The amount of time required to research this book called for tremendous sacrifice and patience on the part of our families. First and foremost, we thank them for their support.
Nor could the research have been as thorough without the hard work and efficiency of a core of young research assistants J.R. Mastri-oanni, an able and efficient researcher, tracked down hundreds of pages of background information on players. And Ron Cochran, a graduating senior at Northeastern University, worked with the authors to design and maintain the computerized index of all the NFL players and their crimes. Craig Ball and Charity and Rachel Benedict spent hours visiting courthouses and retrieving court documents.
Our agent, Basil Kane, was a source of inspiration from the outset.
Editor Rick Wolff was absolutely great to work alongside. His associates at Warner Books were likewise a pleasure to collaborate with: Rob McMahon, Emi Battaglia, Madeleine Schachter, and Julie Salt-man. And a special thanks to Elizabeth McNamara.
One of the authors is particularly grateful to his classmates at the New England School of Law who helped him get through his second year of law school while writing this book. Bill Byrne, Ray Woeffler, and Detective John Whiting of the Pawtucket Police Department, thank you. And most notably, Jeff Tomlinson, a true friend who will make a far better lawyer than the author.
Countless law enforcement agencies provided the authors access to their facilities and granted exceptional amounts of time for questioning. Not all are mentioned here, but a few are: the Drug Interdiction Task Force in Rockwall, Texas; the Drug Enforcement Agency in East St. Louis; the U.S. Justice Department; the Sex Crimes Unit at the Buffalo Police Department; the University of Florida Police Department; the Seattle Police Department; the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office in Gainesville, Florida; the Lincoln, Nebraska, Police Department; the Rockwall County District Attorney’s Office; the Dade County Police Department; the Fulton County Sheriff’s Department; the Seminole County Prosecutor’s Office; the Chatham County District Attorney’s Office in Savannah, Georgia; the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in Seattle; the Office of the State Attorney in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; the Tarrant County [Texas] District Attorney’s Office; the North Royalton Police Department, the Eden Prairie Police Department, the Bloomington Police Department, and the Minneapolis Police Department, all in Minnesota; the University of Arkansas Police Department; the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Records clerks from across the country were most helpful to us. There are too many to name individually, but a few who donated a particular amount of their time on our behalf include: Marti Maxwell at the Municipal Court of Seattle, three police records clerks at the Minneapolis, Eden Prairie, and Bloomington, Minnesota police departments, Vallerie at the Fulton County Superior Court, Lieutenant Mann at the Sex Crimes Unit in the Buffalo Police Department, and the folks at the University of Florida Police Department.
We are appreciative of the time given to us by members of the President’s Domestic Violence Council. Also, the NFL Players Association, Empower America, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, and members of the United States House and Senate.
Jack McDevitt and Donald Cochran, professors at the Northeastern University College of Criminal Justice, were instrumental in helping design the methodology for our research. And Professor Alfred Blumstein at Carnegie Mellon was a source of guidance.