The NFL has nothing on these guys....

The police blotter is going off the charts. All these crazy football players just keep getting into trouble. So who is it today? Another Pacman sighting on the blotter? Or maybe we get some new, unsuspecting blood today like Chris Chambers? And the Bengals are simply off the charts. But wait I don't recognize these names? Who is Dominic Jones? Mitchell Cozad, where the hell did he come from? And Jimmy Wilson...huh?

Well folks you've probably never heard of them because they are not household names. They are college football players. This summer has seen just as much action off the field, as we will see on any given Saturday. Sure, I'm used to the typical "football player gets into a fight, and the coach kicks said player off team". Maybe some team's starting QB gets arrested for Minor in Possession. And there are always the "internal" disciplinary issues.

But for whatever reason, and maybe I just haven't been paying attention over the years, crime in college football seems to be more and more common recently. Even scarier is the stature of the crimes. I remember all the hub bub that went down at Oklahoma in the late 80's, but frankly that was about as bad as it's been for the longest from all I recall. But in recent years, it's gotten a bit frightening.

To answer the previous questions, Dominic Jones is a CB for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. James is accused of raping a girl, and videotaping the act. Mitchell Cozad's stupidity actually took place in October of 2006. His trial started this summer though, and that is what re-surfaced his acts recently. Cozad if you recall, is the jealous punter, who stabbed his teammate in an attempt to gain the starting job. And Jimmy Wilson, (former) CB at Montana is accused of murder.

But wait there's more from this summer alone. A few of note:

- Ex-Florida and Bethune Cookman DB Avery Atkins was found dead in his car, amongst much suspicion

- Gators Ronnie Wilson and Brandon James face suspensions and scholarship loss for their actions over the summer.

- Arkansas DE Donnell Sanders faces 3 misdemeanor charges.

- At Tennessee, even the walk ons are getting into the act. Selling crack cocaine however is a little over the top, even for Tennessee.

- Samford DE Micheal Sherrod Hall was indicted for robbing a bank.

- At least Penn State kept it fairly "normal" and just whipped some asses.

In March of 2005, USA Today writer Christine Brennan highlighted some ills from that season. I would also like to highlight a list of arrests and charges starting from the 2005 season to present day, compliments of a forum from Zumper.com.

It appears we are seeing an alarming trend over the past two years. Why exactly? I have no idea. There was a time when sports were by and large a time to get away from all the bad stuff in the world. Now the bad stuff is becoming more and more a part of our sports. Their really isn't some big explanation in my opinion. Blasting colleges for more institutional control and whatever else is useless. The colleges by and large are trying to monitor these problems, and when they take care of the issue, that too makes headlines. The bottom line is when a person decides to, as Michael Irvin so eloquently put it, find a "right way to do the wrong thing"nobody can stop them. They made up their mind to go down that road, and it's nobody's fault but the indiviuals when the consequences kick in.

With all that said, it does hurt to see the game I love getting so much negative press. C'mon college football stick to booster payments, crooked refs, and BCS debates. Let the pros handle the felonies.