I sure hope not.
But that’s exactly what New York Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards did. The 27-year-old wideout was arrested Tuesday morning on charges of driving while intoxicated after officers pulled him over because his SUV had excessive tint on its windows. When he rolled down the window on the west side of Manhattan at 5:15 a.m., police immediately smelled the alcohol on his breath. Edwards then blew twice the legal limit.
Those are the facts of the story. The intangibles are what make my blood pressure skyrocket.
Edwards is lucky he didn’t harm anyone while driving under the influence — never mind the damage he could have done to himself or the other passengers in his car. Drunk driving is the most stupid, careless and preventable crime that for some reason, this country cannot grasp. Recent news stories have pointed at far too many convicted offenders being allowed back on the roads to commit the same felony.
And give me a break — a guy like Braylon Edwards has all the resources in the world to get another driver to take him home. Let’s forget the fact that he’s partying in NYC where the ratio of cab drivers to people partying at bars is about 12-to-1. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, but the point is, you can go out on any street corner at any hour of the day and hail a cab.
But let’s consider this: Edwards doesn’t need a cabbie. In fact, he doesn’t even need to have a personal chauffeur. He can even forget about having to call a reliable friend. The NFL and the NFLPA have, for many years, administered the league-wide Safe Ride program. Additionally, the Player Protect Program is a Jets program set up to provide no-questions-asked rides to players at any time. Each Jets player has a phone number he can call if he's had too much to drink or needs a ride anywhere for any reason.
Bottom line: there’s no excuse for Edwards getting behind the wheel when he was drunk.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there was no suspension from the league or the Jets for Edwards. Chances are, given that no harm was caused my Edwards’ lack of judgment, he may only suffer a maximum $50,000 fine from the league.
In a statement released by the team, Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum said, "We are very disappointed in Braylon's actions this morning. The Player Protect Program is in place for our organization to prevent this situation. Braylon is aware of this program and showed poor judgment."
The NFL and the Jets need to come down hard on Edwards, just as the law itself does on average citizens not making millions of dollars as a star player on a professional sports team.
Edwards is damn lucky he didn’t cause any injuries with his stupidity. Such was not the case for the victims in recent articles I have come across in the newspapers.
Drunk driving is the most preventable crime out there, and the benefits of making the right decision to not drive drunk far outweigh the consequences that happen when you do.
I won’t go on a political rant about enforcing stricter DWI and DUI charges. I’ll be writing all day.
There’s no excuse for Edwards’ actions on Tuesday morning, and there will be no excuse for the league or the Jets organization if punishment does not follow.
As if New England fans needed another reason to hate the Jets. The question is: will the J-E-T-S now do the R-I-G-H-T thing?
