Baggage

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RamFan503

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So honestly. These kids coming into the NFL have baggage? Things they've done in their past? I'd have dropped many draft positions for my youthful indiscretions - and... that I wasn't any good. :oops: How 'bout you guys?

I can run down the list. Pot, stole some candy when I was really young, siphoned some gas - not because I couldn't buy it but for the thrill, yes - drove with over a .08, several fights, threw a guy off a balcony at a party when drunk because he called some of my girl friends sluts, had parties in high school and college with underage drinkers, three of my girlfriends when I was 18 weren't.....etc....

So do we really expect these kids to be angels? If anything, the magnifying glass is pointed way more at them. I'll draw the line at rape, violence against women, felony DUII - things like that. But really? Many of these red flags were just them getting caught doing what I suspect many if not most of us did just as part of growing up.

Am I wrong here?

Is Fish really taking as big of a chance on these guys as we would be led to believe? Do you think Stan or Les or Fish were total angels as they grew up? Or does it just mean that maybe they are more in touch with reality than the talking heads and those who would over emphasize these "issues"?
 

albefree69

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I only worry about bar fights and DUIs. And I only worry about the second DUI.
 

LesBaker

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albefree69 said:
I only worry about bar fights and DUIs. And I only worry about the second DUI.

Testing positive for rockin the ganj at the combine makes my list as does any type of violence. Those two things mean "he's stupid and reckless" more than anything.
 

-X-

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I'm with ya, Stu. I did so much wrong when I was growing up that I can't even enumerate all of it. And my "dad" was a cop too. So, I had the whole rebelling against the man (and society) thing going at the same time. Honestly, I should be dead several times over.

That said, I wasn't an evil kid. I wasn't, like, rotten to the core or anything. I was just immature and got into a lot of trouble. Looked for it a lot of the time too when I was on roids. But if I had a decent mentor, or someone that actually cared about me, I would have straightened out. I think Fisher is that guy for a lot of these young kids coming up through the ranks. They look up to him and respect him, and probably don't want to let him down. I'm sure they'll screw up here and there, but I don't figure to see a lot of second offenses.

But, at the end of the day, NFL teams are investing (sometimes) millions into these guys, and they want to mitigate their risks. Other teams are chance-takers, but only if they have a strong figure-head in place, or a culture that conducive to keeping *troublemakers* in line until they grow up a bit more and figure out on their own that wasting their lives and futures on stupid shit -- isn't the way to go.
 

albefree69

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LesBaker typed:
Testing positive for rockin the ganj at the combine makes my list as does any type of violence. Those two things mean "he's stupid and reckless" more than anything.

My middle son smoked some pot 3 weeks before he went to Lackland AFB for boot camp. Of course he tested positive and got kicked out. When he got home I asked him how he could do something that stupid. He said that one of his friends gave him some stuff to take that was supposed to mask his use. He's a very smart kid and went on to graduate from college so I'm not sure what to take from that except he did a young man stupid thing. He works for a Biotech that does random drug tests and has never failed another one.

For me it's just like failing the first DUI. It's not being able to learn from your mistakes that concerns me.
 

Selassie I

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Since Fish was an NFL player, I think he has a better grasp on the complexities of teammates.

While I haven't done any of the crazy shit that "503" has admittedly been involved with,,, I have been ticketed for one non-moving violation in the past.


Fish is in touch with reality. NFL Reality.
 

CGI_Ram

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It's all about judgment.

If you get busted for substances that the NFL monitors... Bad judgment.

If you have more than one occurance with DUI or domestic violence and have a career path that includes the NFL... Bad judgment.



Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
 

Stranger

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Kinda like the difference between Checked and Carry-on Baggage :)
 

albefree69

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I have absolutely zero tolerance for domestic violence. In fact I think the penalties should be quadrupled.
 

Selassie I

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I'm truly troubled by the atrocities "503" has admitted to.
 

RamFan503

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Stu
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13
Selassie I said:
I'm truly troubled by the atrocities "503" has admitted to.

You baiting me man? :mrgreen:

Yeah - I was no angel growing up in LA. I didn't progress much when I moved a couple hundred miles north either. It was really when I had a goal of college and the aftermath that I started to straighten up.

All I'm saying is that I don't find the indiscretions that many of these players have done as being albatrosses that they need to carry the rest of their lives or somehow live down. What they do once they really have that shot - that goal - is what matters most to me and possibly to Fish as well.

I wouldn't do any of those things now - but in my youth? I was indestructible and I got away with it. I didn't have some big bust or anything to set me straight - just a want to get somewhere. Though I may feel bad about many of the things I did, I don't look back on them except to look out for my kids. My parents were always away and thought everything was hunky dory. I know my boys are better kids than I was. Whether that is my experiences or picking a great wife? I think it is a bit of both.

And come on George... You never stole a rootbeer barrel or two from the local Stop'n'Go when you were a kid? BTW... I DID get caught for that one. :oops:
 

DR RAM

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RamFan503

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Stu
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #15
albefree69 said:
I have absolutely zero tolerance for domestic violence. In fact I think the penalties should be quadrupled.

Agreed. When it comes to violence - of any type - against women and children, the person becomes less than human in my eyes. I just don't get it.
 

DR RAM

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images


From Goodell:

"I had to do it. I suspend players for little to no reason".