A little over a decade ago, offseason crime by NFL players was a raging wildfire that could not be squelched. Seemingly, at least three times a week, there would be breaking news about some NFL player, with too much time on his hands, getting into some sort of criminal trouble.
In fact, offseason crime became so prevalent that I made it into a content generator, creating the NFL Offseason Fantasy Crime League, where NFL teams would score points based on crimes committed by players on their teams โ one point for a misdemeanor, three points for a felony, and thanks to Aaron Hernandez, I had to create a โten points for a murderโ rule. Needless to say, the 2013 Patriots were a record setting bunch!
Somewhere along the way, likely with the league finally cracking down, in a big way, on domestic violence after the Ray Rice elevator video surfaced in 2015, player crime has diminished to extremely low levels. In fact, itโs barely a topic anymore, so much so that the NFL Offseason Fantasy Crime League was disbanded years ago.
So when a story like the one from over the weekend, involving Atlanta Falcons edge rusher James Pearce, occurs, it makes me wonder if we are about to enter a renaissance age in player crime. For those who missed it, this is a doozy.
Pearce allegedly crashed his vehicle into one being driven by WNBA star Rickea Jackson multiple times and then struck an officer with his vehicle while trying to escape arrest. Pearce was arrested Saturday on five felony counts, including aggravated battery with a deadly weapon (his car), aggravated stalking, and aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer. Five felony counts would have meant 15 ploints in the NFL OFCL!
There is a lot to unpack on this one. Here are four thoughts on the crime that might just rekindle the Fantasy Crime League:
4. You can see why Pearce had 10.5 sacks this season
Here is the video of Pearce finally getting apprehended by officers in Doral County in Florida:
It looks like there are at least four or five cops involved in this arrest, maybe more. You can see why Pearce had such success rushing the passer, overcoming double teams off the edge is nothing for someone who can fight off six cops for even just several seconds!
3. The Los Angeles Rams are the ones laughing
It should be noted that Pearce came into the NFL, in the 2025 draft, with many questions about his character, coming out of the University of Tennessee. This didnโt stop the Atlanta Falcons from trading their 2026 first round pick to the Rams for the right to draft Pearce with the 26th overall pick in 2025. Now, the Rams have the 13th pick in the draft from the Falcons, and the Falcons have a young player facing serious jail time. Go Falcons!
2. The Falcons statement on this matter is flawed!
Speaking of the Falcons, here was their statement on the matter late Sunday morning โ โWe are aware of an incident involving James Pearce, Jr. in Miami. We are in the process of gathering information and will not have any further comment on an open legal matter at this time.โ
Here is my issue with this statement. Itโs the use of the word โan.โ When someone commits five felonies in one fell swoop, itโs not โan incident,โ itโs โTHE incident.โ The sentence should read โWe are aware of THE incident involving James Pearce, Jr.โ You cannot underplay the remarkable volume of crime involved here by making it sound like it might be jaywalking. Sorry, Falcons.
- Pearceโs poor mom had some words on Friday that didnโt age well
As mentioned earlier, Pearce was a nominee for Defensive Rookie of the Year, so I guess somewhere along the way, at the NFL Honors ceremony, his mom, Kizzy Morris, got up and spoke about what a fine, young man her son has become:
This did not age well. This fine, young man is now in line to possibly serve a mandatory sentence of five years in jail. So, if the NFL OFCL is indeed coming back, the Falcons are off to a fast start!
This article appears in Private: Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2026.