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Sex with sister... Hmmmm, no.

http://www.sportsfanlive.com/sflreports ... _lineman_s

He was 16, she was 15. It was consensual. I'm not saying that it was right. I'm saying that he and his sister were still kids. I'll show you mine if you show me yours, gone awry.

It sounds like everything that has happened since then has been on the up and up. I don't see why he wouldn't pass the filter.

Wow. Sister? There is just something not right with that.

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours, gone awry." Oh my god, they were not 6. Consensual? There is some really deep psychological issues to actually go incest.

I am actually amazed you think that. What has our society become?

This is simply not the thing that just "gets better." I guess I have sat through too many sentencing hearings dealing with incest. The birds better stay far far away. No way I am investing any money in that time bomb if I were them. I am all for rehabilitation, but that doesn't mean I give the guy 6 or more figure salary.

Just wow. I thought the guys that were saying its not that bad in the article comments were nutballs....

W

Yes, there's something not right with that. No one here is going to argue with that. It's disturbing because we have been trained to think that it is. Animals do it naturally. People do it naturally. As a sentient species, we have discovered that offspring from such relationships have a high chance of being abnormal. As such, we have labeled such relationships as bad.

But what kind of time bomb are you expecting here? Do you expect him to become a serial rapist? There's absolutely no reason at all to suspect anything of that nature. It wasn't a violent crime. It was consensual. It was incest. It's taboo. It was also 8 years ago. The kid has gone through high school and college since then. He has also, no doubt, gone through a LOT counseling.

People make mistakes, ESPECIALLY when they are in their teenage years. You say that you are all for rehab, but not for giving the man a pay check. Well... What is the rehab for then? It's not like we are rewarding him for having sex with his sister. If he gets a pay check, it will be because he worked his butt off to overcome a mistake he made when he was SIXTEEN years old.

I stated my opinion. If you want to call me names and such for doing so, one of us can find somewhere else to post.

I'll just leave it at you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

I called you no names and I am not sure what the "and such" is, but I am not leaving. If you want to leave , don't let the door hit you in the ass.


W

They don't really say much about the specific incident. Terrel Owens fell in love with his biological sister up the road from here in Alexander City because she lived across the street and he had never been told who she was until someone had to break it to him. I really have some misgivings about the whole Scarlet Letter treatment people get sometimes. I wonder what circumstance brought the case to light in the first place? The Falcons Filter is a farce anyway.

This mythical "Falcons Filter" is simply an imaginary creation of fans on message boards.

It's not imaginary at all. You should read Pete Williams book The Draft.

I'm pretty confident that the filter is real. I just don't think that this guy would get stopped by it.

Bingo, it is on my shelf right now and I thought it was a great read.

This is a fairly unusual story and it is pretty disturbing, but there are a lot worse things. I don't know if the filter will stop him or not, but if we interview him this will naturally come up. If we determine that he has learned from his mistake and that he won't make another one along these lines if we draft him then there is no reason the filter would stop him. That is the impression I have gotten from everyone about him-- that he has learned from his mistake. If that isn't the case I don't think we will draft him.

I tend to agree with RobertAP, in that this incident really doesn't have an impact on whether you think he can/will succeed as an NFL player, based on what little I know of the incident.

Now if you have a doubt about his ability to play the game, then this incident will of course be magnified where it makes him untouchable. But if you think he's a good football player, then I'm sure teams will say "He's learned from his mistake."

As for the application of the so-called Falcons Filter, I don't think he passes, simply because there are a lot of owners that are concerned with their image, and I'm sure Arthur Blank doesn't want anybody in the organization to have to answer a question about having a sex offender on the team.

But I'm not sure he fits the football aspect. I haven't seen him play, but from what I've read he's an athletic left tackle prospect, which despite many concerns of some fans, isn't a need for the Falcons. So it's pretty much moot.

A team desperate for a LT option will nab him in the middle rounds, he'll probably go somewhere between Round 3 and 5. Because the other options will go in the first 50 picks. Since the Falcons aren't desperate for a LT, then it's pretty much moot about whether the filter applies.

