Guaranteed Money: Why Not Just Rookies Need Contract Guarantees

The rookie contracts in the NFL are currently the best contract an NFL player can receive at this point. The reason being is the guaranteed money that comes with the contract.

NFL contracts for players are not currently guaranteed, meaning that let’s say a offensive linemen signs a contract for seven years for $35 million, with a majority of the money coming in the fifth, sixth and seventh years the first four years the player will be able to collect the money.

Throughout his career he suffers injury after injury and eventually retires after the average length of an offensive linemen in the NFL, which is three and a half years. Now the question is since the player retired due to injuries what is their option to gain an income?  What happens to the player if the injuries are so severe that they are not able to work? What can these ex-players do to better themselves?

This is where it gets sickening. Due to the fact that the average age of death for an NFL player is 55 years of age, they do not even get a chance to use their pension.  This is because in order to take out a pension, a player needs to be 55 years old.  

If the player collects the pension early there’s a major penalty.

So, even though the NFL is growing and making billions of dollars every year, the ex-players are not getting the disability support they need. Brian DeMarco is one former player who had no food in his home but with the generosity of programs such as the Gridiron Greats Foundation, he was able to get the supplies he needed.

But these stories don’t always end well for former players.  There’s the example of Mike Webster who committed suicide. Another example is of another player who had 13 surgeries on one leg and was still denied disability. Another player who actually got disability suddenly found that after his case was reviewed without any notification his disability was gone.  He was forced to live in the streets.  

The NFL Players Association has constantly turned its back on its former players. Yet, when these rookies first come into the league you hear about the contracts being signed. Like the one signed by Matt Stafford the first pick in the NFL draft for 2009. Stafford signed a six year $78 million contract with $41.7 million of guaranteed money.

That guranteed money is the best thing to happen to the NFL. Not because the players are being greedy, but in case they have to retire early they have money that they can use because they probably will not be receiving any kind of disability from the NFL.

Unfortunately if the player isn’t a rookie and does not get any portion of the contract guaranteed they are stuck if a career ending injury occurs. It means that they could be struggling to make ends meet.  This happens frequently and the NFL Players Association often turns its back on these players.

It is time for the NFL to at least make a minimum contract that is guranteed regardless of if the player is a rookie or not.

Threats of Suicide Are Serious and Should Not Be Ignored by Anyone

There’s an important message that can be learned from the tragic loss of life of both Steve McNair and Sahel Kazemi. It’s a message that has been heard before and we will continue to hear. 

This message is that if you feel like someone is going to end their own life, get them some help whether it is from a parent, a counselor, or a hotline. If you feel they are in immediate danger, call 9-1-1.  

According to most articles I’ve read on the situation that happened with McNair and Kazemi, it has been quoted that Kazemi’s life was “spinning out of control” and according to her friend, Kazemi stated “my life is a ball of sh*t and I should end it.”

When is it going to hit people when friends say things like that they are in need of help? That is not a time to laugh because you feel like it is a joke and it is also not a time to ignore the person who believes they are better off ending their life because you feel they are just doing it for attention.

There’s a quote that goes, “Man can live about 40 days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope.”

Yet, her friend that she talked to about ending her life didn’t think of getting help for Kazemi. It sounded to me from the quotes Kazemi was desperate for a way out and never got the help she needed, so she took it into her own hands.  

The problem is when that cry for help is ignored or not dealt with properly like in this case, that’s when the hope is all but gone. So the only way out is to kill themselves. Sometimes it’s successful, other times it is not.  

I’m not condoning the actions of Kazemi, but it was obvious from the more recent articles in regards to the case, Kazemi needed receive the help she needed. Her problems were mounting due to the fact she had two cars in her name.

She was the one making payments for the SUV that she had told her friends McNair had bought for her. The other car was a Kia, but she was not able to sell it, so she continued to make payments on it. Kazemi’s roommate was moving out, meaning that her rent was in effect doubling because she obviously hadn’t found a new roommate.

The interesting piece to the puzzle according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution article “McNair’s Girlfriend Felt Like Life was Falling Apart” is that Kazemi had a sad childhood according to her friends and family.

Yet, in another quote from that article, it states from her sister that, “She was scared to be alone.” With that, you can only imagine what it meant for her if McNair was having an affair with another individual.

She was scared of being left behind by McNair who provided her a better lifestyle then she could give herself, but if he left, that meant that she would more than likely lose her condo and possibly her cars because she was only working at Dave and Busters for minimum wage and tips.

