Kathy Redmond was not shocked when Baltimore Ravens star Ray Lewis was charged with murder Monday by Atlanta police.

She wasn't surprised, either, when Carolina Panthers receiver Rae Carruth was charged with masterminding the plot to have his pregnant girlfriend gunned down last November.

Redmond, who formed the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes two years ago, says such cases were inevitable.

"I'm not shocked. In fact, I've been predicting there would be many cases like this. I predicted it before Carruth," said Redmond, of Littleton, Colo.

"It's finally coming to a head, and the athletes are getting worse. I believe you'll see a lot more of it. Hopefully, it's something people will now take seriously."

Redmond says a star football player raped her eight years ago, when she was a freshman at Nebraska. In February 1997, she settled out of court with the university's Board of Regents.

She formed the coalition in 1998 after the suicide of Akina Wilson, the girlfriend of New York Giants safety Tito Wooten. Wilson had dropped assault charges against Wooten a month earlier.

Redmond said her coalition is concerned with all violent crimes.

"It's just the whole gamut," she said. "There are so many underlying factors, so many incidents that should signal something like (murder) coming."

In December, Lewis was accused of punching a woman in a bar, then leaving the scene. Lewis denied responsibility, and Ravens coach Brian Billick strongly supported his star linebacker.

Although Lewis and Carruth haven't been convicted, news of the murder charges have shocked the NFL.

NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue expressed concern about violence at his annual Super Bowl news conference on Friday.

"Can we separate ourselves from society? Of course not," he said. "We can't predict what NFL players will do any more than we can predict students shooting other students or workers shooting fellow workers.

"On the other hand, we don't tolerate violence. We don't condone it."

But Redmond said the NFL's programs are cosmetic.

"As long as they can cover their butts, they don't care," she said. "They say, `Come in and talk for a day.' It has everything to do with liability and public relations. It shouldn't be that way.

"People say athletes need more counseling; they need more discipline. If you look at any stories, you'll never see an athlete harming a coach's daughter, or a member of a coach's family. That's because they know what will happen. So if they really do have a problem with violence, how can they be so discriminatory?"

The New York Giants received praise for their efforts to help former Nebraska star Christian Peter, who was once considered an outcast. The New England Patriots drafted him in 1996, then reneged on his rights because of his past abuses against women. He sat out that season.

Dr. Joel Goldberg, a psychologist for the Giants, worked with Peter in 1996. Since joining the Giants in 1997, Peter has stayed out of trouble.

"As an organization, we have a sense of obligation to our players that if they need help, then we ought to be able to provide the kind of support services they need, so they can help themselves," said Pat Hanlon, the Giants' vice president of public relations.

But Redmond said her work won't end any time soon. "I don't have to do PR for the organization, because the athletes do it for me."

Clay Latimer is a reporter for the Rocky Mountain News.