Should a person who committed an illegal sexual act as a kid still be punished and not play in the NFL?

All Time Felon Team.

He should be allowed to play.

I really struggle with this mentality. People always want to argue a player’s right to play in the pros despite any mistakes they have made.
The same thing happened with Michael Vick.

Now, I feel for this man. It’s an unfortunate story. But who decides when the rules should be bent and when they shouldn’t? If he was wrongfully convicted then it should be taken up with the law, not the NFL.

What a huge huge privilege to make an enormous salary playing a game that you love. This isn’t specific to the story you’ve just shared, but I feel like we are constantly rewarding bad behavior in professional sports.

why is having sex with your sister wrong? naive perhaps, something not to be encouraged but who says it’s wrong if it’s consensual, with the emphasis on sensual.

I know someone who went to prison for having consensual sex with his girlfriend 10 days before her 17th birthday. He was older than 21. He was not a violent offender. Everyone agrees it was consensual and not forced but that does not matter. In NY a female is not considered able to give consent until she is 17.
He is married now but still on the SO list. The restrictions are crazy. For example, he can’t go to the Dept of Motor vehicles because it is located in the mall. He can’t live within 1000 feet of a school or day care center or… endless.
The rules are crazy. I don’t know TW’s story so I can’t judge, but in some cases the laws do not make sense.

If they were similar age and both consenting I don’t think he should be treated as a sex offender, or on any lifelong registry. I wonder how it was found out though and raised to the level of it going to a court of law? Makes me think the girl was not so happy about it. I guess I would need a few more details about what happened. I tend to be very oriented towards the juvenile system, leaning towards concealing those records.

I think this question is more about the legality of the act of consensual incest than it is about bending the rules for an NFL hopeful.

Personally, I don’t think the rules should be bent for him just because he can provide some entertainment to the masses. I agree that the law is a pointless one and I think the way American society groups all “sex offenders” together, regardless of heinousness of the crime is ridiculous. Did you know that peeing in public can be considered a sex crime?

I think another issue with this is how do we know the sexual relationship between he and his sister was actually consensual? They may both say it’s consensual but one could easily coerce the other and then be guilted into saying it was completely consensual. Would you want to betray your brother or sister by saying they forced you in some way?

So, no I do not think the rules should be bent for him just because he wants to play football and because he has a sad past. Lots of people have sad pasts and get no slack cut for them. However, I do think we need to reevaluate what constitutes a heinous sexual crime in this country and how to punish those who commit sexual crimes.

I see this question in an entirely different light than most other people. bottomline, he committed a crime….period. and, because of that crime, his name is on the sex offenders list and will remain there for the rest of his life. he was convicted. this is why we have laws. even as teenagers, they both knew right from wrong. both giving consent has nothing to do with the law that was violated. if being on the sex offenders list is preventing him from playing football, then so be it. it makes me wonder what other crimes he has committed and never been caught? the sex offenders list was formulated for a reason. this is one of those reasons.

@john65pennington The sex offender list is sometimes ridiculous. I am glad it exists, but there are people on it who sent topless photos of their girlfriend to other friends who are on it, who are just stupid. They should not be grouped in with pedifiles who think 4 year olds enjoy being sadomized.

Every human being deserves a second chance. The story of Mary Magdalene, a prostitute, and Jesus forgave her. David, a man after God’s own heart, committed adultery and muder and God forgave him. Life is about forgiving others. If we cannot forgive others, why should we expect God to forgive us.

Ray Lewis, great NFL linebacker, was involved in a murder, and the NFL allowed him to play.

Most people have no clue what people face everyday in the gettos. It is a tough life and few make it out. Let the man have a chance.

I read the story and I feel bad for Tony. I don’t know the rules for the NFL, so I’m not sure exactly what the issue is. From what I’ve read, it’s not the the NFL is saying he can’t play, it’s that none of the teams want the bad publicity after what happened with Ben Roethlisberger recently. I think we need to revamp the Sex Offender Registry. There should be some kind of tier program for it (similar to the different levels of probation). I don’t consider teenagers that had consensual sex to be on the same level as the guy that tracts little girls and molests them. Unfortunately for Tony, the system does not take that into consideration at this point.

did he rape his sister?

That’s the impression that I got. But she later came to say that it was consensual.

According to the story in the question, it was consensual. He was 16 and she was 15 and they supposedly didn’t know it was wrong to do.

Then I believe he should play.

@Seaofclouds when you say wrong do you mean legally wrong or morally wrong? i mean sure, it’s genetically unhealthy to risk pregnancy, but still.

Sure, he should play. People do change. I’m a great believer in people turning their lives around. Allow the man to be a good productive citizen. At that age, people have not matured. There have been several studies done that indicate that people’s frontal lobe’s have not matured at this age. That does not justify what he did, but it should be considered in his poor decision process.

http://teenagebrain.blogspot.com/

@mammal I was strictly talking about the legal issue since that is what is causing him the trouble now. In the article, it specifically has one of them quoted as saying something about not knowing it was wrong (I believe it was him, but I can’t reread the article right now).