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Sports Heroes
People who know me can attest that I am far from a jock. I love my NASCAR (which often catches people by surprise) and enjoy watching some football. Never been one to pay much attention outside of the games on Sat/Sun except just enough to competently play fantasy football in casual leagues.
This week there are two stories about athletes in the NFL that got me thinking a lot this morning.
Earlier this week the Supreme Court denied a guy's attempt to get into the NFL draft this weekend. Apparently, the NFL has a rule saying that you must have graduated from high school at least three years before entering the draft. Seems that a hotshot Freshman at Ohio State got a big head, did goofy/egotistical things as a soph, and swore off college for the NFL. From the couple of articles I read on this story...despite his freshman year, he's an okay athlete that has an ego WAY too big for his talent. The Supreme Court decided not to step in to force the NFL to include this athletic hack from entering the NFL draft. Considering that he dropped out of school after the fall semester, he's not eligible to compete next fall thanks to NCAA academic requirements.
So...egotistical sucker gets what he deserves.
Making the news today is Pat Tillman. Here is a guy that was small for a linebacker in college, but set records on the field and graduated with a 3.8+ GPA from college. He signed w/ the Arizona Cardinals for a few million dollars. The St. Louis Rams tried to woo him away with a deal about 2-3 times richer. But Pat was loyal to his team and didn't cut out of his contract. Not until Sept 11. In May of 2002, after his honeymoon, he told his team that he felt a need to serve his country. Pat made his way into the Army's Special Forces and was sent to Afghanistan. He has been over there in SE Afghanistan and was just killed while on patrol.
Pat was an exemplary man who strived and achieved most everything it seemed that he set his mind to do. It is always sad to hear of a death of a soldier, but to know the "Rest of the Story" of this soldier - the $1 million/year he replaced with a $20k/year job in the military and his academic and athletic accomplishments - it really tugged at my heart strings today.
This week there are two stories about athletes in the NFL that got me thinking a lot this morning.
Earlier this week the Supreme Court denied a guy's attempt to get into the NFL draft this weekend. Apparently, the NFL has a rule saying that you must have graduated from high school at least three years before entering the draft. Seems that a hotshot Freshman at Ohio State got a big head, did goofy/egotistical things as a soph, and swore off college for the NFL. From the couple of articles I read on this story...despite his freshman year, he's an okay athlete that has an ego WAY too big for his talent. The Supreme Court decided not to step in to force the NFL to include this athletic hack from entering the NFL draft. Considering that he dropped out of school after the fall semester, he's not eligible to compete next fall thanks to NCAA academic requirements.
So...egotistical sucker gets what he deserves.
Making the news today is Pat Tillman. Here is a guy that was small for a linebacker in college, but set records on the field and graduated with a 3.8+ GPA from college. He signed w/ the Arizona Cardinals for a few million dollars. The St. Louis Rams tried to woo him away with a deal about 2-3 times richer. But Pat was loyal to his team and didn't cut out of his contract. Not until Sept 11. In May of 2002, after his honeymoon, he told his team that he felt a need to serve his country. Pat made his way into the Army's Special Forces and was sent to Afghanistan. He has been over there in SE Afghanistan and was just killed while on patrol.
Pat was an exemplary man who strived and achieved most everything it seemed that he set his mind to do. It is always sad to hear of a death of a soldier, but to know the "Rest of the Story" of this soldier - the $1 million/year he replaced with a $20k/year job in the military and his academic and athletic accomplishments - it really tugged at my heart strings today.