They are  wreaking havoc on the streets of big and small town U.S.A.  The likes of Dallas, Cincinnati, Las Vegas, Jacksonville, New York and Chicago have been invaded and terrorized. The sometimes weapon wielding thugs have made front page news as they shun the laws of the civilized society to do as they please at the expense of those who want nothing more than  to enjoy their evenings uninterrupted by stray gun shots, bar room brawls, drive-by shootings and posse gang wars .  Welcome to the world of the Gridiron Gangsters.  The dark side of professional sports. Who are some of these gangster types? The list is long and distinguished:

Pacman Jones

1.   Adam “Pacman Jones“, former cornerback for the Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys.   Pacman has not done any jail time yet but his non-stop off field troubles qualify him for gangsterhood.  He was suspended by the NFL for numerous gangster like activities including his alleged role in a shooting at a Las Vegas strip club(his preferred venue of choice) that left one person paralyzed. He pleaded no contest to one charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. He was given a suspended prison sentence of one year, probation, and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service  The sum total of Pacman’s  brushes with the law could fill an entire season of Law and Order.   It is now being reported that he is being investigated in Georgia in an alleged shooting-for-hire scheme.

2.    Plaxico Burress, former wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers and NY Giants.  Plaxico carried an unlicensed loaded handgun into a NYC nightclub.  Fortunately the only person he shot was himself.  While Plaxico was not seriously injured, he is facing some serious personal freedom injury with mandatory jail time required under New York’s Sullivan Act.  While Plaxico had always skated on the edge of the gridiron gangster lifestyle, he can now consider his initiation complete.

3.  Micheal Vick, former quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons plead guilty to  federal and state dog fighting charges. He is currently in federal prison. He will be eligible for release in June of this year.  He is expected to apply for reinstatement to the NFL upon his release.  Will anything change?

4.   Jamal Lewis, running back for the Cleveland Browns.  Jamal led the NFL in Rushing in 2003. He  served four  months in federal prison as the result of a plea bargain stemming from federal drug charges. While there is evidence that he is a good guy who made one terrible error in judgment, his four months in federal prison related to drug activity get him the Gridiron gangster tag. The jury is still out on his continued membership in the elite fraternity.

5. Marvin Harrison, wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts. Marvin was allegedly involved in a brawl and shooting outside of his Philadelphia car wash that left 3 people wounded. Marvin admits fisticuffs but denies being armed. He was not charged despite two witnesses who state that he was armed.  The local district attorney has questioned the credibility of the witnesses in the decision not to charge.  Has Marvin entered the gridiron gangster ranks?  Not yet but give him time.

6.   Tank Johnson Defensive Tackle for the Dallas Cowboys.   Tank’s gangster kung fu is strong.  Numerous scuffles, arrests and a jail sentence culminating in his eventual suspension from the NFL.  He has since been reinstated and is currently playing for the Dallas Cowboys. You can read his gangster resume here.

7.    Rae Carruth Former wide receiver for the Carolina Panther.  Rae would be considered the Godfather of the Gridiron Gangster lifestyle.  His almost 19 year prison sentence for conspiracy to murder his girlfriend qualifies him as the Don.  He must have had some of the  John Gotti Teflon going during his trial. He slid though the crack of reasonable doubt on a 1st degree murder conviction and possible death sentence down to a conviction on a lesser charge sparing his life and guaranteeing that he will be eligible to  play in the  just announced annual NFL All Con Reunion game.

These are a few of the high profile incidents.  There are countless other examples of NFL gridiron gangster conduct of high profile and lessor known players ranging from drunken altercations to drugs and sexual assaults.  In all fairness to the NFL, it is not like gangsterism has just suddenly sprung upon the NFL scene.  The history of the NFL is replete with athletes in trouble.  It can certainly be argued that the only thing that has changed is the media exposure.  There were no cell phone cameras to catch Paul Hornung and Alex Karras placing bets when they were suspended indefinitely from football by commissioner Pete Rozelle for betting on NFL games and associating with undesirable persons.  Gangsterism is certainly of function of the era we live in.

