"That ain't right"

Enter my hypothetical world for a few moments.

It's June 2007 and the two-month-long NBA playoffs are finally nearing their conclusion. In a matter of days, the NBA Finals will get under way. It's a rematch of last year: Dallas vs. Miami.

Except that Miami will be without one of its key players. Udonis Haslem was arrested a month ago - during the second round of the playoffs - when police found three handguns, three rifles and ammunition in his house. This was the third time in 18 months Haslem was arrested.

Haslem was relegated to home confinement and was not permitted to play the rest of playoffs with the Heat. Commissioner David Stern, acting in order to prevent public outcry, immediately suspended Haslem for his conduct.

Skipping forward a week or so, Dallas wins its first NBA title. The Heat, with Shaq not close to 100 percent, is lacking in big men and gets dominated down low. Haslem's absence kills it.

All right. Snap back to the real world. Yesterday, Tank Johnson, a defensive tackle for the Chicago Bears, was granted permission to play in the Feb. 4 Super Bowl against the Indianapolis Colts by Cook County (Ill.) Judge John Moran. Johnson was arrested for exactly what I placed on poor Udonis Haslem, who is a good person (sorry, Udonis, I had to use somebody as an example).

Personally, I don't have a huge problem with Johnson playing in the Super Bowl. I believe in second chances (although he has been arrested three times). I think the guy should get the opportunity to right himself. But I am shocked at the lack of public displeasure about this decision. It's as if, since Johnson is a key contributor for the Bears, of course he should play.

Let the past be the past.

This decision highlights a significant difference between how malcontents in the NFL are viewed and treated and malcontents in the NBA and MLB are treated. Players in the NFL are able to get away with a lot more off-the-field issues than professional basketball or baseball players. Players will be on trial for a crime and cheered by their fans at the same time (example - Chris Henry, wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals).

When an NBA player is arrested, he is not easily forgiven by the fans and he is constantly portrayed by the media as a thug. Even Kobe Bryant, one of the league's biggest names, was booed for a full season after accused of sexual assault. I hate to say it, but there are NFL players on active rosters who have been accused of similar crimes - and they're not booed.

A big reason for this is familiarity. Basketball players are the most visible team sports figures. There are only 10 of them on a court at a time and it's easy for a casual observer to memorize the faces they see playing. The same can just about be said of baseball players. But football players? Not so fast, my friend.

Football players' faces are hidden behind facemasks. Some players, such as LaDanian Tomlinson, even wear tinted visors that completely shield their faces from everybody. Additionally, because there are 22 players on the field at a time, there aren't nearly as many close-up camera views of football players as there are of basketball or baseball players.

If a baseball fan saw a head shot of the Yankees' Bernie Williams, they would immediately recognize him. If a football fan saw a head shot of Rams' offensive tackle Orlando Pace, I'm guessing they'd struggle to identify him. While most football fans recognize quarterbacks and running backs - high-profile players - when it comes to recognizing, say, Tank Johnson, they struggle.

And how can one possibly rant negatively about a person when they are not familiar with that person's appearance?

It's not easy.

It's easy to hate Barry Bonds. Every average Joe in America who follows sports at all knows who Bonds is, has seen pictures of Bonds - has seen that HUGE head - and many of these fans (another hypothesis) would protest if Bonds was honored for breaking Hank Aaron's home run record.

It's easy to dislike Ron Artest. Anyone in America with a television likely saw the brawl at the Palace of Auburn Hills more than two years ago. They saw how Artest maliciously rushed into the stands to confront a Pistons' fan. There weren't too many non-Indiana Pacers fans who didn't support Stern for suspending Artest for the rest of the season.

But Tank Johnson can have loaded guns in his house - accessible to his two infant children, no less - and he gets to go to Miami to play football.

Where’s all the criticism? Where are all the Tank Haters?

Something’s ain’t right here.

It also ain’t right that Shawne Merriman of the San Diego Chargers will be playing in the Pro Bowl on Feb. 11 despite the fact that he violated the league's steroids policy earlier this season, resulting in a four-game suspension. No one cares about that anymore though. To them, Merriman is just one heckuva linebacker.

Mark McGwire, on the other hand, will likely never make the Hall-of-Fame because he took a substance that was legal at the time and he hit 70 home runs because of it. Not talking about the past in front of Congress didn't help McGwire, either.

Still... that ain't right.

No one will argue that football is more physically demanding than basketball or baseball. To be a good football player, you've got to have that mean streak in you. You have to be aggressive all the time. Finesse doesn't work.

Some players, apparently, can't leave their violent style on the field. For this, I pity them. But this should not - by any means - give them a free pass from crimes they allegedly commit. Or make them any less guilty in the court of public opinion.

All athletes should be treated the same way. Whether their faces are visible on our televisions or not.