AB

Hey Disco1981.

Great line: "But I could take him in a Spelling Bee". Yeah, I am pretty sure you would win that one hands down.

On a more serious note, as a teacher I can honestly say that the term "Student-Athlete" really should be reversed in conversation nowadays to the "Athlete-Student". There used to be a time, not to long ago, that academics took precedent over athletics. It seems, no more though. It is very disheartening. As I listen and look at the samples of AB's public speeches and writing samples, it makes me cringe. It really is becoming a sad state of affairs. However, I cannot fully blame the athlete. Some of them (especially the top tier) are catered to in so many ways because the end goal today for some coaches, and their schools, is winning at all costs. What makes this even worse is that this sometimes starts at the elementary school level. I have witnessed it first-hand folks. It is real and is a real crisis if you ask me. Once again, very sad.


STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

My post wasn't at all difficult to understand. If you really couldn't follow, that is an issue with your reading skills.

Of course, I don't really believe that. I think you just know you can't counter any of it, so you're covering with another personal attack and backing away. That's fine. I've wasted too much time on your false claims as it is.

 

Hey

Back in the day, the Penn State football team had a higher graduation rate than Harvard’s. The education came first. If you didn’t do well in class, you didn’t play. Let alone any other shenanigans.

 

One of the scariest comments ever. If that is true, everything that has happened has been orchestrated. It was all intentional.

With a clear, lucid mind, AB wrecked a HoF career. He threw furniture off a balcony as a contemplated act of civil disobedience. He intentionally forfeited tens of millions of dollars to demonstrate the misguided allure of capitalism. He ostracised himself from the NFL to establish just how unnecessary it is.

I'm afraid for AB's attorney. Dude is cray.

 

And this is his “other” attorney. If everything is okie dokie how many attorneys do you need? If he doesn’t have an agent, how did he know who to hire? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

Many have taken this route.

 

This "other" attorney sounds more like a handler than a litigator. Probably a paralegal that the real attorney designated to watch out for AB and do some PR. If so, the real attorney is chewing the para's ass right now for making stupid claims.

 

https://cbssportsradio.radio.com/articles/vontaze-burfict-hit-changed-antonio-browns-life

Add Colin Dunlap to the list of people claiming that the Burfict hit caused permanent brain damage in Brown. Honestly, I think this is irresponsible at best for a journalist, but it doesn't surprise me at all coming from Colin. He is much better suited for talk radio than actual journalism. I don't mean that as a criticism. He's just a guy who is likely to lead with his fist or his heart rather than his head sometimes, perhaps even moreso after his daughter's battle with cancer.

I'm not saying he is wrong, but diagnosis from a distance is dangerous, especially from someone who isn't a doctor. Then again, perhaps having done some boxing, he has at least done some research into brain injuries.

 

And that’s your opinion. I don’t like him, but I’m over it and I’m seeing his problems are deeper than I thought. I don’t want to see him hurt himself or anyone else. So yeah it’s good he’s getting his mental health looked at

 

Omg, you can't make this stuff up.

https://dailysnark.com/antonio-brown-gets-out-of-jail-hilariously-starts-running-the-wrong-way/

FREE AT LAST FREE AT LAST THANK GOD I'M FREE AT LAST

He didn't say that this time, but it would have been hysterical.

What he DID say to his attorney was to get the car and not tell him what to do. Then he told him to act like a chaperone and get the car.

Even with an ankle monitor on and the real possibility of jail time, AB is STILL above everyone else. We are here to serve him.

Interested to see how that works out for him in jail. He wouldn't be placed with the hard core criminals, but I still don't think he's going to fare well if he starts bossing cellmates around.

 

AB didn't run the wrong way.

it was Ben's fault...

 

So was AB always mentally ill or did CTE contribute?

 

Hey jeh1856.

Yeah, times have changed and with it priorities. It is particularly bad in basketball. However, many of these young athletes are promised pie in the sky. Yet, once they get hurt, they are thrown to the scrap pile with so many others. There is a lot of blame to go around. Even the athlete him/herself. However, most of it falls on the coaches and those doing the recruiting as the athlete, many times buys into the pie in the sky BS. Unfortunately, many of these athletes are coming from some very depressed walks of life and look at sports as their way out. Unfortunately again, many of them do not realize that the odds are really stacked against them to make it to the ultimate elite level of becoming a pro athlete.


STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

Perhaps it is a little of both?

 

The kids should value the education that is available to them. Many many examples of elite talent that went bust before their payday.

 

Dude was snowballed by ABs "I has the money" charade. Thinks AB will pay up.

