This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Haloti Ngata misunderstood my question. He turned it into a better subject.
After the Baltimore Ravens' 23-21 victory at Cleveland on Sunday, I asked the Highland High School graduate about everything the NFL is going through these days, amid the controversy regarding the punishment — or lack of it — of misbehaving players. The problems hurt the image of every player in the league, so I asked Ngata how difficult it is to be viewed as a member of the NFL these days.
At least, that's how I meant to phrase the question, along the lines of former University of Utah star Eric Weddle's saying he was "embarrassed" to be associated with the NFL. Ngata thought I was asking if it was possible to be a good person in this culture — which is an interesting discussion in itself.
"It's not hard at all to be a good guy in this league," Ngata said.
He's onto something here.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is being blasted for his approach to discipline, but that's only part of the issue. The 32 teams need to do a better job of managing their players — and, ultimately, the players themselves need to behave better.
It can be done, as Ngata suggested. "You have a lot of great guys," he said. "Every team has multiple guys that do great stuff in the community."
Naturally, he wishes there would be more awareness of players who are conducting themselves well, but it is inevitable that athletes' troubles create more attention. The NFL has more than just an image problem. Players such as Ray Rice, Ngata's former Baltimore teammate, who have been in the headlines lately are not the only ones causing problems.
Ngata wants fans to know that the good guys far outnumber the bad guys in the NFL, just as in the rest of society. That's not to dismiss the others as an aberration. Those players can help solve the NFL's problem, as much as the commissioner, team officials or anyone else can. As Ngata suggests, staying out of trouble is not that difficult.
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