The gangster lifestyle often also outlasts football careers with tragic results.  Athletes who had the protection o  the posse fame and agents lacking any sense of identity outside of their stardom find themselves  in the real world alone, unskilled, uneducated in real life business concepts, broke, and still gangster.  Nothing good is going to happen.   The NFL alumni gangster fraternity includes Darryl Henley, Byron Bam Morris, Lawrence Phillips,  Dave Meggett, Maurice Clarett and Art Schlichter to name a few. 

What is going on with present day athletes?  Are they getting into trouble at greater rates or in greater percentages to the general population?  Does it just seem that way due to the social media, cell phone video, instantaneous news delivery world we live in?  The gridiron gangster is certainly not the standard of behavior in professional sports.  The majority of NFL  players live their lives by the rules of civilized society.  NFL stars such as Donovan McNabb, LaDainian Tomlinson Brett Farve, Tom Brady, the Manning brothers, and other high profile professional athletes manage to get by day to day and night to night without guns, possess and drunken altercations.  Their evening activities do not become TMZ,  TNT and ESPN fodder.  They do not have criminal attorneys, bail bondsmen and posse henchmen on speed dial.  Instead Michael Vick,  Pacman Jones, Plaxico Burress and other law breaking professional athletes become flash points for the public perception of everything that is wrong with professional sports. The perception of  athletes as prima-donna selfish, self-entitled thugs.  Why do athletes who seem to have everything put everything at risk as they engage in conduct that qualifies them as a Gridiron Gangsters?  I asked some people on the front lines.

Marc Roberts is no stranger to the gridiron gangster lifestyle having represented numerous high profile athletes.  He is the author of “Roberts Rule! Secrets From America’s Most Trusted Sports Agent”  Marc had this to say:

“Athletes get in trouble because they think they are invincible. They have been pampered in every aspect of their life”

Patrick Johnson is a wide receiver for the Toronto Argronauts of the Canadian Football League. He has also played for the Baltimore Ravens, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Washington Redskins. He earned a Super Bowl ring when the Ravens won Super Bowl XXXV.  He follows-up on the points raised by Roberts.

“The psychology of why athletes get in and out of trouble can be a very complicated, but very simple at the same time.  First of all, what do we define as trouble?  I firmly believe that if the athlete has a good support system around him/her other than the agent, it can minimize most of the issues they face.   Many times however, athletes from a certain demographic don’t have individuals around them who know very much about the business.  They have to rely on their agent who in many cases is only interested in what their client can give them financially.   They are best of friends as long as the player can bring in  money  but quickly disappear when the cash flow stops.  That is where the real trouble begins.  Without an advisor willing to give the athlete the time after it’s all over, the reality of life sets in as the issues that were put on the back burner pop up.  That’s the trouble with all of this.  Contrary to the many stereotypes held about  athletes, it’s not about  homeboys, posses, fighting dogs and the like.  Its the people who you put your trust in at the beginning when the say they can get you a dynamite contract.   What if an agent introduced his players to Mr. Madoff?  What’s bigger?”

Jordon Woy is  a nationally known sports agent and a principal in the firm of Schlegel Sports, publisher of Replay Sports Monthly,  He has represented high profile athletes such as Donald Driver of Green Bay and Flozell Adams and Roy Williams of the Dallas Cowboys. He had this to say:

“I feel the main reason that players stay out of trouble in the NFL or any other sports is they have a strong parental figure in their lives as they are growing up.  That person can be a Mom, Dad, Uncle, Grandmother, coach, etc.  It is the first question NFL teams ask me about any player who I am representing…What kind of a character kid is this?  When I recruit a college player they usually have someone who is helping them make their agent choice.  You can learn a lot about the player by who they are choosing to help them make their decision.  Some have no one to help them.  Some have a really smart, caring relative who has played a big part in helping them get where they are.

