Do former players get too much attention?

Bleed: getting caught with a seed is a crime. That's why our prisions are full and our taxes are high. We like to toss people in for virtually anything.

Its a crime but im pretty sure its just a misdemeanor. He'll pay a fine that he can easily afford.
Now if he was selling it to the little league team he coached...thatd be different.

Players dont care about fines or speeding tickets, an extra 200 a year in raised insurance rates means nothing. It costs them omre to correct their public image than anything.

It's not a big deal in and of itself. However, it's an illegal substance and that's the bottom line. He knew it, he had it anyways, and now he's got to pay a price (however small).

He's a celebrity and he's going to get nailed for it, just as any other celebrity would.

It all depends on what the state laws are as far as how much = a felony, etc.

There are players and ex-players for whom any drug possession charge would seem hypocritical. Thurman Thomas has never to my knowledge (limited though it may be) made any strong anti-drug statements, so once this news is reported, I don't think he should be especially raked over the coals for his transgression. It is news, and I believe it would be reported any time of the year if a probable Hall of Fame RB gets arrested for drug possession. I can't see the value of examining the issue of this arrest further than it has been, though.

It kind of puts a new spin on the time he forgot his helmet, though. ;)

I think it was kinda overblown.. When I read the headline 'Ex- Bills RB Thomas arrested on drug charges' and I thought it was going to be a Nate Newton or Bam Morris situation, but half of a smoked joint? Yes, I know it's a crime, but is it worth the arrest, processing and time that it took to do that? I would think that a citation and confiscation would be sufficient and let the cops fight actual crime..

Thurman Thomas gets caught with MJ and it is news because Thurman Thomas is a Hall of Fame player. If Leomont Evans gets caught with MJ ten years after he is gonzo from the NFL it is not news for the simple reason that no one will remember that Leomont Evans played in the NFL that long after his departure. (With the possible exception of his family, of course.)

In addition, I BELIEVE that Thomas has had some addiction problems in the past. In the dim recesses of memory, I think he did some alcohol rehab time. IF THAT IS CORRECT, that makes this a bit more of a story since it there is the "addiction angle".

Add those two things to the fact that this is a slow news time in sports (you can read and write just so many Smarty Jones articles) and you realize why this story got the play it did.

What bothered me the most was Thomas' wife making a statement about all this when she was not even with him on this trip. Excuse me, but why might it be interesting to have her run her yap about this?

Curmudgeon, you are right about the alcohol rehab