NFL players acting the bollox!

digzy

Just looking at NFL.com and espn, the league/teams seem to have to take a lot of action against player indiscipline.
Just find it amazing how guys work so hard (I presume) to 'make it' and then piss it all away.
Fellas like Jonny manziel and Greg hardy come to mind. And I just see two lads from one college who're with the bears and pack got in trouble lately too.

Part of me thinks what guys do in their free time (domestic abuse...guns) should be handled by the proper authorities

You rarely hear rugby/soccer players getting into the same sh1t the NFL players do....or maybe it's brushed under the carpet?

jack presley

digzy wrote: »

Just looking at NFL.com and espn, the league/teams seem to have to take a lot of action against player indiscipline.
Just find it amazing how guys work so hard (I presume) to 'make it' and then piss it all away.
Fellas like Jonny manziel and Greg hardy come to mind. And I just see two lads from one college who're with the bears and pack got in trouble lately too.

Part of me thinks what guys do in their free time (domestic abuse...guns) should be handled by the proper authorities

You rarely hear rugby/soccer players getting into the same sh1t the NFL players do....or maybe it's brushed under the carpet?

To help you keep track

http://nflarrest.com/arrest-o-meter.html

HigginsJ

digzy wrote: »

You rarely hear rugby/soccer players getting into the same sh1t the NFL players do....or maybe it's brushed under the carpet?

Ah now, soccer players are in sh1t every other day.

With the NFL guys, alot (the vast majority, although Manziel is an exception, he's just a moron) come from poor backgrounds so are not ideally equipped to deal with the sudden influx of money that hits them when they reach the NFL. Go onto youtube and look up the "Broke" documentary for a bit more insight into this.

I would say alot of what goes on in college campuses never comes to light either so what you see with NFL guys in college may only be a tip of the iceberg.

The likes of TMZ make their livings off of videos of stars getting into sh1t and I'm not sure of an equivalent in the UK, maybe the Sun & Daily Mail to a degree I guess.

mcgratheoin

digzy wrote: »

You rarely hear rugby/soccer players getting into the same sh1t the NFL players do....or maybe it's brushed under the carpet?

Just in comparison, there was a study done a few years ago that showed NFL players were less likely to be arrested than the general population - it's a newsworthiness/ high profile issue.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235215300015

HigginsJ

jack presley wrote: »

To help you keep track

http://nflarrest.com/arrest-o-meter.html

Look at the well behaved Giants!! Go Giants!!

j8wk2feszrnpao

digzy wrote: »

You rarely hear rugby/soccer players getting into the same sh1t the NFL players do....or maybe it's brushed under the carpet?

Well, big money in rugby is still relatively new.
But there's been incidents; perhaps the most recent being the issues for James O'Connor/Ali Williams in Toulon.
The domestic abuse and gun violence (different gun control over here) doesn't appear to anywhere near as prevalent though.

digzy

HigginsJ wrote: »

Look at the well behaved Giants!! Go Giants!!

Exactly!
Can you imagine if the Dublin forwards went on a party boat a week before a championship game!

Just find it surprising that guys can perform despite the off field stuff

Not condoning it but usually the footballer stuff is cheating on the wives/roasts etc.. never hear of them in terms of class a drugs and gun issues

digzy

Even In terms of PED issues. You'd be suspicious at the low levels amongst top rugby/ soccer players.

A few of my beloved packers tested positive last year but it seems to be swept under the carpet

j8wk2feszrnpao

Kinda ridiculous difference between Minnesota (at the top with 49) and Houston (at the bottom with 13). Cincinatti and Denver stand out as well.
Although, maybe a weighting system would change it quite a bit (Aaron Hernandez comes to mind).

JaMarcusHustle

Another factor is how these guys are heralded as local celebrities from a very young age, and so when most of us are learning about consequences, responsibility and learning to fend for yourself, these guys are being pandered to by their teachers, their coaches, their law enforcement, their parents, their mayors....basically everybody. Don't go to class? You'll get a pass anyway. Commit a crime? It'll be made go away.

A lot of them have never had to deal with consequences, adversity, or responsibility anywhere other than on the football field.

And then you give that person a multi million dollar contract? Good luck trying to keep that in check.

digzy

JaMarcusHustle wrote: »

Another factor is how these guys are heralded as local celebrities from a very young age, and so when most of us are learning about consequences, responsibility and learning to fend for yourself, these guys are being pandered to by their teachers, their coaches, their law enforcement, their parents, their mayors....basically everybody. Don't go to class? You'll get a pass anyway. Commit a crime? It'll be made go away.

A lot of them have never had to deal with consequences, adversity, or responsibility anywhere other than on the football field.

And then you give that person a multi million dollar contract? Good luck trying to keep that in check.

could that not be more applicable to soccer and rugby where there's no 'college' to worry about?

When you read the lifestyles of the top rugby/soccer players they're pretty strict (look at tackie tyrell's attitude to eating a biscuit). Yet nfl guys seem to have plenty room for booze and even getting involved with the criminal stuff even though the competition must be ferocious

JaMarcusHustle

digzy wrote: »

could that not be more applicable to soccer and rugby where there's no 'college' to worry about?

When you read the lifestyles of the top rugby/soccer players they're pretty strict (look at tackie tyrell's attitude to eating a biscuit). Yet nfl guys seem to have plenty room for booze and even getting involved with the criminal stuff even though the competition must be ferocious

But they don't have to "worry" about college. It gets even easier for them there. They have coaches and ADs they see on TV every week pandering to them, telling them how great they are. They're invited to visit and treated like Hollywood superstars everywhere they go on campus. Girls are asked to throw themselves at them. Boosters are offering them fancy cars, offering to pay their way through college, arranging jobs for their families etc. They're invited to the biggest rivalry games and allowed to enjoy them from the sidelines. Some of the college's biggest former players are there to meet and greet.

