On the day the 2010-11 NFL season kicks off, let's use football as the springboard to discuss off-the-field responsibility of some well-paid public figures.

Nearly two weeks ago, a player on the New York Jets became something of a sensation for having trouble naming all of his children. Maybe that's understandable if you're Antonio Cromartie, who by his own count has eight children by six different women.

On the HBO television show, "Hard Knocks," he struggles to name all of them and skips one.

Cromartie is not the only athlete with a multitude of children by a multitude of women. As Mitch Albom's column points out, former NFL player Travis Henry reportedly had 11 children with 10 women. Derrick Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs died tragically after a car accident 10 years ago, but he left behind seven children by five mothers.

(We could cast a much wider net than just the NFL. There are plenty of examples of athletes in other sports, of entertainers and politicians with multiple children and multiple moms.)

Just a few weeks ago, there was a mini-uproar over the actress Jennifer Aniston's comments that supported single mothers. Fox News host Bill O'Reilly said her comments were "destructive to our society."

But what about men who father multiple children, with multiple women? How responsible are they about parenting? Does society in general hold them as accountable for fathering children as it holds women for giving birth?

(And this is not meant to be a forum on child support and financial obligations. That's a topic for another day.)