Running an NFL team is big business, and it only makes sense that owners would want to make the best, safest investments possible. Now, teams may begin to employ police experts to check out players’ tattoos for evidence of gang affiliations in the wake of Aaron Hernandez’s arrest, according to Bruce Feldman of CBS.
Spoke w longtime NFL personnel man who said in wake of AaronHernandez teams may use police experts to check prospects tattoos
— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) July 23, 2013
Before we begin to call this an overreaction, consider the investment teams make every time they sign a player, especially big-money players.
This development is largely driven by Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson’s explanation of checking Hernandez’s tattoos in late June, saying, “We’ll be looking at his tattoos to see if there are any symbols that affiliate with gangs,” said Hodgson via the Boston Herald. “We have to always be vigilant around security and not place him somewhere where there are rival gang members.”
Does it not make sense for teams to use that same principle to protect their own investments, or to prevent a bad investment in the first case? It’s hard to argue the logic.
With the NFL’s offseason on its last leg, don’t be surprised to see this story line fade away over the next few weeks, but it could certainly pop back up next year in the weeks leading up to the draft if we start hearing about police experts inspecting prospects’ tattoos.
