he’s so fascinating. unless i’m forgetting something major that will make this stupid… all of his character issues were just on the field incidents? made some mistakes in the heat of the field but otherwise thats completely not who he is.
and i remember listening to an interview with him where the reason he signed with the Dolphins in free agency over other teams is he wanted to intern for Stephen Ross specifically and learn business/real estate from him and he did that in the off season. He had a construction management degree in college and i think his foundation/charitable work focuses on housing development.
That’s a GREAT story to tell after the fact, but at the time, he was getting a contract that made him the highest paid defensive player ever. It was all about the money with him.
The essay I’ve always wanted to read (and have a few times tried to write) is how there is inherent violence inside almost every football player, and how even inside of sensitive boys like me, it flips on between the lines. The Kelce thing with Andy Reid didn’t surprise me at all, nor did Reid’s quick dismissal of it. You have live on the edge of violence to be any good at football, even as a quarterback (IMO). It’s why Tom Brady was such a competitive lunatic who behaved like he was being electrocuted sometimes after a touchdown (or sack) and he was a mostly a boring person off the field. I played with a guy in college who was the most laconic, chill, surfer bro personality I’ve ever known. But at the point of contact, he was the most vicious motherfucker I’ve ever been around.
I don’t think that’s limited to football players. I’d wager it has something to do with elite athletes being almost entirely reactive and instinctive when in competition. We think when we’re training and teaching ourselves the actions we want to be instinctive during competition. When you’re just reacting sometimes the baser brutal human instincts fight their way through and we do things that are entirely out of character outside of competition.
Definitely not limited to football players. I wasn’t anywhere close to an elite athlete, and in my day-to-day life, I try to avoid conflict as much as possible. But I clearly remember one basketball game when I was a teenager, where I intentionally elbowed another player in the face during a struggle for a loose ball because that guy had been annoying me all game. Not my finest hour.
My cousin has a kid and we hear from them irregularly, but he’s a super nice kid. Huge gamer, quick to smile and laugh. The last time i saw him was probably a 3 year gap since the previous time - and he just exploded. 14 years old and he easily outsized my 6’0’’ 260lb frame. First thing i thought when i saw him was ‘oh, lets get a ball in this kids hands’. Your post is probably the first time i’ve thought ‘oh no, let’s not’ instead…
Kinda reminds me of how some of the guys that i knew growing up that became cops weren’t total assholes, yet once they showed up to training and the first thing they shown were snuff films of cops getting attacked while on duty and how they should have fear for every citizen interaction - I wonder if there’s some relation between a teenagers first football practice and a cops first day in training.
I think a lot of it comes down to what kind of coaches brought them up in the game, and of course their parents. My first peewee coach was a beloved figure in our rural area for how hard he’d push elementary school kids, including running us until we puke, and having multiple Oklahoma or 1 on 1 tackling drills every day where he’d let the most developed kids run over all the rest of them. That kind of thing definitely makes you get tougher or quit the game, but it also teaches you to be as aggressive as your mind will let you get to on the field.
Also, w/r/t what you’re saying about police training, which I think is an interesting point to think about, here’s some listening about the guy who trains cops to be eager to kill at the drop of a hat
Sad to see @Tron move away from Carlton and pick Essendon as his AFL team. A big rival and a complete disgrace of an organisation, and Carlton supporters would know.
A good twitter follow is days since Essendon won a final. Would be a delight to see them tick over the 20 year mark this year. @Randy if you’re going to the Sydney market I would urge you to consider the GWS Giants. A great watch with maybe the ultimate villain come respected leader as their captain.
I assume it’s because it was recorded like a week ago, but I cannot wait to hear their takes on the MLB Fanatics jersey debacle. Randy has to be beside himself
