What does ‘nolo contendere’ mean for New England?

By Os Davis  |   Friday, July 11, 2008  |  Comments( 6 )

New England Patriots
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Just over one week after New England Patriots’ Willie Andrews" target="_new">a truly ugly incident involving the New England Patriots’ Willie Andrews and the defensive back's subsequent release from the team, longtime Patriot Kevin Faulk was handed down a sentence based on a no contest plea for possession of marijuana. The incident marked the third bit of bad news for New England fans after Nick Kaczur’s arrest and later DEA undercover work that forever earned him the sobriquet “Nick the Narc” in this writer’s columns.

And just over one week after this writer reckoned that the Patriots had handled the Andrews situation correctly, we might be better off wondering if the mates on board the USS Belichick are facing discipline/legal problems, and if so what happens in terms of distraction factor.

Faulk was busted at the Lafayette, La., Cajundome while attending a Lil' Wayne concert not on a charge of aiding and abetting auditory assault, but rather a misdemeanor possession charge when a search turned up four marijuana cigarettes. Though his legal representation pleaded nolo contendere, Faulk maintains that the joints came from the owner of the jacket and he in fact soon thereafter passed a drug test, thereby allegedly proving that he hadn’t consumed drugs recently.

The February incident led to Tuesday’s closure of the case, a somewhat harsh-seeming sentence given Faulk: “a five-month suspended sentence, one year of supervised probation, 40 hours of community service to be served in the form of anti-drug lectures to students at Lafayette Parish middle and high schools and 20 hours of NFL-approved substance-abuse treatment.” Despite the extra workload and time expended, Faulk’s gotta be happy he “only” got this work: In Lafayette, simple possession can get the accused six months’ jail time and $500 in fines.

Without a trace of irony, the Daily Advertiser of Lafayette had Faulk tersely commenting that he is “focusing on football and getting ready for the season.”

(Cue the Hooded One, ominous incidental music: “Yes, Lord Faulk ... the Dark Side is strong within you. Feel its power, etcetera.”)

Meanwhile, actually on the football field: After making absolutely zero changes to the running game in the offseason, Belichick & Co. are set with a triad of Faulk, Laurence Maroney, and Sammy Morris at halfback. Of these, only Faulk has managed to stay injury-free since 2005.

Faulk is also one of the few remaining from the 2001 team that took it all; though mostly taking a back seat in the New England running game behind Antowain Smith back then, Corey Dillon later and Maroney today, Faulk has shown his utility in the clutch in playoff games and Super Bowls throughout his career.

In short, the truth is that the Patriots need Faulk.

Today, it would be nice to believe that the New England brain trust won’t be taking further action against Faulk because the marijuana charge is of the typically overblown sort, particularly in light of the Andrews and Kaczur incidents. After all, the former showed serious psychopathic tendencies on his dark night, and one has to wonder about the level of addiction to nasty pharmaceuticals in the latter.

However, like Kaczur, the Patriots may be willing to overlook off-the-field issues out of sheer roster necessity, a most depressing (and phony) trend in the NFL these days.

Could more off-the-field distractions be waiting in the wings for the 2008 Patriots? Another incident or two and the Pats could be well on the way to proverbially beating themselves this year.

Judge, jury and executioner throughout the year at RealFootball365.com
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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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