How Do the New York Jets Handle the Mike Goodson Situation?

November 4, 2012; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders running back Mike Goodson (25) runs with the ball against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the third quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Buccaneers defeated the Raiders 42-32. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

This is quite the situation now, isn’t it? We don’t even know the whole story yet, but we DO know that John Izdik has gotten into it, knee-deep thanks to Mike Goodson. For anyone that missed it, Mike was arrested on Friday morning on drugs and weapons charges, including possession of a hollow-point bullet. The significance of the bullet is the fact that it expands upon hitting its target, thus causing more damage. The implication being that the only reason to have them would be to damage a human.

See? This is clearly about as serious as it can get. What do the Jets do about it?

First, there are too many variables at this point to make an immediate decision, so the Jets are right to let the legal system pay its process out. He was the passenger in the car, was Mike just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Were the drugs his? What about the weapon? What’s the story with the hollow-point bullets? We have to know how culpable Mike Goodson is in this situation before we do anything?

For argument sake, and the sake of this post, let’s say he is guilty of everything. He works out some sort of plea to avoid jail time, but he is guilty as charged. What does John Idzik do?

Maybe he should be released. They did release two guys, as we said before, with a similar issue. Claude Davis and Cliff Harris, signed to futures contracts with the Jets, were given their release after receiving their own drug charges. No, I am not trying to compare them in terms of their role to the team, but the situation does bear comparison.

The comparison is valid when you talk about “no tolerance”. If John Idzik is looking to have a no tolerance policy, there is no discussing the situation, Goodson will be gone. No tolerance is no tolerance, period. If Idzik seriously wants to rid the team of this type of problem, he must remove Mike Goodson from this team, despite the plans that they had for him.

But, what about the other side of the coin? Another prevalent theory applied in these types of situations is the theory of second chances. Doesn’t everyone deserve a second chance? We have seen the theory applied time and time again, and it does get results. Ray Lewis got a second chance, and we know how well that went. Mike Vick was given a second chance, and has completely turned his life around. Again, I am not comparing the acts that they did to Goodson’s, just the idea of second chances, period.

Even when the results haven’t been great on the field, you still have guys that got second chances and were able to perform. Donte Stallworth comes to mind, as does Pacman Jones. Even in other sports you see the courtesy extended, such as done with Darryl Strawberry and Doc Gooden with the Yankees in their title runs. It has even happened with our beloved New York Jets. Santonio Holmes had more than one brush with trouble. He had the incident on the plane, as well as being suspended one time by the league. He has not had an exemplary career, but he got a second chance, and probably a third.

Doesn’t Mike Goodson deserve the same courtesy?

So what’s the answer? The answer is that John Idzik has to do what is right, as long as that decision isn’t drive by the team’s plans for Goodson. The fact that he figures prominently in the plans for this year must be irrelevant. If they feel he deserves a second chance based on the situation and Goodson as a man, fine. Give him that second chance. But if not, they need to hold onto the idea of no tolerance concept and say goodbye.

What do you guys think?