It's time.

The pro sports leagues and the NCAA need to come up with consistent sanctions for athletes who get arrested.

Yeah, that means negotiating with unions and adding another centimeter to the bloated NCAA rule book.

And it means turning a deaf ear to squawking from those who insist action should not come until after the case is resolved.

But it's time.

We all long ago should have given up the idea that athletes are heroes or role models just because they perform well in a sport.

Yet they represent cities, states and institutions of higher learning, and they are bound by contracts or scholarship rules. A responsibility exists.

The vast majority of pro and college athletes don't get arrested. Those who do, even those who eventually are cleared of criminal activity, damage their organizations.

This week, Philadelphia pitcher Brett Myers took a leave from the Phillies through the All-Star break. He was arrested Friday for allegedly striking his wife, and the Phillies took a heap of criticism for allowing him to pitch the next night.

Last week, Steelers rookie receiver Santonio Holmes was charged with assault and domestic violence -- his second arrest since he was drafted in the first round in April. There has been no word on punishment by the Steelers, but plenty of outcry from fans.

The Myers and Holmes incidents produced a familiar phenomenon -- the ubiquitous, ghost-written statement of apology. That's not enough.

They should have produced something else -- immediate, automatic punishment.

An arrest should bring a mandatory minimum suspension, without pay among the pros. A week ought to do it. That way, football players miss at least one game, starting pitchers miss at least one turn and just about everyone else misses multiple games.

If the arrest happens in the offseason, the suspension kicks in at the start of the upcoming season.

A second arrest gets you two weeks. A third gets you a year off to ponder why you're surrounded more often by officers in uniform than by teammates in uniform.

It's true that some charges are more damning in the eyes of the public than others.

Holmes' disorderly conduct arrest in South Beach apparently was part of a crackdown that netted many others over Memorial Day weekend. That seems mild compared with his more recent arrest.

Yet even the first arrest produced headlines and head-shaking among fans. The lifeblood of every sports team is its fans.

This is not a matter of denying athletes any rights. They are innocent until proven guilty in the eyes of the law and are afforded due process.

Athletes are very public -- and some would say privileged -- figures, though. There is nothing wrong with holding them to some type of morals standard at their place of business. Many other workers have such parameters in their contracts.

As it is, leagues and teams dish out suspensions and fines for a lot of behavior that isn't illegal but harms the employers' image. Getting arrested would seem to be equally harmful.

Consistent punishment for athletes who are arrested would prevent teams from letting the star players slide while making examples of those less accomplished, something we all know happens.

Mandatory sanctions that supercede an athlete's status with his team or relationship with management might result in fewer arrests.

It also might make athletes think more about what they do in their spare time and who they hang out with.

Take Holmes' first arrest. It might have seemed lame that the cops were shooing people out of the street, but perhaps someone who knew just how much his livelihood was at risk would swallow his pride and step aside, not talk back -- as Miami Beach police contend.

Perhaps Holmes would not have been out at 3:30 a.m.

There is little question that athletes sometimes are targets in public, but most manage to steer clear of handcuffs and squad cars. There are things they can do to avoid run-ins with the law.

If they drink while they're out, they can take a cab home. Wait, what am I thinking? They can take a limo or car service home.

If they're in a situation that starts to feel uncomfortable, it's time to leave.

If someone tries to provoke them, it's time to be the better man and walk away.

If they're trying to right a wrong, it's better to call the police than try to be the police.

Let's give law enforcement the benefit of the doubt and assume police officers won't go after someone or be harder on someone just because he is an athlete.

Consistent sanctions for athletes who get arrested make sense.

It's time.