What happened? There used to be a time when young, talented football players would go to college, get polished, grow up, get recruited by the NFL and go on to be superheroes to adoring fans and kids like me. They used to be these shining stars, hopeful Hall of Famers waiting to happen, role models and All American men. They were almost...mythical.
Now it seems that these boys are no longer groomed, given no guidance, have no real support systems and are used as living ATM's. In the game of life, it's almost as if they have been given the ball, blindfolded and told to run downfield toward the goal and good luck making it happen.
Where did it all go wrong? Where did the watchful eye turn away? Why aren't these young men given the skills to handle the unpredictability of their own lives as they do the unpredictability of the game? It's so wrong to see these players sadly going down these horrific roads. Roads which seem almost...epic in their misery. Murder, suicide, weapons charges, rape, tax evasion, assault, drug addiction, dog fighting and domestic abuse. Notably these are things that happen to a lot of people all over the country, but being that these are our gladiators, they are thrust into an echelon that perhaps we cannot possibly understand as non celebrities. However, I feel that if these men have the means and the money, why do they keep getting wrapped up in deviant criminal activities? How does a boy who works his way up through the ranks of the sport and start making tons of money still walk around with a low-brow mentality for dogfighting? Or carrying a weapon to protect himself in venues that are exclusive enough to exclude lowlife violent troublemakers? These are men that went to college. Did they not rub elbows with other students and realise that life is not always so dysfunctional? Did they not learn how to distance themselves from the people they may have grown up with that didn't go to college? Weren't they exposed to all kinds of new things that could not translate back down to their friends that were still hanging out on the corner doing nothing all day? Almost any one of us wants to make money to get away from the stigma of being poor. Most people who make it big "get out" and never look back. It seems these misguided millionaires still hang around that element and it confuses me as to why they still do. And why aren't they given more guidance and preened for their new lives somehow?
I know there are no easy answers, but it seems that not enough people are asking these questions. What I see happening now is that the league is being infected like a disease of misguided youth, greedy and apathetic owners, exploited talent and a sensationalistic society that is more interested in the crime than fixing or properly punishing it.
I feel our heroes are dying and no one cares. The once mighty Titans have fallen. So long as the next boy gets rich and the bottom feeders get their cut, who cares how he makes it downfield as long as it's a good show. Where are the gods?
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