Monday,
November 15, 2010
Tough Guy Mentality
This site has become primarily a baseball blog, but
occasionally there are sports topics that are a little more universal. And
sometimes they are worth talking about. After watching the Vikings game
yesterday, and after listening to much of the annoying
postgame discussions, I felt the need to write about a topic. As always, I don’t
claim my opinion to be right (or wrong), and all are entitled to their own
opinion, but I do think it is an interesting topic.
Playing Monday Morning Quarterback
is fun in football (literally usually on Mondays) and baseball (any time a
manager or GM makes a decisions). We all have thoughts on what could have or
should have been done from play calls, to personnel decisions. Everyone has an
opinion on what Vikings owner Zygi Wilf should do about the employment status of Brad Childress. Some question decision
making of coordinators, quarterbacks and other players. Tom Brady is made out to be a great leader because he took his
offense to task last night, yelling and carrying on at the team excessively. If
Randy Moss or Terrell Owens or Chad Henne or Adrian
Peterson were to do that, they would not get the same level of respect.
I always think it is a very slippery slope when people
start to question a player’s effort level or their heart. We don’t know. Some
players are more animated than others. Some players just look cooler than
others. Some players wear their emotions on their sleeves. But for those of us
sitting on our couches, eating chips and dip, chicken wings and downing
beverages of some variety, who are we to judge?
And the Tough-Guy fans now have places like blogs, Facebook and even Twitter. It just amazes me what some
Vikings “fans” felt comfortable and found it necessary to tell Bernard Berrian
on Twitter after he came out of yesterday’s game with an injury. Here is a
sampling:
·
“Sorry, it's not your fault coach cut the best receiver on
team, but in few yrs youll look back at yer career & regret sitting 2day”
·
“how about staying healthy I don't question your effort but
you haven't been much of a factor last 2 years”
·
“I think I can speak for most Vikings Fans when we say we
will not miss you next year...way to tough it out”
·
“Someone who is sick of you stealing Zygi's
$...Top 10 WR $ for maybe top 100 WR production, nice gig you got”
·
“Wow you really are mentally weak...can't take a little
criticism. Why don't you tell us what was so funny on sidelines at the end”
Berrian took the time to respond to each of these and many
more via Twitter. I imagine there were many others that he did not respond to. Berrian types, “4 the record don't ever question my heart or toughness. Played
plenty games injured. U just don't hear bout it. N warmup had nothin 2 do w/it.”
It’s not just Berrian. There
are people out there questioning Sidney
Rice’s decision not to play in Week 10. Come on! He had hip surgery in
August. Yes, he has been practicing with the team, but that doesn’t make him
game ready. Some thought he was being selfish for
deciding not to play. Others say that he was looking out for himself and not
the team or his teammates. Have we not seen enough video or stories of former
NFL players that can’t play with their kids because they can hardly walk? How
many times do we need to see Earl Campbell try to walk to realize that
long-term health should be considered much more often than it is in the NFL.
Side Note – Of course, many of the same people who have criticized Sidney Rice for not coming back this
week are the same people that were calling Brett Favre selfish for playing a
few weeks ago to keep his consecutive games streak intact.
There are fans that bashed Percy Harvin a year ago for not playing
with migraines. “It’s just a headache” is a phrase I heard way too often last
year. I have heard that phrase way too many times as it relates to the Twins Justin Morneau
too. It’s just a concussion. Toughen up and play. To those people, as Corey Koskie
how well that works.
The NFL is trying to curb the big, dangerous hits, and
it says it’s trying to minimize the serious injuries. They are all good things.
But the NFL coaches and coaching staffs and media and fans often have this “Football
is all that matters” mentality. “Team” above all else.
Don’t be selfish. Don’t think about yourself.
I hope you will never hear me tout such things. I’ve
always been a football fan. I played in high school and followed college
football back in the day too. But I guess maybe I’m not a ‘true’ football fan
if I don’t believe in the ‘at all costs’ attitude. Geez, listening to high
school coaches giving pep talks and looking around at people taking it all in
as fact is scary. Football Coach talk is almost too
much to take. So yeah, maybe I am soft. Maybe I’m just not as big of a fan as
others. However, I will always back the individual player’s right to be safe
and comfortable.
More important, I have no problem with a person
looking out for their long-term future. I have no problem with NFL players
trying to play for money. Their contracts are not guaranteed. They need to make
money while they can. That doesn’t make them less of a team player. When they’re
on the field with the team, it doesn’t mean that they’re only thinking dollar
values and such. They can still be ready to play, emotional and excited to
contribute without it being their entire life.
I also respect the player’s rights to make money. Why?
It is their job!! I know nobody wants to realize that. Nobody wants the players
to look at playing the game (football, baseball, basketball, etc.) as anything
more than a game. No. It is their job. It is their source of income. It is
their 401K. It is their health insurance. Yes, they are well compensated, and
yet their window or earning potential is quite short.
So don’t tell me that Sidney Rice is a horrible teammate because he is going to give his
surgically-repaired hip another week to recover. Don’t tell me that the only
reason he did not play in Week 10 was because of his contract status. Don’t
tell me that Justin Morneau should just toughen up
and played in August. Don’t tell me that
Joe Mauer
is soft because he only DHs in day game after night games, and occasionally
gets a full day off when he isn’t catching. Don’t say things to me like, “Michael Cuddyer
should have only missed three games instead of four games when his wife’s dad
died.”
I know, those of us baseball fans would pay to play in
the big leagues, or we would sign with a team for peanuts or sunflower seeds
because we love the game so much. My guess is 99% of professional athletes love
the sport they are playing and give their best. And we don’t know who that
other 1% is, so claiming that someone quits, or doesn’t care, or didn’t try, my
opinion is that it just is not fair or true. Unfortunately the Vikings
struggles in this Vikings State make for some really ugly discussions, really
ugly things said. Several of the Vikings players, including Berrian,
Bryant McKinnie,
Greg Lewis, Adrian Peterson and more, are on Twitter and take the time to
respond to their fans. I’m impressed that Berrian
took the comments and showed good restraint in his responses.
I know there are a
lot of fans who really get attached to each game and can't get past losses.
They say their fandom is love and passion and that they want to see a
championship, Super Bowl or World Series. People think I am a lesser fan
because I was over the Twins playoff loss to the Yankees within 24 hours, while
some still have not moved on. There are literally Vikings fans that will not be
themselves for a couple of days. I want the Twins to win a World Series. I
would love to see that again. I would love to see the Vikings get to ,and eventually win, a Super Bowl. But if they don't, it
does not affect my fandom in the least.
Maybe I am soft. Maybe I’m not diehard enough for some
fans. That’s fine. Team is very important, and teams win and lose together.
Teamwork is important. I would argue that family and long-term health are much
more important. Maybe I’m wrong?