NFL players arrested less than half as often as the general population

[Matthew Jones]

Duke has posted an interesting study comparing the arrest rates of NFL players with the general population; they found that NFL players are arrested less than half as often as other members of the general population. Worth a read:

http://www.stat.duke.edu/~dalene/cha...23.nflviol.pdf

[Halsey]

I don't blame all NFL players for the arrests and other off field problems. Just the ones who get arrested and have other off field problems. The fact that many players never get arrested is not a defense for the ones that do. It actually demonstrates that it's not that hard for an NFL player to just stay out of trouble.

[AHungryWalrus]

It's not hard for ANY individual to "just stay out of trouble."

[WCH]

I think that people significantly underestimate the arrest rate of the general population. If you or I get arrested, it doesn't get posted on PFT and we probably won't tell anybody about it unless it comes up during a job interview.

[OzTitan]

The difference is a lot of normal people aren't earning high end money, or have a real potential to earn a LOT of money (e.g. Britt, Blackmon, Bryant), and hence a lot of people don't have as much to lose. And a significant portion of normal people crime rates would be influenced by people who don't believe they have much of a future, living in poor circumstances etc. That is, desperate people.

NFL crimes aren't crimes of desperation - often assault and DUIs for NFL players. They are crimes of sheer stupidity in the worst of circumstances, let alone circumstances filled with high salaries, benefits and ample opportunities.

[WCH]

Originally Posted by OzTitan

The difference is a lot of normal people aren't earning high end money, or have a real potential to earn a LOT of money (e.g. Britt, Blackmon, Bryant), and hence a lot of people don't have as much to lose.

Like I said in another thread, it would be interesting to compare arrest rates of NFL players to other people with 3+ years of college and salaries greater than $100k.

I'm guessing that the NFL still wouldn't outpace the general population, but that's a guess. There are idiots like Britt in every industry.

[dabears10]

I would like to see the rates of NFL players versus the population who makes 6 figures a year? Or NFL arrest rates compared to the arrest rates of the MLB, NBA, and NHL.

[Matthew Jones]

Originally Posted by WCH

Like I said in another thread, it would be interesting to compare arrest rates of NFL players to other people with 3+ years of college and salaries greater than $100k.

I'm guessing that the NFL still wouldn't outpace the general population, but that's a guess. There are idiots like Britt in every industry.

Unfortunately, there is no easy (or at least publicly available) way to ascertain arrest rates based on income.

[jrdrylie]

Originally Posted by Matthew Jones

Unfortunately, there is no easy (or at least publicly available) way to ascertain arrest rates based on income.

Yeah, I couldn't find anything dealing with income. But there is substantial research about the effect of education on crime rates. High school drop outs are 5-20 times more likely to go to jail than people who have been to college (that includes people who went to one college class and dropped out, thus the large range).

[descendency]

Arrest rates by record and teams would be more interesting.