CBS: Scared straight? McNair case has negligible impact on NFL infidelity

Here is just a portion Mike Freeman's column on CBSSports.com. Go out of your way to read this:

In the days following the gruesome death of Steve McNair, a current NFL player who was actually a friend of the Tennessee quarterback made several hurried phone calls.

There were five to be exact, he says. They began with one to each of his four girlfriends. He was, and still is, married to a former business executive.

"I broke it off with them immediately," said the player, who like others for this story requested anonymity for fear of public ridicule and reprisal. "What happened to Steve scared the hell out of me. It finally scared me into monogamy."

The fifth call? "It was to my wife," he said, "to tell her, 'I love you.'"

Another current player had a different reaction. He too was married at the time of McNair's death, and he too initially broke off relationships with girlfriends, in this case, two of them. But months later, he reignited them.

"I admit once time passed," he said, "I went back to my old ways."

Over the past five months, CBSSports.com has interviewed dozens of current players from almost half of the NFL's teams -- as well as some recently retired ones -- and asked a simple question: Have some married players changed their womanizing ways since the tragic killing of McNair this past summer?

The answer seems to be mostly no.

Click here to read more.

Richani's Take: Excellent column by Mike Freeman. It's sad to see some players haven't learned from the Steve McNair tragedy. One quote by retired New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan really stuck with me:

"There's the saying 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.' The problem is, when you're an NFL player, or a professional athlete in general, because of the availability of women, everywhere you go is Vegas. Women are all over the place, and trust me, they know guys are married and give guys openings, and guys take advantage. The guys are wrong, too."

This is a column you should most certainly go out of your way to read.