Why do fans see the NFL as the No Fault League but come down hard on other sports? SI's senior NBA writer has a theory

	Illustration by John Cuneo
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By Jack McCallum

Telling some people that you cover the NBA must be like revealing that you collect equine sperm samples for a living. They find it interesting but can't believe you do it. There are variations on a theme -- I used to watch the NBA but not anymore; all the players are gangsters; there is more teamwork in college -- but the theme is consistent: dissatisfaction with the players, the game or both. Anyone associated with the league gets accustomed to it and dons a kind of armor. One veteran official, Bennett Salvatore, says that when someone recognizes him and starts babbling away, he says, "Oh, you got the wrong guy. That's my twin brother who's a ref."

The anti-NBA feeling is particularly irritating in the fall, when King Football sits on the throne, surrounded by adoring handlers. During a round of golf last week with three men I had just met, there were the customary murmurs of discontent when they learned about my NBA connection, followed by a question: "Hey, did you ever interview T.O.? I know he's a little crazy, but he seems kind of interesting."

So there you are. The NBA sucks, and Terrell Owens, one of the most judgment-challenged people on the planet, has something to tell us.

The NFL is so bulletproof it should be brought to you by Kevlar. Rarely does a week go by when one of its players does not appear on a police blotter -- they've run out of ink in the Queen City, where six members of the Sin-cinnati Bungles have been arrested in 2006 alone. It's a tough call as to who is the biggest screwup, but let's give the nod to a talented young wide receiver, Chris Henry, who since last December has been arrested four times for an impressive array of alleged offenses: marijuana possession (he pleaded guilty), carrying a concealed weapon (ditto), providing alcohol to underage women (he pleaded not guilty), drunken driving (ditto). Still, he played in the Bengals' first three games this season. Overall, at least 10 NFL players have been arrested on various charges over the last 10 months. "It's up to [players] to be positive role models," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told reporters in Chicago on Sunday. "But when you have 2,000 young men in your league, you're going to have some people who are going to get themselves on the wrong side of the law."

Fair enough, but what about that one-game suspension for Lions defensive line coach Joe Cullen, who was arrested last month on an alleged DWI, which was not nearly as embarrassing as the DWP (Driving Without Pants) he had received a week earlier for cruising naked through a Wendy's drive-through. Cullen missed Week 1 but has been with the team, presumably fully dressed, ever since.

In August, The Charlotte Observer reported that four players on the 2004 NFC champion Panthers used banned substances. (They were caught not by league drug-testing but by testimony in another case.) What a surprise -- after gazing at the size of linemen, who could possibly suspect there was steroid use in the NFL? Yet the story failed to generate much attention, certainly nothing like the steroid speculation that Phillies slugger Ryan Howard faced during his late-season home run spree even though he has been tested throughout his career and has never failed.

While baseball takes the hit for steroids and the NBA remains the target of choice, the default verdict from fans on the NFL is no-fault: Individuals screw up, but that has nothing to do with the league as a whole.

Why the popularity gap? The unassailable fact remains that the NBA is a predominantly African-American league (73%) with a more openly hip-hop culture. While blacks make up about 65% of NFL rosters, football has never been seen as an "urban" sport. Moreover, because there are so many NFL players, and their sport is so team-focused and they're covered in padding, they maintain some anonymity. It's easier to embrace felons -- of all colors -- hidden under helmets than tatted-up black men in plain view.

Some NBA players, such as Indiana's Jermaine O'Neal, have been outspoken in their view that race is the major reason for the league's negative image. But team and league executives rarely wade into public debate about it. Commissioner David Stern declined to speak to the popularity gap, other than to say, "When you have the most-recognized athletes in the world and you take the good that comes with that, you also have to take the bad."

In the end the popularity gap isn't just Stern's problem. It's ours, too, because it might say more about us than the NBA or the NFL. The less disturbing reason for the NFL's invulnerability is that America likes pro football better than pro basketball -- better than almost anything else, in fact. I've heard a hundred discussions about the NFL in NBA locker rooms and precious few about the NBA in NFL locker rooms. Still, we must acknowledge that the players of one sport should not get a free pass while those of another are systematically skewered for similar misdeeds -- or for none at all.

Issue date: October 9, 2006