Most collectors have at least one player they collect. This player or players may be collected for a myriad of reasons - hometown team, childhood idol, shares your birthday, etc. Many of the players I collect I admire their talent on the field, but I collect some of these players because of their impact off the field or for who they are as a person.
In the past I've made the decision to omit cards of players from my player or team collections due to something that happened off the field. Early in the Carolina Panthers history, promising rookie wide receiver, Rae Carruth, murdered his girlfriend and hid in the trunk of a car trying to evade the police. He was a high draft pick and I had a good many of his cards. Today, they have been purged from my Panthers collection. Same thing for Greg Hardy. I think I only had one or two cards of him in the first place, but those ended up in the garbage.
Now I'm faced with this whole Hector Olivera fiasco. Charged with assault two weeks ago in Virginia while the Braves were in town playing the Nationals, Hector has been suspended from the team while his case is being investigated. While he was arrested, he hasn't been formally convicted of the crime he is accused of. If he is charged then there is a very, very good chance the few cards I have of him will be pulled from my Braves collection.
All of this just got me wondering if others have felt compelled to pull or sell cards of players you may collect when they run into serious off the field issues. Do you look the other way and keep the cards? Do you even want these cards in your collection or does it not bother you what players do in their personal lives? Why do you collect who you do and if you were in my shoes how would you react?
