You Can't Go Home Again

It seems painfully obvious in looking at the Hernandez and Goodson situations this offseason that some players should not ever play for their hometown teams. If a player comes from a stable family background (like say, D'Brickashaw and hopefully Aboushi), it may actually be a plus for them to have a strong support structure around them. However, when a player has a history of off-field issues, particularly related to having ties to "the wrong crowd", the best possible thing for them (and in some cases, perhaps their only hope) would seem to be to get them away from the area they grew up in and provide support in breaking all ties with "friends" who would lead them down the wrong path.

While some teams reportedly downgraded Hernandez's draft ranking severely based on his history, in retrospect the Pats maybe should have taken him off their board entirely because of the close proximity he would have to the people he grew up with - people who could potentially draw him into situations that could lead to this type of criminal activity.

By that same token, other than some paternity and payment delinquency issues that Rich Cimini was all too happy to reveal to the world, Mike Goodson hadn't gotten into any serious issues with the law until he moved back to New Jersey, where he was originally from. Should the Jets have seen that coming?

I wonder if Curtis Martin's life would have turned out very different if he had been drafted by his hometown Steelers instead of New England -- where his main influence was a strong father figure in Parcells instead of the people he knew from the rough environment he grew up in.

You should submit this to Bleacher Report. I'm sure NFL front offices will be amazed by the insights of your new study reports. If only Belichick had taken into consideration the fact that Hernandez was from CT where lots of his homeboys were nearby.

Belichick is bff with Urban Meyer... if Hernandez were a true red flag not worth drafting, his bff would alert him.

Goodson was drunk in the passenger seat of his friends car who had a gun in the compartment that he wasn't aware of. Hernandez covered up a murder he may or may not have been involved in. Same difference?

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Originally Posted by ASG0531

You should submit this to Bleacher Report. I'm sure NFL front offices will be amazed by the insights of your new study reports. If only Belichick had taken into consideration the fact that Hernandez was from CT where lots of his homeboys were nearby.

Belichick is bff with Urban Meyer... if Hernandez were a true red flag not worth drafting, his bff would alert him.

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It's a reasonable premise for a reasonable discussion; why not back up ad not be so shrill. :yes:

Implicit in your post is your personal belief that urban Meyer's approval trumps gang ties...which is incorrect as rat bastard Hernandez is likely at least an accessory to murder.

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Originally Posted by MykePM

It seems painfully obvious in looking at the Hernandez and Goodson situations this offseason that some players should not ever play for their hometown teams. If a player comes from a stable family background (like say, D'Brickashaw and hopefully Aboushi), it may actually be a plus for them to have a strong support structure around them. However, when a player has a history of off-field issues, particularly related to having ties to "the wrong crowd", the best possible thing for them (and in some cases, perhaps their only hope) would seem to be to get them away from the area they grew up in and provide support in breaking all ties with "friends" who would lead them down the wrong path.

While some teams reportedly downgraded Hernandez's draft ranking severely based on his history, in retrospect the Pats maybe should have taken him off their board entirely because of the close proximity he would have to the people he grew up with - people who could potentially draw him into situations that could lead to this type of criminal activity.

By that same token, other than some paternity and payment delinquency issues that Rich Cimini was all too happy to reveal to the world, Mike Goodson hadn't gotten into any serious issues with the law until he moved back to New Jersey, where he was originally from. Should the Jets have seen that coming?

I wonder if Curtis Martin's life would have turned out very different if he had been drafted by his hometown Steelers instead of New England -- where his main influence was a strong father figure in Parcells instead of the people he knew from the rough environment he grew up in.

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Curtis Martin never got in any real trouble. He was from a bad neighborhood, but never involved with those people. I'm not huge CMart fan. I don't like the fact that he had no passion for the game, but he also had no passion for anything else either. He would have been steady wherever he went.

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Originally Posted by WestCoastOffensive

It's a reasonable premise for a reasonable discussion; why not back up ad not be so shrill. :yes:

Implicit in your post is your personal belief that urban Meyer's approval trumps gang ties...which is incorrect as rat bastard Hernandez is likely at least an accessory to murder.

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You're right, everyone should have seen this coming. All of the media held their tongues while Hernandez was a choir boy for three years and was a top-5 TE in the league... but they all "knew" about his red flags and are being proven right. :rolleyes:

It all comes down to self discipline.

If you have self discipline it doesn't matter where you work or where you grew up because you have enough common sense & discipline to make the right decisions.

The most pathetic fact in all of this is that these are "college graduates" that we are talking about.

Tell that to Brick who has been an absolute class act and pillar in his community.

If a guy is a doosh, he will be a doosh no matter where he plays.

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Originally Posted by ARodFLKeysJetsFan

It all comes down to self discipline.

If you have self discipline it doesn't matter work where you grew up because you have enough common sense & discipline to make the right decisions.