Kazemi told her friend the night she killed herself and McNair that she was better off dead.

How many times are we going to see this until someone does something? Even if you believe the person is in no immediate harm, it is better to be safe than sorry.

I remember more than five years ago, a friend of mine named Sara kept telling me she wanted to kill herself after a fundraiser at the college she attended. I knew she meant it but since I was in a completely different state, I had no clue how to get the help she needed.

My first idea was to contact the school newspaper and so I did. At the time, I still had AOL so I decided to search for people who went to that college and the first message when I explained the situation didn’t believe me. The very next person I sent a message to had the same response, but it was obvious she wasn’t alone in the place where she was on AOL.

Apparently, she explained the situation to her friend. Turned out Sara was actually someone she pledged with. She eventually got a hold of Sara and they started talking and planning for her to get help.

Because I had written to the campus newspaper apparently the campus security came to Sara’s door. They wanted to make sure she was alright and she ended up talking with the counselor at the school.

So, again what can we learn from this terrible tragedy where two people have died tragically? What we need to learn is to start listening to people and stop ignoring their message when someone says something about ending their life prematurely, regardless of context. It is not something to laugh at and it is definitely not something to ignore.

The band Good Charlotte had a song called “Hold On,” which came out in 2002, about suicide. According to the music video, which I will post a link to, there’s a suicide every 18 minutes in the United States. This means that there’s at least three per hour. 72 people die from suicide each day in the United States. Here’s the video to “Hold On.”

One Tree Hill had an episode titled, “With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept.” It was about a character on the show who felt abandoned by his friends. Each one of them had gone their separate ways once high school began and he was left alone because he became an afterthought to his friends.

This isolations lead him down a dark road where eventually he took his own life. Again, that fear of being alone and isolated was the same with Kazemi. Here’s a link to the public service announcement link.

My hope is that people will come to the realization after learning of McNair and Kazemi’s death. Kazemi should not be labeled as a “psycho bitch” as some people have commented on other articles, but to look at what lead her to the event and question would I be able to identify if that was my child would I have been able to help her? Would I have been able to see the warning signs?

It is not our position to judge Kazemi as a “psycho bitch.” It is time for us to examine what we can learn from this unfortunate loss of lives.

If you feel like a friend or even a family member needs help there are resources out there and here are some:

http://suicidehotlines.com/

http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

http://www.covenanthouse.org/nineline/

http://www.mhsanctuary.com/suicide/hotline.htm

http://www.suicide.org/suicide-hotlines.html

http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/suicide_prevention.html

 

Another Tragedy For The NFL, Steve McNair Found Fatally Shot

July 4th is a day of celebration for the independence of our country. Yet, for the Tennessee Titan and Baltimore Fans who may have not seen the reports yet, former starting quarterback Steve McNair was found fatally shot in his home.

McNair is just 36-years-old. He led the Titans to the Super Bowl and came within a yard of sending that Super Bowl to overtime. He retired last year from the Ravens due to injuries.

Before Michael Vick came into the league, McNair was the quarterback who lead to the more athletic type of starters. With the ability to run for first downs as well as throw.

Today is another sad day for the NFL.

The NFL: Where Neglecting Ex-Players Happens

The NFL has always been known for the violent hits and in certain cases devastating injuries. In most cases, when a big hit happens the player that gets hit usually is able to get up, some get up slower, some need assistance from teammates, and others may need a stretcher to be taken to an ambulance.  

So, it would be safe to say that the NFL would treat their former players well? Certain it would make since because the NFL is one of the better earning of the major professional sports, but it couldn’t be further from the truth.

I stumbled on an article titled “Casualties of the NFL” by Paul Solotaroff who writes for the Men’s Journal and was in the book I recently purchased titled The Best American Sports Writing 2008.

It begins by using the example of Brian DeMarco, who’s 6’7″ and 323 pounds, according to the article as well as pro-football-reference.com. DeMarco played the first four year of his career with the Jacksonville Jaguars and his last year in the league with the Cincinnati Bengals, which was in 1999.

DeMarco was a pulling guard for the Bengals, and he not only could run well but he was very strong, bench pressing 500 pounds.

On this fateful day that ended the career of DeMarco, he was the lead blocker for Corey Dillon and was set to deliver a hit on the incoming linebacker, but Dillon tripped and fell in the back of DeMarco’s legs, pinning his knees to the turf. 

