This armchair sportsfan has berated the likes of Ray Lewis and most recently Mike Vick. I couldn’t stand the fact that Lewis appeared to be involved in a murder and walked away scot free. I was tired of guys like Lawrence Phillips being able to continue playing football after committing numerous offences. Asinine stories like the one involving the Minnesota Vikings, a houseboat, and a sex scandal. Now we have our most recent repeat goofball offender - Pac Man Jones. I’m not even going to go into detail about Jones as it has been rehashed in the media time and time again. But I do post this question? What do all of these guys have in common?
They are all Hell bent on self destruction.
So who’s to blame?? My first reaction is to say it’s the players themselves. Hell, who wouldn’t trade an everyday life to play a game we love and make millions of dollars doing it? It seems so simple right?
Think again. When the scouts go out looking for great ball players they’re not looking on Wall Street.
They will go to the hard streets of Philadelphia and NY to wine, dine and promise the world to the young athlete. Scouts and agents alike will turn a blind eye to the fact that some of these guys have been involved in gangs and criminal activity since they were eight years old. It’s not like they can just up and leave that lifestyle. Unfortunately there is too much money to be made by the teams if they can recruit the best players regardless of their background. Don’t kid yourself sportsfans, coaches and management alike know that some of these guys still have their hand in a little bit of criminal activity just to keep things warm on the home front. More importantly so does NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
As soon as something goes wrong for one of the players the league acts shocked and disgusted. How could this happen? We had no idea. The truth of the matter is that the league is as guilty as the player doing the crime. I equate it to the guy who serves his guests drinks all night and then they get killed in a drunken car wreck. There is responsibility on both parties.
So next time one of the NFL’s stars goes off track and does something against the law, I hope that all those responsible for bringing that player into the league will look in the mirror and point the finger at themselves.
It’s a two way street.
Agree or disagree, I’m off the goalpost. www.offthegoalpost.com