The most pathetic fact in all of this is that these are "college graduates" that we are talking about.

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Please, seriously, let's not lump together as one the "Goodson and Hernandez situations"

Goodson had too much to drink and made a bad choice in the individual he asked to drive him home. Should have called a cab

Hernandez murdered a guy after some post strip club altercation, dumped his body in a ditch, attempted to destroy evidence, electronic and forensic.

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Originally Posted by ARodFLKeysJetsFan

It all comes down to self discipline.

If you have self discipline it doesn't matter work where you grew up because you have enough common sense & discipline to make the right decisions.

The most pathetic fact in all of this is that these are "college graduates" that we are talking about.

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I'd be interested in seeing what the graduation rate is in the NFL. My guess is that it's somewhere around 20%.

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Originally Posted by crasherino

I'd be interested in seeing what the graduation rate is in the NFL. My guess is that it's somewhere around 20%.

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Remember Dexter Manley he couldn't read or write and passed through HS and attended Oklahoma State on a scholarship because of football.. Listening to some players speak it's amazing they made it out of the 1st grade.. However football makes huge bucks for the schools but they aren't doing the players any favors by passing them with little or no intellectual ability..

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Originally Posted by NY's stepchild

Curtis Martin never got in any real trouble. He was from a bad neighborhood, but never involved with those people. I'm not huge CMart fan. I don't like the fact that he had no passion for the game, but he also had no passion for anything else either. He would have been steady wherever he went.

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Are you serious? There's no way...NO WAY...you become the fourth leading rusher in NFL history without passion. No way you have 10 consecutive 1,000 seasons without passion. No way you miss five games in 11 years because of passion. RB is one of the hardest positions to play in terms of punishment, so for someone to go back out there time and time again and not only play but also EXCEL, takes more passion than most people will ever know. Just because he was a quiet dude doesn't mean he didn't have passion.

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Originally Posted by MykePM

It seems painfully obvious in looking at the Hernandez and Goodson situations this offseason that some players should not ever play for their hometown teams. If a player comes from a stable family background (like say, D'Brickashaw and hopefully Aboushi), it may actually be a plus for them to have a strong support structure around them. However, when a player has a history of off-field issues, particularly related to having ties to "the wrong crowd", the best possible thing for them (and in some cases, perhaps their only hope) would seem to be to get them away from the area they grew up in and provide support in breaking all ties with "friends" who would lead them down the wrong path.

While some teams reportedly downgraded Hernandez's draft ranking severely based on his history, in retrospect the Pats maybe should have taken him off their board entirely because of the close proximity he would have to the people he grew up with - people who could potentially draw him into situations that could lead to this type of criminal activity.

By that same token, other than some paternity and payment delinquency issues that Rich Cimini was all too happy to reveal to the world, Mike Goodson hadn't gotten into any serious issues with the law until he moved back to New Jersey, where he was originally from. Should the Jets have seen that coming?

I wonder if Curtis Martin's life would have turned out very different if he had been drafted by his hometown Steelers instead of New England -- where his main influence was a strong father figure in Parcells instead of the people he knew from the rough environment he grew up in.

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You have the right to make sense, anything that makes sense-able understanding, you will be held accountable!

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Originally Posted by NY's stepchild

Curtis Martin never got in any real trouble. He was from a bad neighborhood, but never involved with those people. I'm not huge CMart fan. I don't like the fact that he had no passion for the game, but he also had no passion for anything else either. He would have been steady wherever he went.

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I think you get this from Martin himself. Who has said those words exactly. But, the way he conducted himself belies any contention that he lacked passion. The simple fact is no one outworked Martin, and no one played, and played well, through painful injuries like he did. I don't know if you call it "passion" or something else, but whatever it is, I want every member of my team to have it.

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He took the game up only after being pushed into it by his mother pleading with him to do some type of after-school activity. She wanted him to escape his neighborhood and life in inner-city Pittsburgh. That morphed into him being offered scholarships by multiple schools.

"That didn't add up," Martin joked. "That's two things I don't like, school and football."

He added that he was a running back who didn't like to run and still doesn't. But by age 20, having survived his home life and having done "a bunch of things I wasn't proud of" along the way, Martin said he spoke to God. Martin had always expected to die by age 21.

Instead, he promised that if he made it to 21, he would give his life over to his faith and "do whatever you want me to do."

In this case, that was football. For a man with little passion for the game, Martin played as hard as anyone. Former coaches and teammates have spoken over the years about Martin's toughness and willingness to play through pain as he gained at least 1,000 yards in each of his first 10 seasons.

That toughness was nurtured (perhaps coerced) by legendary coach Bill Parcells, who presented Martin for induction. Martin recounted several Parcells stories and "Parcells-isms" as he put it. One of those was when Parcells, after getting a call from an ailing Martin, said, "You should never come out of the huddle because you never know who is going in the huddle." That was Parcells' way of telling Martin that everyone was replaceable.

