joeseahawks":2two4sk8 said:
Some of the brothers need to really cut the baggage they bring to the NFL. Tough upbringing aren't an excuse for poor decisions year after year after year. I wouldn't want the Hawks to get close to him, until after doing due diligence and making sure things are absolutely and unequivocally clear.
I really hope this is not another Aaron Hernandez in the waiting. This would be really sad. Mr. Jackson should work as hard as he can to clear his name and cut ties to whatever might be suspicious.
Brother, it is time to move up the ladder. Don't get stuck in the Ghetto forever. We know how that ends. We all wish Tupac was still around.
Thugs life is not glamorous. Leave it behind.
In the long run, the idea about rising above your original poverty-level upbringing has value, but depends on what your values are. I wouldn't say all black athletes are hanging in the hood chilling with the old crew. Those that choose to stay close to family/friends/associates that cannot/will not rise out of the conditions they are in, well it is a freedom of choice issue. It is the NFL clubs decision whether those affiliations are enough to put the player off their org's eligible list.
If a farm boy wants to hang with his buddies during the off season he has that choice. If a guy grew up with sportsmen, he is going to feel comfy hanging with them during the offseason. If some black athletes like hanging in the city, partying with folks from the city, he should be able to do so. Now, if those associates are out gunning down folks, the athlete needs to figure out if he needs to step away.
Sherman grew up in Compton and still goes back, probably rubbing elbows with some less than upstanding characters by chance. MRob, probably not. Different background and base of people each player knows. Lynch returns to Oakland. Should he be involved with the community? That is his call.
Sometimes you cannot go home again. Some don't try, others do for whatever reason. Not all of the black athletes are coming from destructive home lives but just like other folks not all of them are mature, well adjusted outstanding citizens. That is why NFL teams monitors their employees and have to decide when enough is enough.
Culliver for the 9ers wasn't hanging with homies when he ran over the bike rider and made his escape. Favre was getting hooked on drugs, not because he was back in Mississippi, just that he had a problem.
I hate to see athletes blow a chance they worked so hard to get, just to let it go because of some misguided sense of loyalty or not selling out, but that is just my 50+ plus years of living talking.