I think the other reason so many athletes get in trouble is they start to believe their own “press clippings”. The one characteristic that I see in a lot of players who really stay on the straight path is that they are still humble as people.  It is always impressive to me when I meet a world famous athlete who is still humble and considerate of others.  He or she may know that have skills that set them apart from everyone else but they still treat people the way they want to be treated.  The reverse is also true, the athletes who begin to think they can act any way and do anything they want are usually the ones who find trouble.  I have always marveled at athletes who come down to earth after they retire and the glory fades.  They “find” their humbleness again.  I have heard a lot of them say they feel bad for the way they acted and they realize it was wrong.  I think it is a part of growing up that everyone has to go through even the most talented athletes in the world.”

Does living the gangster lifestyle automatically spell lifetime doom for professional athlete?  Not necessarily. There are examples of athletes who were able to leave their gangster toys behind them and live productive law abiding lives.  Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor and former Dallas Cowboys linebacker Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson are notable examples.

There you have it.  Do you know feel any sympathy for athletes who must grow up and “put away childish things” when their careers are over.  Is there a difference between a reason and an excuse?   You decide.

Michael Vick will soon be out of prison.  His anticipated release date is June 2009.  He  will seek to re-enter the NFL.  There will be vocal opposition from animal rights groups.  Don’t count me among the opposition.  When the time comes I believe the NFL should re-instate his eligibility to play and seek NFL employment under probationary conditions.  Anyone who knows me is probably shocked as hell to read this.  I own a dog and a cat.  I love them dearly.  I have been active in various animal rights causes and benefits.  I screamed loudest for Vick’s head on a doggie platter and a long prison sentence. I was disappointed when his state sentence ran concurrent with his federal sentence although as an attorney I was expecting just that.

I  do not like Michael Vick. I think he is a gangster thug.  I admit that I have never met him.  It does not matter.  In my mind it is res ipsa loquitur.  If you abuse animals or take pleasure from watching them abused that is all I need to know. You are a bad person and a gangster thug.  End of story.  I also think Michael Vick will end up in serious trouble with the law again at some point in his life.  Why?  I believe that anyone who abuses animals or takes pleasure in watching them being abused on a certain level has a sociopath personality and lacks the mental mechanism to understand societal values.  That will more often than not lead to trouble.  You can’t grow a conscience regardless of any explanation for not having one.  With all that being said how could I possibly support Michael Vick?

I support Micheal Vick being allowed to seek employment in the NFL because I respect our justice system and the equality of judgment it is supposed to represent even if it often does not always work out that way.  Michel Vick was judged.  He is paying his debt born out of that judgment.  Once that happens, our Constitution and justice system mandates that while we can hold opinions and express them and judge him as a person, we can no longer legally judge his act.   Having a felony conviction legally  excludes a person from certain professions.  Professional sports is not among them.  That does not mean we have to like Michael Vick.  That does not mean an NFL team has to hire him.  I am comfortable enough in my convictions in this area to know that I would never hire someone who did what he did to work for me in any capacity.  You have the right to ask me for a job.  I have the right to say no.  I have the right to bring my moral compass into play in saying no.  You have the right to find someone else to hire you in the same type of job who may view things differently than I do.   Michael Vick is paying his dues to society.  He should not have to pay them again in being denied the right to seek employment.  I know there will be an NFL owner or two who does not view Michael Vick the  same way I do.  There will be exhaustive pre-employment psyhological evaluations and othe precautions taken.  They will undoubtedly give him a chance to merit employment with their team.  I won’t like it.  I however am not societie’s legal or  moral gatekeeper. Neither is anyone reading this.  The NFL and individual team owners will decide which way their own compass points.  I will say that whoever hires Michael Vick had better hope that somewhere deep inside himself  he has found the guilt ridden emotions that help shape our conscience.  If he does not, it is a given that  he will be judged again.

2008-2009 has seen the return of the Holocaust in Hollywood with several movies either dealing with the subject directly or tangentially. The Holocaust has always been sporadic material for Hollywood. Every few years a small budget independent or documentary will show up, but mainstream Hollywood rarely invests in a Holocaust masterpiece.  If a big budget film about the Holocaust manages to become a reality, the result is generally an accurate account of genocide delivered in epic dimensions.  The Holocaust is such a sacred, emotional and controversial subject that it would be Hollywood suicide to make a historically inaccurate or irresponsible film.   A film that varies from the basic facts of actual events risks being considered revisionist which would be a disaster for a mainstream film as well as the people behind it.

