The 38-year-old was arrested and issued a ticket for obscene conduct. On hearing the news, the Lions subsequently suspended Cullen for last week's season opener against the Seattle Seahawks.

He will be back at work against the Chicago Bears today.

Forty-eight hours after catching just one pass for the Cincinnati Bengals in last Sunday's 23-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, Chris Henry pled guilty to a concealed weapons charge in a Florida court. He was sentenced to probation and 100 hours of community service provided he turns in the 9mm pistol he pulled during a row in Orlando last January. Just one of Henry's four arrests in a seven-month period, the others were marijuana possession, speeding while drunk, and providing alcohol to three under-age girls at a hotel. The youngest of those was 15. Henry is 23 years old and expected to suit up against the Cleveland Browns today.

Santonio Holmes has to wait until tomorrow night for the second start of his professional career with the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before even making a single catch for his new team however, the wide receiver grabbed his share of pre-season headlines. Within weeks of being arrested in Miami Beach for causing a public disruption, he was charged with assault and battery. During a row with the mother of his 18-week-old daughter, it's alleged he tried to throw the woman out through the door of an apartment.

"I'm encouraged by where he's at, " said Steelers' coach Bill Cowher about the condition of his wide receiver who goes to trial in December. "Being around his demeanour on game day, I really like it. He's going to be fine."

Even in a sport where somebody concluded a long time ago that the letters NFL stood for National Felons League, the past few months have spawned a peculiar litany of crimes and misdemeanours. The old estimate that at any given juncture, one out of every five players has a rap sheet may have to be revised. Apart from Henry's ongoing legal difficulties, four of his Bengal team-mates were also arrested for various offences during the summer. One six-foot-five 22-stone behemoth had to be subdued by police using stun guns during a row about an illegally parked car. Another was accused of burglarising a friend's apartment.

"We want our fans to know that we share their concerns regarding the recent off-field conduct of several Bengals players, " said team owner Mike Brown. "We expect our players to be good citizens, as most are, and we hold them accountable for their conduct."

Between Brown laying down the law and the start of the season, two more of his squad were arrested, one for boating while intoxicated, the other on a mere disorderly conduct charge. Few in the league would poke fun at the Bengals' current woes. They just happen to be this year's market leaders in bad behaviour. Last season, the Minnesota Vikings' campaign fell apart after their players hired a boat and a boatload of prostitutes for a cruise around a lake.

With that scandal just about expired, their free safety Dwight Smith was recently arrested for having sex with a woman under a public stairwell in downtown Minneapolis.

What was remarkable about the Smith case is that new Vikings' coach Brad Childress disciplined the player by subsequently dropping him for their first game. The desperation to win is usually so intense and the 16-match season so short most teams try to avoid losing the services of individuals and prefer to fine them for such incidents.

In an increasingly vain effort to avoid all this, every player coming into the league attends a rookie seminar in which former greats talk about the pitfalls of fame and the perils of money.

These words of wisdom are too often ignored by talented athletes who know some coaches will always take a chance on them no matter what their personal foibles. In this vein, the Green Bay Packers have responded to failing to score in a match for the first time in 15 years by signing troubled wide receiver Koren Robinson.

With the deterioration of their talismanic quarterback Brett Favre being accelerated by the lack of quality around him, the Packers were willing to take a chance on a talented 26-year-old let go by the Vikings last month. Boasting 21 previous brushes with the law, including an incident where he turned up drunk to begin a jail sentence, Minnesota eventually dismissed Robinson after he led police on a 100mph chase for 10 miles in a doomed attempt to avoid being caught driving drunk. Apparently, he'd been speeding to try to get back to training camp to avoid breaking curfew.

"I'm not making excuses, " said Packers' general manager, Ted Thompson.

"He's made some mistakes. But this is a good kid. He is a good character guy, for all intents and purposes."

Of course he is.

dhannigan@tribune. ie