I think I'm done with football. Really, really done. This isn't easy to say, but I think I'm ready to cut ties. I've got a few things to clear up first, so bear with me.
I've already made this decision once, so it shouldn't be too hard to do again. I gave up on the NFL years ago. And, as the past few weeks have shown, at least to me, it was a good decision. I was a big Redskins fan. Riggins, Theismann, I loved every play they made. Now, you can't even use the name Redskins, which is just beyond ridiculous, but that is a whole other story.
I've been a fan of Clemson football for over thirty years. I've been to countless football games in Death Valley. I listened to them on transistor radios back when College Football didn't command prime time. I chose to attend Clemson in part, I'm sure, on the fact that I was familiar with their campus from attending a game or two with my dad. I watched them win the National Championship back in 1981. Way back in 1981. Way, way back. So, I am going forward still true Orange, as an Alumni, just not as a continuing fan of the football team.
I didn't go into Saturday night's game thinking the Tigers would win. I rarely anticipate a Tiger win. They, unfortunately, have developed a knack for losing games that seemed in the bag. If you've watched Tiger football as long as I have you've come to know this phenomenon as 'Clemsoning'. But I have always watched anyway, regardless. True Orange, All In...all of that. So don't assume I'm finally done after another epic loss. That isn't it at all.
Final caveat. I don't mean for this to come across as anti-Nole. It probably will, but I doubt I have any Nole readers anyway. The thing is, I live in Florida. We signed our children up for the FL Prepaid College Tuition Plan the January after each of them were born. We actually HOPE they will attend a FL based school. Gator, Nole, Cane...it all boils down to economics...(which is exactly what College Football has been boiling down to in recent years, and therein lies many of my problems with the whole mess). Could we swing out of state Clemson tuition for three kids? I'd rather not find out. I'll be perfectly happy to have Nole graduates, so this isn't about them, in particular.
I think the straw that finally broke the pigskin's back was the coverage of Jameis Winston. This is why I'm done. This student athlete is a thug. Yes, I said it. He's a thug. He has been accused of raping another student. That case is curiously active again, by the way. He is definitely a thief. And now he insults women to the point of not being able to even report what was said. That kinda bad. Then he lied about the vulgar comments he made and was given a half game suspension, which was ridiculous from the get go. Then it was found that he lied about it so he was then suspended for the
whole game. And that should have been the end of it. He should have been suspended for the whole
game. To me that would mean, sit in the locker room, do not participate in the game, at all. Yet, there he was, splashed all over my TV screen after seemingly every play. He got ten times more air time than the head coach, and truth be told, did more coaching than the head coach did. He had ten times more air time than he would have had he actually quarterbacked the team. He even dressed out in full pads and had to be sent to the locker room to change. Nerve. Some nerve. The number one team in the nation. The quarterback for that team. The Heisman Trophy Winner. I guess that means we are supposed to ignore his off field thuggery. That isn't how we roll. That isn't something I want my children seeing, especially my boys. (And I don't want my daughter in the same building he is in!) We don't idolize that kind of person. Nothing you can do on a football field is worth ignoring your off field transgressions when you are trying to raise boys to be men. Real men. Men who don't get accused of rape, and then speak so horribly of women, in their presence, that it can't be repeated. It shows exactly his thoughts of women. I'm drawing a line. Taking my child to a football game where we all cheered for this type of person is just wrong to me. And, yes, there are great student athletes. But I wouldn't give my children a bowl full of grapes and note that there was only one poisonous one in there and that I hoped they didn't pick it. I won't buy them a jersey with another persons name on it and hope we aren't advertising a thug.
Sadly, I can point out way more student athletes who are in similar circumstances. This isn't an isolated situation, just the most recent. The Clemson Tigers have put athletes on the field who have had more chances than they've deserved as well. It comes down to money. Big time money. I'm not sure how many folks it would take to come to the same conclusions we have, but empty seats would speak volumes. I'm not holding my breath on that. I know I'm in the minority here. I get it. I live my life with minority opinions. I can change my habits and my family's focus and that is good enough for me.
So, as for the NFL, it is crystal clear why they are having the problems they are having with their players. Why it is acceptable to ignore a video of a woman being brutalized in an elevator? Why can you beat your child and not expect punishment until public opinion forces the NFL's hand? Because no one in college ball is making that kind of noise.