Hollywood is acutely aware that a Holocaust film, to be accepted on any level, must always stay faithful to basic accepted concepts and historical outlines regarding a specific event or specific issue within that event.  It is acceptable to create fictional people and places and subplots around a particular event but to alter a Holocaust event even slightly is very risky and frankly taboo.  The Holocaust is such a sacred and risky subject for film makers that while many Holocaust films are done very few are released in wide distribution or considered mainstream.  Most are, in fact, documentaries.  A formidable documentary on the subject is Imaginary Witness:Hollywood and the Holocaust.  It had very limited release and is unfortunately very difficult to locate.   If you want to see it you are going to have to get lucky on Ebay.

There is no denying that sentiments and views of the Holocaust have changed over the years since the end of World War II.  Hollywood has changed right along with those sentiments and views and changed the types of movies and the way events are depicted. A review of the Internet Movie Database reveals that from 1945-2008 reveals that there were over 400 theatrical productions and documentaries made which addressed the Holocaust in one form or another. Of those, the majority were foreign-made documentaries. One explanation for this is that Europe as a whole was much more willing to face and deal with the horror of what happened than the United States as a whole. This would make sense just in terms of the sheer numbers of Holocaust survivors in Europe and Israel as compared to the United States starting from the end of the war. The vast majority lived, and still live, in places other than the United States. The numbers would obviously balance out over time to some degree based on shifting demographics and the extremely high mortality rates of aging survivors.

If you look at the types of movies that were made, there is no escaping that up through the 1980′s the Hollywood treatment of the Holocaust was very shallow and dismissive not counting documentaries.  Here is my list of Hollywood movies and television media that I feel offer the most to the viewer in the portrayal of events and figures of the Holocaust.   I include foreign films if they had mainstream United States release.   I am only including films whose main focus was the Holocaust as compared to the holocaust being just one historical event in the movie.  An example would be Band Of Brothers. This mini-series addresses the Holocaust but is not about the Holocaust.  Another recent two films I left off because I did not consider them  Holocaust films are Defiance(2008) and Good(2008).  I will start with the most recent entries into the Holocaust genre, “The Boy In The Striped Pajamas”  and “The Reader”.

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas.  Adapted from the book of the same name by John Boyne.  A heart ripping movie along the same lines as Life Is Beautiful.  This time told from the side of the child of a Concentration Camp Commandant who befriends a Jewish child imprisoned in the camp. The child has been shielded by his father from the horror, brutality and the truth of the purpose of the camp.  I consider this one of the best if not the best film of 2008.  A must see.

The Reader(2009).   Ralph Fiennes harkens back to his brilliant performance as the brutal Plasow Concentration Camp Commandant Amon Goeth in Schindler’s list to once again tackle the Holocaust in a much different light.   His character has an affair with his care-taker and  Eight years later, while a law student observing the Nazi war crime trials, he is re-united in a shocking way. She is a defendant charged with war crimes.

Paperclips(2004) An extraordinary documentary that I stumbled across surfing cables channels once night.  Whitwell Middle School in rural Tennessee is the last place that you would think would be a hot bed of Holocaust study.  It however is the setting for this documentary about a unique experiment in Holocaust understanding. The students at Whitewell collect six-million paper clips to better understand the extent of Holocaust and share that understanding with Holocaust survivors.

The Diary Of Anne Frank(1959). The 1959 version appears to be Hollywood’s first mainstream attempt to bring the Holocaust to the masses although it did so by sacrificing the depth and emotion of the Holocaust to give the public a Hollywood blockbuster movie. The movie itself was a Hollywood hit by the standards of the day. It won three Oscars. An interesting side note is that Audrey Hepburn turned down the role of Anne Frank because she herself lived in occupied Holland and witnessed Nazi atrocities first-hand. To get a feel for early Hollywood treatment of the Holocaust, the Diary of Anne Frank is a must see, but be sure to view the original before viewing the remakes.

