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By now everyone knows of the exploits of Tank Johnson, Pac-man Jones, and Michael Vick. Gun law violations, night club shootings and animal cruelty are not elements that define high moral character. However, to pose the question of whether the NFL is or isn't full of thugs seems a bit slanted to a negative light.

The NFL is thirty-two teams each comprised of 53 players. That's one thousand, six hundred, ninety six people. When viewed as one singular unit, any of society's microcosms can seem overly populated by bad people, but for each and every Johnson, Jones, and Vick, there are also the Warrick Dunns.

Dunn, the Pro Bowl running back for the Atlanta Falcons, has won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award for his charity work. Dunn has established the Warrick Dunn Foundation and Homes for The Holidays, both charities that help single mothers obtain home ownership through benevolent means. Dunn is but just one of the good guys in the NFL.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, along with San Diego Chargers running back Ladanian Tomlinson were named co winners of the Payton MOY award last year. Brees for his assistance to survivors of hurricane Katrina, and partnered with teammate Deuce McAllister to help rebuild the NFL Youth Education Town and Pan American Football Field, both in New Orleans.

Tomlinson leaves Chargers game tickets for underprivileged children in San Diego and treats them to dinner after the game, where they are also provided free school supplies and books.

When Ahman Green was traded to the Houston Texans from the Green Bay Packers he asked Texan cornerback Jason Simmons for the right to wear the #30 jersey, which Simmons had worn since he became a Texan player. Simmons agreed to let Green wear the #30 if he would give the money he offered to pay Simmons to Regina Foster. Foster is a single welfare Mom in Houston with a seven year old son named Reginald. Green even offered to provide the money needed for a full down payment on a Habitat For Humanity house for Foster in the Houston area.

Vick, Jones, and Johnson are not the first NFL players to gain notoriety for bad deeds off the field. Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth was convicted of hiring a hit man to kill his pregnant girlfriend a few years ago to keep from paying child support for the baby he did not want. A professional athlete making millions could not bear the idea of paying to support his own child. Reprehensible and unforgivable action that belies the spoiled and above the law nature of many professional athletes. However, there have always been good guys in the NFL too. Joe Delaney, a running back for the Kansas City Chiefs lost his life saving two boys from drowning in the 1980s.

So as long as people are people then human nature will be what it is, unpredictable and relative to each individual. So the Johnson, Vicks, and Joneses of the NFL are not enough to say that the NFL is full of thugs. If the NFL were a glass and it's players were water I believe it would be half full. I choose to believe that because I'm an optimistic man. My glass is always half full.

Learn more about this author, Leonard Sutton.
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