In a lot of areas in America - particularly the southern states, Texas and to an extent California - High School football is bigger than religion. The only thing a lot of these kids learn in high school and college is that they are untouchable. Which is ultimately not true and they found out the hard way that though their talent is ultra rare in a pool of 1,000,000 other high school footballers, and still relatively rare in a pool of 70,000 college football players - it becomes more and more common in the pool of 300 rookies who tend to make NFL rosters.

You get away with in high school and college because there's no one else as talented as you. In the NFL, the next guy is usually just as good as you.

I don't think Soccer or Rugby have anywhere near the same cult/religion status at grassroots level that American Football does in the States so you're held accountable for your actions before you make it to the top level.

It's a little bit off topic, but this article by SB Nation a couple of years ago is one of the best football related articles I've read and ties in with some of the above. It details the extent to which these high school players are worshipped, and the underhanded recruiting tactics that are used to woo them: http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2014/4/10/5594348/college-football-bag-man-interview

TOss Sweep

digzy wrote: »

Exactly!
Can you imagine if the Dublin forwards went on a party boat a week before a championship game!

Just find it surprising that guys can perform despite the off field stuff

Not condoning it but usually the footballer stuff is cheating on the wives/roasts etc.. never hear of them in terms of class a drugs and gun issues

To be fair Dublin forwards couldn't afford the parties these NFL guys throw

digzy

TOss Sweep wrote: »

To be fair Dublin forwards couldn't afford the parties these NFL guys throw

'I'm on a boat....'

raze_them_all_

mcgratheoin wrote: »

Just in comparison, there was a study done a few years ago that showed NFL players were less likely to be arrested than the general population - it's a newsworthiness/ high profile issue.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235215300015

Nfl science also said concussions dont cause brain injuries....

Morte

digzy wrote: »

could that not be more applicable to soccer and rugby where there's no 'college' to worry about?

When you read the lifestyles of the top rugby/soccer players they're pretty strict (look at tackie tyrell's attitude to eating a biscuit). Yet nfl guys seem to have plenty room for booze and even getting involved with the criminal stuff even though the competition must be ferocious

Stricter doesn't mean better. Anthony Daly says he laughs now when he thinks of all the crazy stuff Loughnane had him doing in the 90s. Running up hills all the time is a waste of time for a top athlete. Likewise the GAA attitude to booze is crazy. It is best not to drink but a few pints a week before a match is no major harm. Plus NFL players get months of holidays in comparison to rugby and soccer players who only get a short break. The likes of Gronk can be a party animal in the off season but I'm sure he's tucked up in bed early with his playbook when he's training the next day.

I'd agree with Jamarcus, American footballers get treated as gods for all their lives and that's not healthy. Just looking at the other side, in American football the talent is really dispersed throughout the country and the high schools. It's very difficult to tell who are the best but if you're anywhere near NFL standard you'll be on a completely different level to a lot of the guys you're playing with or against. Soccer is much more centralized. Most of the best players are identified early and get recruited to a major academy by their early teens if not earlier. This firstly means that they don't stand out as much. The second thing is that as the academy is attached to major club one youth player is no big deal to the organization. Manchester United won't put up with some random 15 year old acting in a way Ibrahimovic or De Gea wouldn't get away with. The really troubled ones are booted out the door and out of the sport at a young age and we never hear about them. One player who did act the maggot in a way NFL players do would be Ravel Morrison. He's widely regarded as the best talent Ferguson ever had from the youth system in all his time there and in the end even he was booted out. Somebody who was very good but not as stellar would never have lasted past the first incident.

And of course most NFL players keep out of trouble and keep their bodies in great shape. We just don't hear about that.

Billy86

HigginsJ wrote: »

With the NFL guys, alot (the vast majority, although Manziel is an exception, he's just a moron) come from poor backgrounds so are not ideally equipped to deal with the sudden influx of money that hits them when they reach the NFL. Go onto youtube and look up the "Broke" documentary for a bit more insight into this.

what best sums that up in my opinion is the guy who got his first NFL pay check (six figures, if I recall) and went to cash it in one of those glorified loan shark short term money-lenders because he had absolutely no concept of having a bank account. Memory is a bit fuzzy on it, but I think it was one of the guys working there who felt bad for him and brought him to the local bank to set up an account?

Billy86

munstermagic11 wrote: »

Well, big money in rugby is still relatively new.
But there's been incidents; perhaps the most recent being the issues for James O'Connor/Ali Williams in Toulon.
The domestic abuse and gun violence (different gun control over here) doesn't appear to anywhere near as prevalent though.

Read a week or two back that two Irish players are up for rape in France - not internationals but at least one of them had the potential to be apparently.

Rugby is more of a middle/upper class sport though, as mentioned many football players come from complete poverty which plays a role.

the baby bull elephant

Billy86 wrote: »

Read a week or two back that two Irish players are up for rape in France - not internationals but at least one of them had the potential to be apparently.

Rugby is more of a middle/upper class sport though, as mentioned many football players come from complete poverty which plays a role.

At the moment those two are considered witnesses, nothing more.

Billy86

the baby bull elephant wrote: »

At the moment those two are considered witnesses, nothing more.

Ah ok, hadn't seen any updates.