Holocaust(1978).  A four-part made-for-TV mini-series. That was the first major network big time portrayal of the subject. The series was a monstrous success, drawing a 49 percent market share. So many people watched this mini-series in New York City when first broadcast, that when commercials were on, the local water pressure dropped due to the large number of people using their toilets at once. It won Golden Globe and Emmy awards. It was very instrumental in rocketing the career of Meryl Streep. Michael Moriarty is brilliant as an out of work lawyer who enters the Nazi party and advances through brutality and helping implement “The Final Solution”. Interestingly the series was only as of May 2008 available on DVD in the United States. It had previously only been released in Europe. I am not sure if that was an economic issue, a rights issue, or once again an example of a much more apathetic view of the subject in the United States.

Schindler’s List(1993). The Holocaust comes to Generation X with the Steven Spielberg story of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist and Nazi party member who started out getting rich off the backs of Jewish slave labor and ended up finding his own humanity. He went on to save thousands of Jews from the gas chamber, risking both his personal wealth and his safety to save as many Jews as possible. He spent his entire fortune to bribe Germans and basically “buy” the Jews who worked for him. He kept them for the most part safe until Germany’s surrender. He ended up penniless. Today, there are more than 6000 descendants of “Schindler Jews” living around the world.   The movie is done in and black and white and riveting from beginning to end. When I saw this movie, I could hear sobbing all over the theater. Ralph Fiennes is absolutely brilliant as Amon Goeth, the brutal commandant of the Plazow forced labor camp. I view this movie as the first mainstream attempt to bring the true graphic brutality of the Holocaust to our doorsteps. This is the Holocaust movie of our generation. If you asked 100 people under 40 what movie they last saw about the Holocaust, I would be shocked if the majority did not say Schindler’s List. The movie itself was a huge critical and box office success winning seven Oscars

Sophie’s Choice(1982). Sophie’s Choice is a brilliant performance by Meryl Streep as a Holocaust survivor with dark secrets in her family’s past. Her performance as Sophie Zawistowska is ranked #3 on Premiere Magazine’s 100 Greatest Performances of All Time. She won an academy award for her performance. It should be noted that this film was released 11 years prior to Schindler’s list. It contains one of the most heart wrenching moments in movie history when Sophie recounts the night she arrived at Auschwitz with her children, and of how she was forced by a Nazi officer to choose life for one child and death for the other.

Life Is Beautiful(1997). Life is Beautiful is a Holocaust film told like no other. Instead of focusing on the tragedy, brutality and death of the Holocaust, it is told from the view of a man who uses the gift of humor to protect his only son from the inhumanity while in a concentration camp. The film is incredible in that it allows you to smile and laugh with Guido right up until the tragic end and not feel sad. It sends the strong message that our ability to laugh and make others laugh is ours alone, no matter what forces pull at us. This movie won three Academy Awards. While classified as a Holocaust film, this film is also a joyous celebration of the human spirit. I almost did not see this film, but I have now seen it a total of four times.

The Pianist(2002). This movie is told from the viewpoint of a very talented piano player hiding out in the Warsaw Ghetto throughout the Warsaw Ghetto Liquidation and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. Adrian Brody does a brooding, self-absorbed pianist. When the German occupation begins, he simply wonders when he will be able to return to his music. When the killing begins, he is forced to hide and change his priorities to simply trying to survive. Even though he can no longer play, music is the hope and salvation that keeps him alive.

The Grey Zone(2001). The Grey Zone is gritty, dark and sometimes hard to follow. It is, however, a must-see for all those who want an understanding of the Holocaust beyond the basics. The Grey Zone deals with an issue that is very sensitive to Holocaust survivors–Jews sending other Jews to the gas chamber. These Jews were called “Sonderkommandos”.  Sonderkommando members did not participate directly in the killing, which was reserved for the guards. While their primary responsibility was disposing of the corpses, they often took a much more active role in getting the inmates ready to enter the gas chambers. These inmates were kept in close groups and had much better living conditions than the average inmate, but they were also killed off at regular intervals to prevent any word of the inner workings of the Nazi death apparatus from leaking to the outside world. This movie is about one of several Sonderkommado revolts that took place. The movie features an outstanding peformance by Harvey Keitel.

