months after the incident, Cullen couldn't prove contrite enough to Goodell to earn his "punishment." A $20,000 fine and a one-game suspension. Heck, is it even permissible to mention that the opening-game D-line play - performed without Cullen - was some of the best the silver-and-Honolulu blue produced all year? (Oops.)

Of course, alcohol isn't the only substance-abuse problem in the NFL or in today's world in general. However, here the talking heads and the league itself exonerate known steroid users with Pro Bowl trips while Michael Vick is scandalized for possibly once transporting some marijuana.

For the record, a second violation for abusing the marijuana bit of the substance-abuse policy carries a penalty of a four-game suspension. The steroid policy is ... well, they're still working on that. The league-sanctioned penalty for alcohol incidents is apparently $20,000 plus one game, unless you're Koren Robinson.

What's the message here? That Robinson's problem is untreatable and therefore his presence is not wanted in the NFL? That getting behind the wheel after boozing -- an act that killed nearly 17,000 in 2005 -- is sometimes OK? That recreationally using a known killer is equivalent (at best) in seriousness to a party drug whose main detriment to the health is a subsequent overdose in mainlined Doritos?

It can't be that there are larger social issues too difficult to address on sound-bitten sports pages or overworked low-level penal courts, can it? Nah.

Oh, and here's the Cullen/Lions metaphor. Coaching the Lions is kind of like driving drunk: You know there must be something wrong here, but the windshield of reason is going squishy and it's kind of hard to concentrate...

Of course, if nobody cares, then it hardly matters, right?

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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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