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Rainer Sabin / Reporter
The arrest of Bryan McCann on a charge of public intoxication this weekend raised an interesting question: Can the Dallas Cowboys cornerback be punished if he was found to have violated the terms of the NFL's personal conduct policy while a lockout is in effect?
The league tackled that question last week and the answer is yes. However, any disciplinary action won't take place until normal business operations resume.
"While players won't be able to get the benefit of our evaluation and counseling program during the work stoppage, the personal conduct of players and employees is an integrity-of-the-game issue," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy wrote in an e-mail to FOXSports.com earlier this week. "Any misconduct that is detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the NFL will certainly be addressed when play resumes."
McCann, 23, was taken into custody at 2:30 a.m. Saturday around the 1400 block of Main Street near a downtown nightclub. He was sent to the city detoxification center but was released later that morning at 11:36. The Dallas Police Department refused Sunday to distribute the full written report detailing his arrest. The Cowboys, meanwhile, declined comment.
McCann, however, proclaimed his innocence in a statement released by his agent John Biggins.
"I was not intoxicated and did not pose a danger to myself or others," McCann said. "I am very grateful that, due to the Constitution and Americans' strong and enduring belief in due process, I am presumed innocent of this public intoxication charge because I am innocent."
Of course, in the NFL, commissioner Roger Goodell is the sole arbiter of good conduct, meting out punishment in the form of fines and suspensions. And it appears he will enforce the league's policy in spite of the work stoppage that has unfolded.
The arrest of Bryan McCann on a charge of public intoxication this weekend raised an interesting question: Can the Dallas Cowboys cornerback be punished if he was found to have violated the terms of the NFL's personal conduct policy while a lockout is in effect?
The league tackled that question last week and the answer is yes. However, any disciplinary action won't take place until normal business operations resume.
"While players won't be able to get the benefit of our evaluation and counseling program during the work stoppage, the personal conduct of players and employees is an integrity-of-the-game issue," NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy wrote in an e-mail to FOXSports.com earlier this week. "Any misconduct that is detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the NFL will certainly be addressed when play resumes."
McCann, 23, was taken into custody at 2:30 a.m. Saturday around the 1400 block of Main Street near a downtown nightclub. He was sent to the city detoxification center but was released later that morning at 11:36. The Dallas Police Department refused Sunday to distribute the full written report detailing his arrest. The Cowboys, meanwhile, declined comment.
McCann, however, proclaimed his innocence in a statement released by his agent John Biggins.
"I was not intoxicated and did not pose a danger to myself or others," McCann said. "I am very grateful that, due to the Constitution and Americans' strong and enduring belief in due process, I am presumed innocent of this public intoxication charge because I am innocent."
Of course, in the NFL, commissioner Roger Goodell is the sole arbiter of good conduct, meting out punishment in the form of fines and suspensions. And it appears he will enforce the league's policy in spite of the work stoppage that has unfolded.
