Over the last year, we have been reading lots of stories about crimes committed by NFL players. There is good reason. The number of arrests of NFL players just in the off-season reached an all-time high.

Commentators have put forth all sorts of explanations. Professional football is violent, so some argue that the violence on the field naturally spills out into society. Others blame the violence of NFL players on concussions, performance drugs, or the so-called “gun culture” of America.

Gary Bauer has a different explanation: broken families. He writes that of the 26 players whose family histories he could glean from research, 21 of them grew up in homes in which at least one biological parent (in most cases the father) was absent. He is quick to add that this is not a scientific analysis, but it does point to a possible discussion and evaluation.

Broken families are a nationwide problem. The Marriage and Religion Research Institute estimates that 45 percent of American teens grow up in families in which both biological parents are present and have been married since their child’s birth. Fewer than 20 percent of black teens grow up in such homes.

Brad Wilcox is the director of the University of Virginia’s National Marriage Project. He observes that: “boys who grow up in fatherless homes are less likely to get supervision and modeling they need to steer clear of trouble with the law.” One study published in the Journal of Research on Adolescence found that boys who grow up apart from their father are two to three times more likely to be jailed by the time they turn 30. A British study published this year found that boys 14 and younger whose parents split were twice as likely to be convicted of a violent crime later.

Gary Bauer is quick to remind us that correlation does not imply causation. But we cannot ignore the growing research that shows the correlation between broken homes and subsequent crime. Perhaps the commentators looking for reasons for so much crime committed by NFL players should look first at their families of origin. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.