Martin admitted that his jealousy of any teammate who played running back drove him to outwork them and anyone else on the team. For a man who had little passion for the game, Martin threw himself into it.

This weekend, he started to grasp the love of the game when he listened to other Hall of Famers talk about their experiences.

And he came to a conclusion that might answer the fears of a lot of other people who are thinking about the game.

"I was asked by a reporter earlier this week if I would allow my child to play football," Martin said. "I don't know, I would probably be reluctant. But if my kid can learn what I learned from this game, I'd let him play. I think it's worth the risk."

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http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--cu...ll-speech.html

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Originally Posted by MykePM

It seems painfully obvious in looking at the Hernandez and Goodson situations this offseason that some players should not ever play for their hometown teams. If a player comes from a stable family background (like say, D'Brickashaw and hopefully Aboushi), it may actually be a plus for them to have a strong support structure around them. However, when a player has a history of off-field issues, particularly related to having ties to "the wrong crowd", the best possible thing for them (and in some cases, perhaps their only hope) would seem to be to get them away from the area they grew up in and provide support in breaking all ties with "friends" who would lead them down the wrong path.

While some teams reportedly downgraded Hernandez's draft ranking severely based on his history, in retrospect the Pats maybe should have taken him off their board entirely because of the close proximity he would have to the people he grew up with - people who could potentially draw him into situations that could lead to this type of criminal activity.

By that same token, other than some paternity and payment delinquency issues that Rich Cimini was all too happy to reveal to the world, Mike Goodson hadn't gotten into any serious issues with the law until he moved back to New Jersey, where he was originally from. Should the Jets have seen that coming?

I wonder if Curtis Martin's life would have turned out very different if he had been drafted by his hometown Steelers instead of New England -- where his main influence was a strong father figure in Parcells instead of the people he knew from the rough environment he grew up in.

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excellent point.... what a great story for someone to investigate. I would bet you are right on the money with this.

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Originally Posted by ASG0531

You should submit this to Bleacher Report. I'm sure NFL front offices will be amazed by the insights of your new study reports. If only Belichick had taken into consideration the fact that Hernandez was from CT where lots of his homeboys were nearby.

Belichick is bff with Urban Meyer... if Hernandez were a true red flag not worth drafting, his bff would alert him.

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Pretty defensive, aren't you? I guess you have reason to be this week.

This isn't a "study", it's just a thought. Maybe Hernandez wasn't more of a "red flag" at Florida because his "homeboys" were 1000 miles away. Thanks for helping support my theory.

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Originally Posted by NY's stepchild

Curtis Martin never got in any real trouble. He was from a bad neighborhood, but never involved with those people. I'm not huge CMart fan. I don't like the fact that he had no passion for the game, but he also had no passion for anything else either. He would have been steady wherever he went.

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Curtis has often talked about what a "knucklehead" he was when he was younger and how his mother made him play a sport to try and keep him out of trouble. He also has mentioned how he could well be dead because someone pulled the trigger on a gun pointed at his head multiple times but no shot came out. If he was playing for the Steelers, you don't think he would have spent more time with those same people in those same neighborhoods, putting himself in more dangerous situations?

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Originally Posted by MykePM

Pretty defensive, aren't you? I guess you have reason to be this week.

This isn't a "study", it's just a thought. Maybe Hernandez wasn't more of a "red flag" at Florida because his "homeboys" were 1000 miles away. Thanks for helping support my theory.

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Your theory is stupid. You're drawing some huge generalizations and haven't proven a thing.

"NFL execs should never draft players who grew up near the location of their team's headquarters." LOL. OK, buddy. :roll:

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Originally Posted by ASG0531

You're right, everyone should have seen this coming. All of the media held their tongues while Hernandez was a choir boy for three years and was a top-5 TE in the league... but they all "knew" about his red flags and are being proven right. :rolleyes:

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Hernandez fell to the 4th round because the league viewed him as a risk. The Patriots got 3 good years out of him before they rolled craps, but it doesn't mean the risk wasn't foreseeable. And with all of the stories coming out now, it doesn't sound like he was a choir boy for 3 years either.

Having said that, the point of this thread wasn't how the Patriots specifically blew it in this case. They're not the only team who have seemingly discounted the danger of having a high-risk player live near his troublesome former associates. I mentioned the Jets' gamble on Goodson also in case you missed it while you were seeing red.

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Originally Posted by ASG0531

Your theory is stupid. You're drawing some huge generalizations and haven't proven a thing.

"NFL execs should never draft players who grew up near the location of their team's headquarters." LOL. OK, buddy. :roll:

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Stop calling good Jet fans stupid here,.you pathetic troll.