But I will say that the filter does exist. Most teams have some level of a character filter. Many teams have very lax ones (see Washington, Oakland, Cincinnati, etc.). Relatively speaking, the Falcons probably have one of the stricter ones in the league. It's just a character evaluation, and everybody that doesn't live up to your standard is taken off the board.

When was the last time you saw the Falcons take a player with off-field issues just because they had a need at the position? Nathan Davis? To say it is a farce or imaginary clearly doesn't examine the evidence.

Does the book explain why Jonathan Babineaux is still a Falcon?

I believe his problem with the DUI was after he was drafted. The dog issue was dropped for lack of evidence, which was also AFTER he was drafted. IMHO he is still a Falcon because he had already passed through the Falcon filter.

If you think the filter indicates that anytime a player gets in trouble, he's axed. Or that the Falcons will never have a player that will have off-field issues, then you're just misinformed.

Character evaluations go well beyond whether a player has a rap sheet. Babineaux is a high character player that has made some stupid mistakes off the field.

And the reason why Babineaux is still a Falcon is blatantly obvious. He's one of the best defensive tackles in the business.

Whoa there Sherlock!!!! I was taking up for the guy...you seem a little jumpy lately...mellow out some..

I was responding to what SteveH wrote, just decided to include your post in the quote...maybe you should mellow out.

So you quote me and I'm supposed to think otherwise???? OhhhhhhKKK

Your post was poignant. Sue me!

I won't sue you...I will just beat you like a drum in the MM contest...

Probably. Through several years of trial and error I have learned the secret to filling out brackets. The key is knowing as little as possible or being a freaking expert on college basketball. So it's either being Lindsay Lohan or Jay Bilas. If you're anywhere in between you're screwed. I've gone with the Lindsay Lohan approach this year.

So the filter only applies to players before they become Falcons?
Is it simply another factor used to evaluate whether the player will be effective on the field, unrelated to legal problems?

How is it different than what the other 31 teams do? Please educate me

It is not. As I said earlier, every team has some level of a character filter on their team when they evaluate talent. The difference is that the Falcons may or may not have a stricter measure of what they think passes as "acceptable" than a lot of other teams.

There are just some players that you know the Falcons won't give serious consideration to simply because they don't pass their filter: Tony Washington, Antonio Cromartie, Jason Pierre-Paul, Brandon Meriweather, Terrell Owens, DeAngelo Hall, etc.

Anybody that has questions about his work ethic, attitude, etc. just isn't going to be a Falcon.

A team like the Bengals have shown consistently in the past that they will target "reclamation" projects. Mike Shanahan in Denver also rolled the dice on such players (e.g. Travis Henry, Maurice Clarett). The Raiders obviously. The Patriots will take some chances. The list goes on and on.

To me, the Falcons Filter is meant to catch people with bad attitudes, bad work ethics, or ongoing off-field issues that would be a distraction in the locker room.

From what I have seen thus far, Tony Washington does not fit into that mold. Perhaps there is other information out there that I am not aware of.

So the Falcons try to draft team players with good attitudes, just like 90% of teams in the league do? Sounds like simple common sense.

Yeah, it is common sense, but it doesn't indicate that the filter is a farce or imaginary. And just because it's common sense, doesn't mean people always abide by it.

When Rich McKay was GM, they wanted guys that had above average to good athleticism for their position that also were good citizens with our 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks for the most part.

Since Dimitroff has taken over, athleticism doesn't seem to be a high priority, in fact several times with early picks, you'd think the team is targeting guys specifically that aren't considered athletic specimens.

Many teams tend to think the way of McKay. It's why when they see an athletic marvel like Jason Pierre-Paul, sometimes common sense goes by the wayside and they can get easily distracted by his athletic gifts. A good example of this is Matt Jones when the Jags used a #1 pick on him a few years back. And that's not to say either player are bad citizens.

But people tend to think of character as being how many DUIs a guy has, or does he smoke weed in his dorm room, or has he ever beat up his girlfriend, etc. i.e. things that you usually have police involvement.

IMHO, character is more a reflection of a guys work habits and thus his leadership potential. Is the guy a so-called gamer in that he looks/performs better on the field than he does in a workout or practice.

The Falcons under TD seem to focus a lot more on that latter notion of character. I don't think you can say that 90% of teams do the same.