Ravens Rank In Middle Of Pack In NFL Arrest Data

SB Nation's blog on the Washington Redskins, Hogs Haven, posted a recent story titled, "Data of Arrests in the NFL since 2000." The excellently researched article shows all 32 teams in the league, ranked by the number of arrests. There are a series of graphs breaking it down by team, division and position, among others.

The Baltimore Ravens fortunately (unfortunately?) rank just below the middle of the pack, tied at 18th (with four teams), with17 arrests since the 2000 season. The AFC North, unfortunately, is the 2nd most "arrested" division in the NFL, thanks largely to the Cincinnati Bengals, who lead the NFL in players not following the rules (40).

For comparison purposes, the Pittsburgh Steelers' players broke the law two more times (19) than Baltimore and rounding out the division, the Cleveland Browns tied for 8th overall with 26 infractions. That makes the often-criticized as trouble-making Ravens the most law-abiding team in the AFC North.

To be fair, the Bengals actually were tied with the Minnesota Vikings for the most penalized team in the league from a legal standpoint. The most offending division was the AFC West, with the Denver Broncos (35 arrests) surprisingly leading the Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers and the least arrested team in the AFC West, the Oakland Raider (shocking, eh?).

Defensive backs are the most arrested position, with the quarterbacks the best behaved. Defense leads offense at getting charged, but not by much. 2006 and 2008 were the biggest years of violations and the off season months of May, June & July the most popular time to get in trouble.

By the way, the Houston Texans and St. Louis Rams were the goody-goodies of the NFL (only nine arrests), followed surprisingly by the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals (11 arrests).