Maybe the NFL Could Call on Ward Cleaver to Lecture on Conduct

I thought back to the day they suspended Paul Hornung for gambling. As a young boy, I complained to my dad that such a great player shouldn’t be lost to the game. My father’s speech of that day (in the great tradition of Ward Cleaver) was on the subject of rules and responsibilities of one’s conduct.

My dad’s speech stuck with me, and I realized that if Paul Hornung had to suffer for breaking the rules, that meant the rules were serious business.

Today, not only are the rules not serious, but there appear to not even be any as far as drugs go. The players thumbing their noses at the league will give an equally strong lesson to today’s kids. Will it, however, be the one we wish to see them get?

DOUG WEISKOPF

Huntington Beach