Aaron Rodgers sees Johnny Jolly in trouble and wonders if decisions made by the NFL exacerbated the suspended Green Bay Packer's struggles.
Jolly was jailed Monday after his third drug arrest in three years. He was charged Saturday with possession of a compound containing codeine and attempting to conceal the substance from investigators.
"I've been in touch with him off and on the last couple years. It's just disappointing," Rodgers told ESPN Milwaukee, according to SportsRadioInterviews.com. "And I'll be honest: I think the league deserves some of the blame in this case.
"When you look at some of the other guys that have been reinstated in the league after jail sentences, and justly, rightly so, Johnny didn't serve any days in prison, sat out for a year and still couldn't get his case heard, from what I was told. I just think that that's wrong."
Rodgers believes removing Jolly from the structure the NFL provides put him in a position to fail.
"I think the Commissioner's done a great job of cleaning up some of the stuff in the league," Rodgers said. "That said, if you take a guy away from his support system ... I don't think that's helping."
Rodgers obviously is looking out for a teammate. And while the quarterback makes a fair point, you also can't expect the NFL to babysit its players. Jolly, like a person in any other walk of life, needs to be responsible for himself and his actions. We hope Jolly gets back on track, but laying blame at Roger Goodell's feet doesn't pass the smell test for us.
