Note to Pro Athletes: THINK Before You DO

By - Kyle Malinowski

Remember what Herm Edwards said last year during the NFL rookie symposium? He said, "don't press send" and "nothing good happens after midnight."

These two pieces of advice should be taken to heart by many pro athletes, especially guys like Michael Turner, who was arrested for drunk driving after last week's Sunday Night Football game, and Rashard Mendenhall, for tweeting his thoughts about 9/11 last season.

Photo by: Getty Images

This is no joke.

Donte Stallworth was convicted of manslaughter after he killed a man while driving drunk, and multiple athletes have been involved in altercations with firearms recently, such as Marvin Harrison, Adam "Pacman" Jones, and Plaxico Burress.

Seriously guys?

I honestly believe that a legitimate education makes a world of difference in terms of getting into trouble or staying out of it. You don't see Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, or Derek Jeter getting into trouble like the aforementioned professional athletes.

Many people say that your upbringing establishes your values and how you decide what is appropriate to do in your spare time. However, I would argue that being born in the "projects" does not factor in whatsoever with Michael Turner or any other athlete deciding to drink and get behind the wheel where they could not only kill an innocent person, but also ruin their careers in the process.

These types of decisions should only be judged for what they are, and there aren't any excuses that are good enough to justify stupidity.

Unlike the rest of us, Michael Turner will probably only get community service for his arrest, but even that is not the problem I'm most concerned with. What concerns me the most is that Turner's actions will not be taken to heart by many of his peers.

Getting put in handcuffs should not be amusing and should scare you. It's a shame that many children cannot look up to pro athletes as role models, because they consistently let us down.

The real problem is that this issue probably won't be fixed anytime soon either. I just hope that at least one rookie will learn from Michael Turner's mistake so that another innocent person doesn't end up six feet under at some point in the future.