Yes, we are done.
I've already made this decision once, so it shouldn't be too hard to do again. I gave up on the NFL years ago. And, as the past few weeks have shown, at least to me, it was a good decision. I was a big Redskins fan. Riggins, Theismann, I loved every play they made. Now, you can't even use the name Redskins, which is just beyond ridiculous, but that is a whole other story.
I've been a fan of Clemson football for over thirty years. I've been to countless football games in Death Valley. I listened to them on transistor radios back when College Football didn't command prime time. I chose to attend Clemson in part, I'm sure, on the fact that I was familiar with their campus from attending a game or two with my dad. I watched them win the National Championship back in 1981. Way back in 1981. Way, way back. So, I am going forward still true Orange, as an Alumni, just not as a continuing fan of the football team.
I didn't go into Saturday night's game thinking the Tigers would win. I rarely anticipate a Tiger win. They, unfortunately, have developed a knack for losing games that seemed in the bag. If you've watched Tiger football as long as I have you've come to know this phenomenon as 'Clemsoning'. But I have always watched anyway, regardless. True Orange, All In...all of that. So don't assume I'm finally done after another epic loss. That isn't it at all.
Final caveat. I don't mean for this to come across as anti-Nole. It probably will, but I doubt I have any Nole readers anyway. The thing is, I live in Florida. We signed our children up for the FL Prepaid College Tuition Plan the January after each of them were born. We actually HOPE they will attend a FL based school. Gator, Nole, Cane...it all boils down to economics...(which is exactly what College Football has been boiling down to in recent years, and therein lies many of my problems with the whole mess). Could we swing out of state Clemson tuition for three kids? I'd rather not find out. I'll be perfectly happy to have Nole graduates, so this isn't about them, in particular.
I think the straw that finally broke the pigskin's back was the coverage of Jameis Winston. This is why I'm done. This student athlete is a thug. Yes, I said it. He's a thug. He has been accused of raping another student. That case is curiously active again, by the way. He is definitely a thief. And now he insults women to the point of not being able to even report what was said. That kinda bad. Then he lied about the vulgar comments he made and was given a half game suspension, which was ridiculous from the get go. Then it was found that he lied about it so he was then suspended for the
whole game. And that should have been the end of it. He should have been suspended for the whole
game. To me that would mean, sit in the locker room, do not participate in the game, at all. Yet, there he was, splashed all over my TV screen after seemingly every play. He got ten times more air time than the head coach, and truth be told, did more coaching than the head coach did. He had ten times more air time than he would have had he actually quarterbacked the team. He even dressed out in full pads and had to be sent to the locker room to change. Nerve. Some nerve. The number one team in the nation. The quarterback for that team. The Heisman Trophy Winner. I guess that means we are supposed to ignore his off field thuggery. That isn't how we roll. That isn't something I want my children seeing, especially my boys. (And I don't want my daughter in the same building he is in!) We don't idolize that kind of person. Nothing you can do on a football field is worth ignoring your off field transgressions when you are trying to raise boys to be men. Real men. Men who don't get accused of rape, and then speak so horribly of women, in their presence, that it can't be repeated. It shows exactly his thoughts of women. I'm drawing a line. Taking my child to a football game where we all cheered for this type of person is just wrong to me. And, yes, there are great student athletes. But I wouldn't give my children a bowl full of grapes and note that there was only one poisonous one in there and that I hoped they didn't pick it. I won't buy them a jersey with another persons name on it and hope we aren't advertising a thug.
Sadly, I can point out way more student athletes who are in similar circumstances. This isn't an isolated situation, just the most recent. The Clemson Tigers have put athletes on the field who have had more chances than they've deserved as well. It comes down to money. Big time money. I'm not sure how many folks it would take to come to the same conclusions we have, but empty seats would speak volumes. I'm not holding my breath on that. I know I'm in the minority here. I get it. I live my life with minority opinions. I can change my habits and my family's focus and that is good enough for me.
So, as for the NFL, it is crystal clear why they are having the problems they are having with their players. Why it is acceptable to ignore a video of a woman being brutalized in an elevator? Why can you beat your child and not expect punishment until public opinion forces the NFL's hand? Because no one in college ball is making that kind of noise.
Yes, we are done.
