Criminal Records and the Labor Market for Professional Athletes: The Case of the National Football League. (December 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Weir, Kendall; Wu, Stephen
• Is Part Of: Journal of sports economics. Volume 15:Number 6(2014:Dec.)
• Page Start: 617
• Page End: 635
• Publication Date: 2014-12
• Subjects: criminal record -- national football league -- draft -- performance; Sports -- Economic aspects -- Periodicals; Sports administration -- Periodicals; 338.47796
• DOI: 10.1177/1527002513487739
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1527-0025

Abstract

We observe all 1, 273 players drafted into the National Football League between 2005 and 2009 to determine the effects of character concerns on draft status and performance in the National Football League. Prospects that have a history of formal criminal charges or are suspended for team or university violations fall between 16and 22 spots in the draft. The impacts of character concerns on performance depend on the nature of the issue. Players who have a history of suspension (noncriminal related) perform worse than other players but having an encounter with law enforcement does not negatively predict performance.