 

Brady is the kid copying the answers, no?

 

They're undoubtedly on retainer. I can't imagine any attorney bankrolling AB.

But what's up with him not paying his bills? I would think that when you come from nothing and make it, that you would WANT to pay for the nice things that you can afford.

 

Hey Roonatic.

Unfortunately your idea has one major flaw: the word "value". Personally, my life, teaching and coaching experiences are solely limited to the inner-city arena for that is where I grew up and worked my entire life. However, some of the following concepts/ideas are universal in one sense no matter one's background.

Given that, the city and its school district that I am from, have consistently had one of the top ten High School Dropout rates nation-wide for decades. As I stated above, and piggybacking off of your comment, it is the mind-set of not "valuing" education which is the downfall of so many of our student-athletes. It has become a perpetual cycle of entrapment which continues to be a generational issue in which there feels like a state of never-ending hopelessness.

Often, the mind-set to life is one of a day to day mode of thinking instead of mapping out, and carrying through, on a long-range contingency plan beyond professional sports. One that includes the successful completion of High School followed by some type of Post-Secondary Education/Training.

Furthering one's job-marketing skills and ability to compete in a workforce that is not athletically-driven really is not on many of our student-athletes' agendas. As you stated: "Many many examples of elite talent that went bust before their payday". Once again, many of our students do not look at it that way. They sincerely believe that they are going to make it as a successful Professional Athlete even though the odds are stacked against them. As a teacher I feel an obligation to drive home the point of having that contingency plan if a career in Professional Sports falls short. However, common sense just does not prevail with so many of them. It hurts to know that for many of them the highest athletic achievement will be one of a "Local Playground Legend" and that is where it will end.

As I stated earlier in this post, I did not have to grow up in rural America to know that similar-type stories exist out there as well. The common denominator is the same just a different venue. Visions of grandeur, for many of these young folks, with dead-end sports careers, unfortunately will always exist. Nevertheless, we must keep trying to instill the importance of education long past their time spent on the playing field.


STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

This a reality, so few really even make it to the pros. let alone elite level. Every person has to make their own choice, but watching these kids give up their final year (or years) of eligibility for a draft, then not make the team just saddens me. This debate could go down so many bunny trails as well. I used to coach LL baseball and dealing with dad's who thought their kid was all star talent, and seeing the kid pushed beyond the point where the sport is even fun. Heck when I was a kid you had a glove and ball with you all the time in the summer, then fball in the fall. Now my nephew has his kids in Baseball activities year round, and while the kids love their dad, I can see that they are doing it more for him than them enjoying it.

 

Couldn't be more true. And baseball is a tough sport on younger kids because of the stress on the shoulder. Someone did a study on how many times the rotator cuff was subjected to full shoulder rotation in a professional athlete's lifetime. Can't remember who or what the number was, but it was staggering. Kids being pushed to compete and get better before their bodies are mature enough and ready are more likely to suffer stress (physical) related injuries.

And parents living vicariously through their kids athletic accomplishments almost always dilute the pure enjoyment of competition.

 

Hey Vox Ferrum.

Yes, it is the old story in some cases of delusion or parents living dreams through their children.

Delusion: As a Coach of many different sports for decades now, I cannot tell you how many parents I have met who honestly believe that their son/daughter is going to be the next "All-World" Professional Athlete in a particular sport. I am no professional scout. However, I think I am a fairly good "Evaluator" of athletic talent. Given that, I can pretty much analyze, with a high accuracy rate, as to which of these children will make it to the Professional level for a given sport. To this day, about 30 years later, I have not seen one make it to the Pros for any sport. Some have had good success at the Collegiate Level and even some at the Semi-Pro and Minor League Levels as well. However, to make it to that next step of the Pro Level is extremely difficult and only the very "Elite" few make it. Great College careers, Semi-Pro, Minor League etc. come a dime a dozen. To separate themselves from those "Packs" rarely happens as you probably know.

Living Dreams: Yes, this too. It goes hand in hand with the Delusional piece I wrote about above. Whether you see it as a TV movie or in real life, it exists. Again, I have seen this story unfold numerous times. Unfortunately, it is the child-athlete that suffers. You know the story: the parent who never made it to the "Big Time". And not just for sports. It could be acting, singing, dancing etc. as well. Parents/Guardians have to realize that they can not want it for their children. The child must find his/her own way regarding these matters as the desire must come natural. Also again, desire does not always equate to success at the Professional Level.


STEELWINDS AKA The East Side Kid

 

How about merging this AB sh!tshow thread with the super mega douchebag AB thread over on the general forum?