The NFL came down pretty hard on a couple of NFL players recently. Pacman Jones of Titans was suspended for a whole year. Chris Henry of the Bengals was suspended for eight games. I imagine there will be more suspensions.

The Western Word (TWW) has always had some concerns about suspensions of professional and amateur athletes for off the field actions. I believe if they are accused of breaking the law, then the athlete should have his/her day in court. After that, and if they are found guilty, they should be dealt with by the team they work and/or play for.

Sometimes incidents snowball and you have an athlete who is presumed guilty before they have their day in court. For example, the Duke Lacrosse players’ incident that received national attention. By the way, they were all cleared today. But, how much money will it cost North Carolina and Duke now when these three athletes file a lawsuit? “Show me the money!”

The 2007 NFL Preseason and regular season schedules are out today. With “flex scheduling” in play for its second year, some of the nationally televised games in weeks 11-17 should be really good.

The regular season starts September 6 and ends December 30. The playoffs begin on January 5 and Superbowl XLII is February 3 in Glendale, Arizona.

My Kansas City Chiefs have a tough schedule partially due to them making the playoffs last year (where they lost to the Superbowl champion Colts). They begin the season with three of their first four games on the road and close the same way. I won’t make travel plans for Arizona just yet.