Faith factor seen in NFL conduct policy

PHOENIX (BP)--The National Football League has used an unstoppable combination of marketing muscle, longtime loyalties and on-field performance to create the most successful professional sports league in America, if not the world.

Its annual season-ending showcase, Super Bowl XLII, on Sunday, Feb. 3, in Phoenix, has become secular sports' high holy day, drawing interest and global TV ratings on par with the Olympics and soccer's World Cup.

NFL officials, fearful highly publicized illegal and immoral behavior by some of the sport's biggest stars was jeopardizing the league's multi-billion-dollar success, instituted a new Personal Conduct Policy this spring.

The behavior policy, spearheaded by newly hired commissioner Roger Goodell, draws a clear line between right and wrong, and it says players may be punished for behavior that does not result in a legal conviction.

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