Are football players that stupid

[shawn306]

http://www.charlotte.com/209/story/212994.html

Panthers' offensive lineman arrested

Carolina Panthers offensive lineman Jeremy Bridges was arrested Thursday afternoon, charged with assault by pointing a gun at a dancer in the parking lot of a gentleman's club.

According to the Mecklenburg Sheriff's website, he was released Thursday afternoon after paying $3,000 bond.

The incident happened early Thursday at Club Onyx, at 5300 Old Pineville Road in South Charlotte, according to Ken Howe, the club's manager.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Capt. Lisa Goelz said a woman who works at the club alleged that Bridges pointed a gun at her. The woman went to the magistrate's office to take out a warrant, but employees there sent her to the police station to file a report.

Howe said he didn't see the initial confrontation, but another manager at the club went outside and asked Bridges to leave.

The club was closed for the night when Bridges arrived, Howe said, though it keeps later hours on weekends when it draws bigger crowds. Howe described Bridges as a regular at the club, which draws a number of athletes.

"They come in pretty much like celebrities," he said. "We get them all: basketball players, football players. Normally, they don't have a problem."

The 6-foot-5, 318-pound Southern Mississippi graduate started the last 14 games of the 2006 season as right tackle after being signed as a free agent by the Panthers on Sept. 12.

An after-hours call to Bridges' agent, James `Bus' Cook, was not immediately returned.

Panthers players are scheduled to report to training camp today.

"As is always the case, we're gathering information about what happened," said Panthers General Manager Marty Hurney. "Anybody who knows our organization knows that we take these matters very seriously."

Earlier this year, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced a new NFL conduct policy that allows for steeper fines and longer suspensions for players who get in trouble off the field.

He announced the policy on the same day he suspended Tennessee's Adam "Pacman" Jones for the 2007 season for a series of off-the-field legal troubles.

You would think by now these guys would have gotten the message. Guess not.