if you haven't already seen this yet

[JAGHAWK]

Damn. I think people forget that before these guys were football players, they were human beings. I can only hope for nothing but success for the guy. I'm happy to have him here in Seattle... and I hope the team can't put aside all the old bullshit and work together, keeping true to the "love our brothers" mentality. They are the most successful when they play with that mindset. Go Hawks!

 

[McGruff]

Dangeruss is gonna love Graham. Church. Brees. God and all that stuff. I just hope Jimmy can unsoften. Remember when he ran from Kam in a game? Hopefully the team toughen him up.

Seriously?

Yea, I hope he hardens up . . .

 

[BigMeach]

I'll never understand how a parent can throw away their child like that. I don't know if it's a chemical imbalance in the brain or something but as a parent of two I couldn't imagine not being near my kids and to choose to not be... Horrible.

On the other side though, in a way he is another cast off, which seem to thrive well here, I think things will work well.

 

[byau]

Agree with Jaghawk and CHawks1 and similar sentiments in the thread

Echoing some of my own comments in another thread,

I have no doubt he is a tough guy. Maybe it's just exhibited differently

And maybe he's not soft, but just quiet and introverted and insecure. Not to mention it seems the Saints kinda played with his head with the franchise tag as well as signing him to a big contract and then trading him - which has got to bring back memories of his background growing up.

You gotta think Russ, Coach, and JS will welcome him and make him feel safe

Not to mention Marshawn has shown a lot of compassion for teammates too

As an aside, thinking about it now I am betting there are a lot of these stories in the NFL and pro sports in general. Makes you think.

Regarding Jimmy, I'm definitely going to cheer for him regardless and I'm also liking that he's a Seahawk

 

[kobebryant]

I imagine Bruce and him will squash whatever it is between them pretty fast. Similar hardscrabble backgrounds.

 

[SnoCoHawk]

I'll never understand how a parent can throw away their child like that. I don't know if it's a chemical imbalance in the brain or something but as a parent of two I couldn't imagine not being near my kids and to choose to not be... Horrible.

On the other side though, in a way he is another cast off, which seem to thrive well here, I think things will work well.

I'm sure his mom has a version of the story where he was a difficult kid - defiant, angry, maybe violent - and she couldn't handle him. It happens. I am impressed that he was able to turn out so well. I still don't like him but I'm going to keep an open mind and hopefully by preseason I'll be fully into "He may be a jerk but he's OUR jerk" mode. 8)

 

[Silver Hawk]

I'll never understand how a parent can throw away their child like that. I don't know if it's a chemical imbalance in the brain or something but as a parent of two I couldn't imagine not being near my kids and to choose to not be... Horrible.

On the other side though, in a way he is another cast off, which seem to thrive well here, I think things will work well.

I'm sure his mom has a version of the story where he was a difficult kid - defiant, angry, maybe violent - and she couldn't handle him. It happens. I am impressed that he was able to turn out so well. I still don't like him but I'm going to keep an open mind and hopefully by preseason I'll be fully into "He may be a jerk but he's OUR jerk" mode. 8)

My mother could definitely tell that story. I am fairly sure however, that she never contemplated dropping me off at a group home and locking the car doors.

 

[sc85sis]

There are far too many kids in the world who have stories just like this (or worse). Some of them end up in football and basketball--which is great--but you have to wonder about all the other ones that don't find a way to get out. It's sad.

Thank you to the people who make a positive difference in the world and in the lives of kids.

Welcome to the Seahawks, Jimmy.

 

[TheHawkster]

I saw this when it originally aired on ESPN but totally forgot about it.
With so many stories like this, its almost unimaginable how much it takes to make it as a pro athlete.

 

[theincrediblesok]

Maybe Bruce and Jimmy can watch each other's stories and come to an agreement that they gone through some tough times and hug it out. They might even be BFF after the season.

 

[AF_Hawk]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

 

[BullHawk33]

These kinds of threads should remind everyone to make sure you gather more facts than to just wholesale judge someone based on a small sample of information. "I'm Jimmy" was only a small part of who he is and we all know how we feel about those Seahawks with an attitude that we have after we've gotten to know more about them.

Thanks for sharing this video. Good story. I hope he starts working out with Russell pretty soon.

 

[dontbelikethat]

Great story, currently trying to become a RN too. Hard to not root for the guy after seeing his story.

 

[TahoeHawk]

What a beautiful and uplifting story! I hope the Seahawks can help him to make more dreams come true for himself!