If there is one story in sports that I’m sick of right now, it’s not Lance Armstrong or Manti Te’o (well kinda for both of them, but still plan to blog my thoughts), it’s athletes getting charged with DWIs. I apologize in advance that this post will have a soapbox feel to it, but it’s something I’m passionate about and getting really annoyed with. I get so annoyed when the media tends to portray these incidents as sob stories when it comes to celebrities and athletes who get in trouble for alcohol.   In many cases they are underage and don’t face the same punishments that the general public does. They are not above the law, but the actions of many leads me to believe that’s their attitude. The arrest of Jay Ratliff from the Dallas Cowboys on Tuesday morning compelled me to voice my opinion about this.

First, here’s a little research on the topic. In America on average, there are 900,000 people arrested each year for DUI/DWI and a full 1/3 of those are repeat offenders. Alcohol-impaired driving fatalities account for about 31% of the total vehicle traffic fatalities and nearly 12,000 people die every year in DUI-related accidents. As I read these numbers and statistics, they are both disturbing and very sad. Many people have been in a circumstance when they have gotten behind the wheel and shouldn’t have and been ok, but that still doesn’t mean it was the right decision. You want to go out and have fun? Go for it! You want to drink a lot? Enjoy! Just don’t get behind the wheel to put yourself and others in danger then.

Back to the sports world, where DWI arrests are running rampant. As of September 18, 2012, there have been 22 total athletes arrested for DWIs from the NFL, NBA and MLB. This doesn’t include any that have taken place at the college level or the fatality in Dallas in December; among others I’m sure. On December 8^th, the Cowboys’ Josh Brent was arrested and later indicted on a second-degree felony charge of DUI manslaughter after his car flipped, killing his teammate Jerry Brown. Less than 2 months later, Ratliff, a veteran in the organization, arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated after his pickup truck hit a tractor trailer and then slammed into a highway barrier.

Ultimately, these guys have no excuses to get busted for a DWI. They have far more money and resources than they average person does. First, they obviously have the cash to use a cab or hire a driver. Many teams also provide them with ride services to avoid such situations. The NFL even has a program called “Safe Rides” – yet has the highest number of players getting in trouble from drinking and driving.

There is also counseling available and fines to face when you get in trouble – yet many of these athletes still seem to find themselves on the wrong side of the law. I can only assume that their egos are a factor in not wanting to use the resources offered by the league and their teams, but why not have their own drivers then? Also, I wonder at what point their agents should step in and set up standards with them regarding when they can get behind the wheel. MADD would like to set up meetings in Dallas to raise awareness about the consequences of drinking and driving – which I think is great – I wonder what kind of impact if will really have when you’re trying to get through to those egos.

I wish there was a solution for this problem. I feel like it could become an epidemic. I can only imagine how hard it would be to tell a kid who around 20 and just signed a contract for millions of dollars what they can and can’t do. However, that seems like it needs to take place. Athletes and celebrities are not above the law, and pose the same risk to the average person on the road as any other drunk driver. When caught and prosecuted, they should be placed to a higher standard based on the options open to them, if not the same as the rest of us (and to make an example out of them since they are in the public eye) – or at minimum the same as anyone else, when it seems like they are too often given a lesser punishment than you or I would receive. We can only hope that the civil servants in our justice system have the gumption and fortitude to hold these “special” cases accountable with the severest of penalties and begin to send a message that DWI does not come with a mere slap on the wrist.   If they do not, I fear that it will only be a matter of time before there is more unnecessary loss of life at the hands of these entitled individuals who despite all efforts to save them from themselves continue to make stupid selfish choices.