Playing for Time.    Playing for Time is a made-for-T.V piece that is worth seeing. Another movie that gives a perspective on the inner workings of Nazi Concentration Camps in which some inmates were forced to play music for the others as they marched to the gas chambers or life-death selection process. The purpose was to keep them calm and reduce the chances of revolt. You can read an excellent article on the subject here.

Europa Europa(1991). A young Jewish boy poses as a German “aryan” orphan and joins the Hilter Youth in the early days of World War II. An interesting look at the racial, moral and religious identity struggles faced by Jews as they did what they could to prevent their extermination in Nazi Germany. Based on a true story.

Music Box(1989). This is one of the few movies dealing with the issues of aging former Nazis and Nazi sympathizers who committed war crimes living in the United States.  Jessica Lange and Armin Mueller-Stah give great performances. The movie is based on the true story of John Demjanjuk.   While the premise of a daughter representing her father on trial with such high stakes is a stretch, it works well here.  Jessica’s emotional opening statement is also unrealistic and inadmissible. The movie is incredibly moving on all levels. You are torn between her father as a loving grandfather and a brutal murderer guilty of terrible war crimes. In an interesting twist of life imitating art, the father of Joe Eszterhas who wrote the screenplay, was accused of writing anti-Semitic propaganda before and during World War II. Like the character in Music Box, his father denied being the person who wrote these materials. Mr. Ezterhas denies knowing anything about his father’s past at the time he wrote the screenplay. There is a great article about this that can be read here.

That is my list of Holocaust films that I feel are must sees for anyone wanting to get a good understanding of the subject through Hollywood. Is this a definitive list? Absolutely not. There are numerous foreign films and documentaries dealing with general and specific issues surrounding the Holocaust. There are also some Hollywood selections I left out such as Uprising. Uprising specifically addresses the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. While it is an entertaining mini-series, I felt it the portrayal was a step backwards in that it was too much in the line of the 1978 mini-series Holocaust. It could have been done much more effectively. I feel the above selections are a good starting point for all.

Please feel free to comment and add you own movies to the list with an explanation of why you feel it is an important film or simply why you enjoyed it.

I never thought I would be arguing for the rights of Adolf Hitler.

A three year old boy named Adolf Hitler Campbell by his parents as well as his two sisters who were also given “Nazified” names were removed from the custody of their parents by New Jersey Youth And Family Services.  The “unique” names of the children were first brought to national light when ShopRite supermarket refused to sell them a birthday cake with Adolf Hitler’s name on it. It is unknown if the children’s names were the sole reason for the removal.  There were no previous official complaints of any type of abuse in the family.

Let us start with the fact that parents who would give their children such a name are either  racist, anti-Semitic, mentally unbalanced or a combination of the three.  It is possible they are simply Nazi history buffs but my money is on the first three. None of these in themselves constitute child abuse, or constitute an imminent danger to the children.  Is that not what we are talking about when the state takes the extreme action of  removing children from the home?  Is there an immediate danger to the children?  I am not a family law attorney but I suspect the standard has to rise above an “uncomfortable upbringing”  Does naming your child Adolf Hitler(as a middle name)  constitute the type of  abuse in itself to warrant removal from the home?   If this were enough itself , half the stars in Hollywood would be guilty of child abuse for naming giving their children whacked out names that will make things difficult for them growing up.   Does the State have the power to force the parents to change the name or get a court order on their own changing the name?  If the parents state that using Hitler as a middle name was a form of political expression can the state intervene?  There are constitutional issues here on a number of levels. The right to privacy and freedom of expression to name a couple. There has to be more going on than meets the eye.  I suspect that there was enough of an outcry when  the national spotlight was on the family Hitler that prompted Youth and Family Services to take a close look at the family.  It would not be shocking that the mental instability flowing from parents who would give such names to their children also manifested itself  in more egregious abuse that did put the children in danger.  If this was not the case, this was the ultimate abuse in state authority.

I wonder what the only decedents of Adolf Hitler living in the United States would have to say about this. They  are alive and well in Long Island, New York living quietly under assumed names.  I suspect that the Campbells  are now wishing they had baked their own birthday cake for little Adolph’s party.