On the TunneySide of Sports September 16, 2019, #761 Talent overrides Character!
After further review… If you have been following the antics of National Football League wide receiver #84 Antonio Brown in his journey from the Pittsburgh Steelers to the Oakland Raiders to the New England Patriots, you may be as disgusted as many NFL fans have expressed. In a recent sports media panel one well-known panelist said, well, talent overrides character. As my late friend, Dr. Dick Enberg would have said, “Oh, my!”
Is that what has become of the league with whom I have been a part for 60 years? There is no question that superior talent is important for play and to sustain while playing in the NFL, but where does the character of a player, coach or T*E*A*M come in? Many erstwhile NFL fans have written to the TunneySide expressing that disdain for Brown’s actions.
More than one media source, television as well as print, suggested that this was a maneuver that Brown planned and executed himself. The comment was that Brown, who had a dispute with Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, which became the final blow with the T*E*A*M, never did want to go to the Raiders, but was maneuvering the trade system to get to where he is now – the Patriots. Just saying…
The concern here is: does talent override character for players and coaches? If so, what does that relay to our younger athletes who look up to them? In a T*E*A*M sport how important is character in the locker room and in the huddle? Moreover, should the character of a player or coach be a concern for the National Football League?
It is obvious that younger players – Little League to high school to college – want to “be like their professional big brothers.” When the NFL decided it would avoid the criticism of being called the “not-for-fun” league and allow player celebrations, the young took up that challenge and emulated their big brothers. At the high school and college level, it got so out-of-hand that rules now have been put in place to penalize spiking-the-ball and choreographed celebrations. The NFL still allows those acts without penalty.
It is the opinion here that player, coach, and T*E*A*M character is important. Should individual acts that deride character go without consequences? How important is that in our daily lives?
Will you log-in your thoughts about the importance of character in the sports world?
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