Time was when sports was a way out for kids from rough backgrounds. A whole genre of Hollywood films depicted the hard but heroic transformation from tough punk to responsible citizen. All a kid needed was a break — and maybe some good advice from a crusty old gym rat — and he was set for life.

Maybe things never quite happened that way. But you get the impression that nowadays sports, especially football and the money that goes with it, is less a way out of trouble than an enabler of criminal conduct. At least 50 National Football League players have been arrested since the start of 2006.

Commissioner Roger Goodell was right last week to announce a crackdown. His rule changes, undertaken with the cooperation of the players union, allow the NFL to discipline rogue players even before their cases reach court. Presumed innocence is a nice concept, Goodell seemed to say, but, administratively, the league cannot tolerate repeat offenders.

His suspension of Adam "Pacman" Jones for the 2007 season will cost the Tennessee defender $1.3 million in salary. Jones has been arrested five times and questioned in five other cases since turning pro in 2004. Police say his latest escapade was to incite a bullet-flying melee at a Las Vegas strip club during which a security guard was shot and paralyzed.

Goodell also suspended Chris Henry, who has been arrested four times in three states for gun, drug, alcohol and driving offenses since going pro in 2005. Eight of his Cincinnati teammates also have been arrested within the past year.

It's good that the NFL's tougher new stance also carries more behavioral training for players, although finding a better class of friends is a tough sell for suddenly rich kids who want to show off back on the old block where, unfortunately, the notion of gangster/athlete holds considerable appeal.

More than really caring about its miscreants, New England owner Robert Kraft best expressed the league's overriding motive: It's worried about a bad image and the commercial consequences. "People in America can't relate to overindulged athletes who are not acting responsibly," he said.

Indeed, people who can't relate stop watching football, and that spells trouble for sponsors. It's an apt reminder that the NFL is in the entertainment business and that teams, when evaluating players, should rate character as highly as football talent.