Why Is Bad Behavior the Secret to Success in Today's Permissive Society?

A more appropriate title might be, "Did you benefit from your bad behavior?" And for many, the answer would be — yes.

Deflategate?

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was in the news a few years ago for his suspected knowledge of using underinflated footballs in one of the Super Bowl games that the Patriots won.

The NE Patriots coach was also called on the carpet for surreptitiously videotaping the opposing team's practices.

Brady was suspended for the first four games in the following season. But guess what?

The sales of Brady-related merchandise nearly doubled.

Brady went on to win seven of the ten Super Bowls he played. Did he beat all those, honestly?

The jury is still out.

He recently signed a Fox Sports contract for multimillions. Let's go, Brady.

Wives and Kids

While we're on football, let's move to Antonio Cromartie, first-round draft choice and longest-rushing touchdown record holder.

Excelling in football is not Antonio's only ability. He's pretty good at pro-creation too. Cromartie has 14 kids with eight different women in six states.

That's diversity.

He blew off the idea of a TV show with 11 children to concentrate on football to spare the children.

But he relented, and the TV show "The Cromarties" was born. Pardon the pun.

Perhaps $360,000 in child support payments solidified that decision.

"If It Bleeds, It Leads"

That's a newspaper term that means the more gruesome a story is, the more papers it will sell. I guess that's true of sports merchandise too.

Remember Mark Fuhrman? Perjured himself on the stand in the O.J. Simpson trial? Disgraced and forced to leave the Los Angeles police force?

Author of six books, a frequent criminal consultant on almost every cable news show you can think of when a high-profile crime is in the news—no loss of income there.

Do I even need to mention former President Bill Clinton and his list of marital infidelities? Yet he is still the darling of the Democrat Party and one of the highest-paid speakers around.

Arnold Schwarzenegger had numerous affairs and divorced his wife of 25 years, yet he still produced a solid body of acting work at 75.

He's currently signed to do five future projects.

Maybe "bad behavior" does pay.

Not Everyone Cashed In

Former President Richard Nixon never recovered from the Watergate scandal.

There were no books or TV commentator jobs, but there was a movie, "All the Presidents Men."

Politics Pays Well Too

Enter former New York state governor Eliot Spitzer.

Forced to resign as governor of New York after evidence surfaced, he had spent almost $80,000 to purchase the company of several high-priced call girls.

Ironically his large cash transfers triggered suspicions at his bank and the justice department, which thought he might be taking bribes.

A politician taking bribes? Hard to believe.

He resigned from his government position after a little over a year of taking office.

Later, he and his wife divorced, and he began an affair with a staffer for New York's former Mayor, Bill de Blasio.

Spitzer went on to become a host and co-host on several political cable news shows — all were canceled.

He also had a teaching stint at City College of New York.

No report if he's still doing that.

The Boys of Summer

Baseball player Pete Rose is still waiting for his entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

He was shut out by baseball commissioners for gambling while a player/manager of the Cincinnati Reds.

The seriousness of those charges is still hotly debated in sports bars nationwide.

Some Final Thoughts on Bad Behavior

Some notable personalities are Teflon-coated, and others are not.

Nothing seems to stick to some of our heroes, while others can't win our forgiveness.

Are fame and fortune the result that these people were after?

Did they know they were misbehaving, or do some people simply believe they're above the rest of us?

In their world, anything goes.

What type of example do these types of lousy behavior set for others? If you're well off, do you get off?

Bad behavior should not be rewarded but should not be a life sentence.

Life is nothing more than a series of second chances.

If you do the crime, you should do time.

Then start life over with a fresh slate, not a ready-made bankroll.

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