Could sponsorship logos deter bad behavior by NFL players?

DETROIT - Why not allow sponsor logos on NFL jerseys?

It's time.

Think of the marketing synergy of Smith and Wesson stamping firearms symbols on the uniforms of the Cincinnati Bengals. How about Pepto-Bismol putting the Detroit Lions in pink uniforms? If the Lions are interested in targeting the right market for their product, can you think of a better business partner?

Of course Peyton Manning might not have enough room on his jersey for all his endorsement partnerships.

This is the NASCAR influence that's becoming more difficult for other sports to ignore when searching for additional revenue streams. Besides, it might help the NFL's image.

NFL players answer only to a coach. NASCAR drivers answer to the guy signing the checks.

The way it stands, too many NFL players and their posses are running wild in the wee hours of the morning, mixing potentially deadly cocktails of guns and alcohol.

Corporations love the NFL and pump millions of advertising dollars into the league. But if corporations sought lucrative individual arrangements with players, it would place more responsibility on players to behave in way that doesn't endanger their meal tickets.

Meanwhile, the NFL rap sheet gets bigger.

One player was shot and killed sitting in a backseat of a rented limousine on New Year's morning as he left a nightclub. The bodyguard of another player was shot and killed after both left a nightclub. Nine Bengals players were arrested for various felony offenses.

And all of this happened within the span of 12 months.

The final straw came in Las Vegas during the NBA All-Star weekend when Tennessee Titans' cornerback Adam (Pac Man) Jones and retinue attended a strip club carrying more than $81,000 in cash. According to police reports, Jones sprayed the stage with money and allegedly got into an altercation with one of the dancers. Club security expelled Jones and his party from the club.

Moments later, shots were fired, injuring three people and paralyzing one person from the waist down. There have been no charges filed against Jones, but investigators suspect he possibly knew the shooter.

If Jones faces criminal action, it would be his third criminal charge in two years in the league. The Titans suspended him for one game last season after reports that Jones spat on a woman outside of a nightclub.

Something must be done to make football players recognize the potential for trouble when tempers grow short as the night grows longer. They're not as indestructible off the field as they portray themselves on the field.

Increasing corporate sponsorship's reach might open their eyes because, when they screw up, it will hit them where they really live _ squarely in the wallet _ making it more difficult to find the $81,000 to throw at strippers.