I don't know why folks are so quick to throw Boykin under the bus. He's still just a kid for crying out loud, yes he's a multi-million dollar investment and property of the Seattle Seahawks, and they don't want him doing anything that will embarass the team or that might cause him to be seriously injured or worse yet killed.
I can't speak for anyone else in the forum, but I grew up working hard and playing hard too. Its nothing short of a miracle that I'm sitting here alive at age 60 typing this out. There were plenty of occasions where my judgement and choices as a youngster could have gotten me killed and did get me seriously injured on a few occasions. Thank God the people in my life believed in second chances and allowing a youngster to be a youngster and do the crazy crap that we do when we're young.
The second, third and fourth chances I got paid off for everyone involved in my life then and now. I think that Boykin might need a little help in the way of some counseling and being held accountable, but I don't think ending his career is a reasonable response to a fixable situation. He is a super talent as a quarter back, and could step in and take over for Wilson at any point in the season. In Pre-Season last year, which is when we got a chance to see him play in an arena where he was allowed to be a full out quarterback, he did great things, on more than one occasion pulling the team from behind and taking them to a win, when Russell had struggled early on and left the field to Boykin trailing our opponents.
I can't help but think about the hypocrisy of many of our members who are so quick to damn him for doing something stupid like he did in this case, and I'm sure its not the first or the last time he'll do it either. It was a case of being in the wrong spot at the wrong time, with the wrong person, doing the wrong things. I find myself wondering how many of the the fans who are crying for his head on a platter, are not the same folks who set in front of their televisions or in the stadium on game day drinking a half rack, and are focused on Boykin being in possession of some weed, because somehow that makes him worse.
It might help to remember that in 2017, in many US States, possession and use of weed on a recreational basis is perfectly legal. I can run down the street a few blocks from my home, walk into a store and buy weed legally and go home and use it if I like. All completely legal. I don't use weed at this stage of my life, but I accept that like alcohol or anything else, some can use it in moderation and it doesn't negatively affect their lives, others can not.
If I see anything with Boykin, is a kid who is starting to throw up some red flags related to substance abuse, and while that might be a problem for him in all areas of his life and certainly warrants attention, in Washington State where he resides most of the year, the purchase and use of weed is perfectly legal as well as is drinking so long as your 21 years of age. I'm sure the NFL has strict rules about weed showing up in blood or urine test during the season. During the off-season, I think it's out of their jurisdiction. I could be wrong about that and if I am I'm sure someone will point it out in detail.
Point being, I think everyone needs to put the hangman's ropes away, douse the torches and forget about lynching Boykin. I believe that Pete Carroll has a history of working with troubled kids and has a way of getting them on track in their lives, I think that if the organization elects to keep him on the team, its because they still have faith in him not only as a player but as a person, and feel like he must be salvageable.
I'm about as forgiving as they come and I believe that if a person falls on their face with their problems in life, and not on their ass, that it indicates they are still headed in the right direction when they get back up, If Boykin fell on his face again here, then I stand behind him, if it proves that he fell on his ass, then at some point the Seahawks will have to cut bait and let him take it to the bottom if that is what he's determined to do. I'd say his response to the recommendations of the team and the judge at this point in the game since weed is still a crime in Texas, albeit a misdemeanor, will tell all of us which way he fell and which way he's headed.
