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Is the NFL doing enough?

Darent Williams, Sean Taylor, Richard Collier, Plaxico Burress. Lives and careers all affected by guns.

Is the NFL doing enough to educate its players about life off the field?

I've said for years that the NFL doesn't do enough to teach its players how to be men. These players are recruited out of high school by the big colleges, given back-alley gifts and money, and in many cases have very low academic expectations to meet, if any at all.

They are drafted into the NFL, and are given buckets of money before they even play a down at the professional level. Were you mentally able to handle all that wealth and fame at the age of 21 or in some cases, earlier? I certainly wasn't. When I was 21 I was married, had a kid on the way, was bouncing from one $7 an hour job to another, and had no clue what I was doing. I can't imagine how a 21-year-old handles a $5 or $10-million dollar signing bonus, and all that pressure from being pulled in 10 different directions.

So I think the NFL has to take a hit here. The "rookie symposiums" are not enough. These players need constant education on life when the spotlight isn't on. I'm not just talking about firearms and violent situations; I'm also talking about handling their money, family life, drugs, and the people they surround themselves with.

While I applaud the NFL for its reactions in these cases, I think the league needs to strengthen up the "front-end" work with these players.

I found this article on Associated Content related to the subject:

NFL Needs to Step Up Its Player Support Systems

I also found this article. I found it interesting because it talks about how 5 years ago guns were quite prevalent in the league.

PRO FOOTBALL; More N.F.L. Players Turn to Guns for a Sense of Security - New York Times

So what do you guys think? Is the NFL doing enough?

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when this topic comes up, one name springs to mind: Bill Walsh.

Bill Walsh was way ahead of his time in many ways in addition to the west coast offense. He also regularly held mandatory seminars on money management, adjusting to life in the NFL, etc. I think the league and all of it’s coaches should learn from his example. Alas, despite his amazing ability to reach his players, Bill Walsh was still unable to prevent Charles Hayley from whipping it out in team meetings and the locker room, masturbating and calling his teammates homophobic slurs. Even with all the counselling in the world, some people are just plain crazy.

by NYcON on Dec 4, 2008 1:14 PM EST reply actions  

You know, this is something that should be done league wide. How many stories have you seen on TV about Player X who played in the NFL for 3 or 4 years and when he left, he had a few million in the bank and was broke a year later. Or Player Y who played for quite a few years, making a nice salary and had NO money when they retired because they spent it all on Ferraris and huge houses. Money management should be required. Also, they should set up somet kid of investment plans that players are required to put X% of their yearly salary in. And yes, things like drugs, alcohol, and guns should be covered as well.

The problem with that is, say you have all of the teams participating, and 50% of the players in the league think all this stuff is pointless and don’t want to do it (and you know that would happen). There will be some Owner X out there that will lure players to his team by telling them that they won’t have to do that stuff because he’ll cover for them or whatever (lookin at you Jerry Jones). And that would happen to.

I think it’s a really good idea to offer some kind of comprehensive program that covers all of this stuff and strongly reccomend that players attend, put there’s only so much you can force on people. You can lead a horse to water… as they say.

World F*ckin' Champions, indeed...

by foos05 on Dec 4, 2008 1:59 PM EST reply actions  

I think the best the teams and league can do

is make programs available for a lot of these issues. The old saying “you can lead a horse to water etc” holds true here. Grown men should be able to take care of themselves. Poor little millionaire athlete isn’t cutting it for me. If your going to carry a weapon for example, learn the laws and proper handling. It’s not that difficult, IF you bother to try.

We're only gonna score 17 points?

by big blue wrecking crew on Dec 4, 2008 2:02 PM EST reply actions  

Jerry Reese says Giants open to Plax return in 2009

http://www.fannation.com/truth_and_rumors/view/80092-giants-open-to-plaxico-return?eref=fromSI

If he turns it around and changes his ways (under the very watchful eyes of Reese and Coughlin) I think this could be a good thing….

by OneGameAtATime on Dec 4, 2008 2:07 PM EST reply actions  

Missing Dads

The problem is by the time a lot of these kids get to the NFL it maybe too late. As you know the NFL is about 70% black, and in the last 40 years the amount of black children raised in two family homes has decreased to the point where more black kids today or being born into unmarried parents exceeds that of married couples. I’m of the opinion that this has a market affect on how kids, particularly boys(although the effect is seen in girls but in a different way) grow up. They don’t get the good advice and common sense about their behavior, interactions with women, etc. that a man needs to navigate the world, they miss out the real toughness and wisdom that comes from dad, they end up not really knowing how to be men. Their sense of manhood is locked to their bling and cars and the other stuff larger culture around them deems important. Add to that unlimited money, people around them willing to give them what ever they want and the status of being the family meal ticket no one wants to piss off and you end up with the Pacman Jones’s of the world. By the time Goddell gets to them it may to forgone a problem.

by DoctorK16 on Dec 4, 2008 4:06 PM EST reply actions  

I don't understand

Aren’t these grown men we’re talking about?

It's not easy being Giants fan in Philly.. but it sure is satisfying

by Hoyadestroya85 on Dec 4, 2008 4:58 PM EST reply actions  

I agree with bbwc and

believe Dr. K is right, also. Moynihan and Glazer delineated the problem of black women single parent households decades ago. They were branded racists. Now their conclusions are pretty much universally accepted. So, it’s sadly true that it’s too late to reach some of these guys with personality problems by the time they get to the NFL. Let’s not forget also that white guys can have the same kind of peronality disorders (remember Joe Don Looney.)

by george cronin on Dec 4, 2008 5:55 PM EST reply actions  

within any population

they are crazy people, immature people and those who find trouble, but the issues that seem to be unique to the NBA and NFL to me are an issues of sociology more than of personality.

by DoctorK16 on Dec 4, 2008 7:42 PM EST up reply actions  

Maybe the NFL should

make every player drafted pass a competency test before he gets his first paycheck. I only say this partially with tongue in cheek. After all, we make high school seniors prove they learned basic skills before we issue them their dipomas.

Let’s admit it. A lot of these kids maintain eligibility in college by taking basket weaving courses and have extreme amounts of tutoring (read… people who do 95% of the work for them) only to fall flat on their faces when they get into the real world. They are no more able to manage their lives ( or large amounts of money) than the average 10 year old.

by giant fan since 57 on Dec 5, 2008 5:10 AM EST reply actions  

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