39 NFL arrests in 2012. 32 more since the 2013 Super Bowl.
There are around 2,560 players on NFL rosters today, which means roughly 1.5% of all players in the NFL are up on charges. Now as a percentage compared to the 1 out of 32 Americans under correctional supervision, the NFL stacks up favorably to the country as a whole, but that is not the standard the NFL is measured against. The National Football League is measured against the ever shifting landscape of public opinion. In that landscape the perception that players are criminals does not fly.
A few years ago Mike Vick, a quarterback, was convicted of several crimes relating to animal abuse. He lost not only his job and endorsements but became a pariah, thrust upon the platform of public opinion and hung there until his bones bleached in the sunlight. Somehow he came back from that, despite the longstanding perception that people care more for animals than other people. Vick survived because he was humble and he is a damn good player in the all-star role of the league. Aaron Hernandez isn’t going to be that fortunate.
Hernandez, formerly a Tight End for the New England Patriots, was arrested today on murder and obstruction of justice charges. He is charged with killing a man and dumping the body in the woods a mile away from his home. Hernandez was released hours after charges were filed. He plead not-guilty, and based on American law, he is not yet guilty. Based on the law of public opinion, the dude is already done.
The thing about being an icon is that you have to appear as you are expected to appear at all times. The moment that facade cracks, the world cracks down on you. It happened to Paula Deen, it is happening to Hernandez. Sooner or later these icons will learn that they gave up their right to be normal humans when they signed the big contract.