Since the Adam “Pacman” Jones incident two weekends ago, some NFL players have expressed a need for a “three strikes” rule.

I understand players should be held accountable for their actions to the point that players get suspended or even removed from the league, but shouldn’t the franchises themselves be reprimanded as well?

Briefly, Jones allegedly had $81,000 in a strip club in Las Vegas. For whatever reason, the money sparked a triple shooting after strippers in the club were prompted by a Houston promoter to pick up the money. One person may be paralyzed for life due to the shooting. The owner of the club alleged Jones not only knew one of the shooters, but came in and later left the club with one of them.

But this incident was the icing on the cake for NFL players who complained to NFL players association executive director Gene Upshaw, who saw Cincinnati Bengals players become hot commodities on the police blotter throughout the 2006 season. Within nine months, nine Bengals have been arrested, including CB Johnathan Joseph, who was arrested for possession of marijuana. While no official code of conduct has been set based on a three-arrests concept, there should be some way to differentiate between an arrest for possession of marijuana and arrest for a bank robbery or domestic abuse. The seriousness of the potential felony or simple misdemeanor should play a role in determining what constitutes a strike.

But again, shouldn’t the teams that draft these players also share the blame for behavior unbecoming of the NFL’s standards?

With all the talk surrounding the NFL Scouting Combine, people forget about the character evaluations scouts give on every college player who wants to make the transition to the league. Instead of focusing on 40-yard dash times, bench presses and other ways to measure a player’s ability to be a combine champion, maybe teams’ front offices should pay closer attention to these personal evaluations to avoid drafting players prone to getting in trouble.

I doubt teams will care too much about this if they aren’t held accountable for drafting players like these.

Maybe if enough players are arrested within a year, the team should lose a draft pick or be fined to stop this trend of ignoring bad character and rewarding nothing but ability on the field.

At least the players won’t be the only ones throwing away their money.