Indianapolis – Pat Bowlen addressed his captive, and powerful, roundtable audience and spoke of the loss he, his team and his city have endured. Bowlen said another tragedy like Darrent Williams’ death cannot happen.
Holding to his vow of working with the NFL to make some good come out of the Jan. 1 shooting death of the Broncos’ popular right cornerback, Bowlen participated in an unusual summit Thursday during which key figures in the league discussed several topics, including player safety and player conduct.
The two-hour meeting took place at a downtown hotel while the NFL combine was underway at the nearby RCA Dome. The meeting included Bowlen, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw, Pittsburgh owner Dan Rooney, Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis and about a dozen NFL players, including Broncos cornerback Domonique Foxworth.
Foxworth will replace Williams, his training camp roommate and close friend, in the Broncos’ starting lineup this fall.
“We’re here to talk about keeping players safe,” Foxworth said. “Guys have to be safe.”
Goodell characterized the meeting, which was closed to the media, as “regular,” but such summits are fairly rare.
Bowlen stressed that the meeting wasn’t about Williams’ shooting death but did say it might have “prompted” it. Williams was shot and killed in an unsolved drive-by shooting while riding in a rented limousine near downtown Denver.
At Williams’ funeral, Bowlen said he and Goodell would work to help ensure such a tragedy wasn’t repeated. Thursday’s meeting was a step in discussing how to make that happen.
“It was a good, productive way of talking about several different areas,” Bowlen said. “We had a lot of smart, good football players who had a lot of good ideas.”
Player conduct has been a major topic point in recent months. There has been several off-field incidents involving NFL players in recent months.
There is a police investigation involving Tennessee cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones following a shooting incident early Monday morning in Las Vegas after the NBA All-Star Game.
The Cincinnati Bengals have had nine players arrested in the past year. Lewis was the only head coach in attendance Thursday. Bengals receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh also was at the meeting.
Other players at the meeting included Carolina receiver Steve Smith, Atlanta cornerback DeAngelo Hall, Dallas tight end Jason Witten, Indianapolis center Jeff Saturday and Tennessee running back and Denver native LenDale White.
Goodell said the players were selected by Upshaw and NFLPA president Troy Vincent.
“It’s good that we’re having this type of thing,” said White, who still lives in the Denver area during the offseason.
Goodell said there will be more meetings as the league and players look for ways to educate players on all aspects of off-field life.
“We’re always interested in understanding what players say about what they’re facing, the issues, and what we can be doing,” Goodell said. “We think we have great programs for our players, but we’re constantly re-evaluating that. Is there something different we can do to improve?”
Staff writer Bill Williamson can be reached at 303-954-1262 or bwilliamson@denverpost.com.