He started falling forward when the linebacker he was going after lowered his helmet and drove right through him, which meant that his chest was still going downfield and his hips were going upfield, which practically knocked him into two pieces.

DeMarco says in the article “I heard the pop in my back as I was going down and just felt this pain like I never felt before. I’m at the bottom of the pile under a thousand pound of guys and I’m thinking I’m never getting up. I’ll never walk again.”

The Bengals trainers got him to the sideline after the incident and got him on a bench where the trainers tested his legs. He wasn’t paralyzed, but was not able to sit up.

What happens next is the doctor takes out a four-inch needle, hiked up his uniform and injected DeMarco with lidocaine. After that DeMarco got up because the lidocaine numbed the area and went back into the game.

Yet, reentering the game meant that he was coming in with bits of his spine that had been broken on the play.

That was eight years ago, and now DeMarco is living in Austin, TX. He is now dirt-poor and can never find a comfortable position to sit or lay down because it causes him agonizing pain.

Jennifer Smith was invited by DeMarco’s wife, Autumn. She looks around and can barely believer her eyes. She says “there was no food in the house, and I mean none-not a box of mac and cheese or a can of tuna. Brian and Autumn hadn’t eaten in a couple of days and between them and seventy-five cents. Total.”

Gridiron Greats is an organization that has developed recently. It was created to help care for ex-football players whose injuries have left them in despair and in this case she flew in on short notice to attend to DeMarco.

She has the ability to give DeMarco $2,500 to replenish the food supply and when the bank opened since she came in on a weekend she was able to give thousands more.

DeMarco isn’t the only player that the NFL has turned their back on. Terry Long and Andre Waters committed suicide, one at 44 years of age and the other at the age of 45. Justin Strzelczyk died in a car crash at 36 years of age, and Mike Webster heart attack at 50.

Each one of these players when the brains of these former players were scanned showed staggering amounts of brain damage.

The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) takes in over $7 billion, yet fewer than three percent of the men who played in the league receive disability benefits even though there’s over $1 billion in assets.

Earl Campbell is only 52 but has to rely on a walker to get around. Al Toon ended his career after suffering his ninth concussion, and Wayne Chrebet retired in 2005 with concussion issues—and Chrebet is still debilitated by the headaches causes from the concussions in his playing days.

Jim Ringo, Mick Tinglehof, and Webster suffered from severe dementia as young men.

The difference in today’s game is huge. Around 20 years ago the average weight of an offensive linemen was 280 pounds and they could play into their 30s. Today the average linemen is 320 plus pounds and averages only three and a half seasons.

Darryl Johnston states, “When I broke my neck doing what I was trained to do, the league and union told me to get lost. The second I couldn’t play I was dead meat to them. It was ‘so long”, see you later, and don’t call us.”

This is in reference to the fact that Johnston was looking to file for disability but was turned down by the retirement board.

Even Mike Ditka admits that it was tough when he played as well. “I took cortisone injections three times a week and had four hip replacements after I quit the game, but that’s football, and we chose to play hurt.

“We paid the price and thought the game would pay us back, but the league and union sold us out. In every sports, you’ve got your adversaries. I never thought we’d have to fight our own.”

Ditka has also joined forces with the Gridiron Greats which was founded by Jerry Kramer who serves as board of director and sitting on the board is also Gayle Sayers, Harry Carson, Joe DeLamieulleure, and others. It’s to raise awareness of what the Players Association is doing to ex-players.

Joe Montana states “the NFL is the worst-represented league, on the players’ side, in pro sports.”

Ditka claims “There’s so much money in this god-damn game, and no one gives a shit about these guys. bill Forrester’s attached to a feeding tube, Joe Perry has to chose between eating and pain pills, and here’s this Upshaw, with his $6.7 million salary, saying there’s no dough left to help them out.” That’s greed talking, and nothing else.”

He adds that “It’s criminal.”

Gene Upshaw refused to speak to Solotaroff in regards to the  article. When Congress staged a hearing about the union’s treatment of injured veterans in late June, he has responded like a little kid calling Ditka too “dumb” to understand this issue and threatening to break DeLamieuller’s neck.

He also elected to leave the country when Congress wanted to speak with him. What does that say about Upshaw?

After an exhaustive investigation and countless interviews with ex-players who have been injured as well as a look at their medical charts, reports from doctors that were selected by the league, and conversations with critics of the Players Association in the medical and legal community.

The findings showed that the pattern of conduct by the NFLPA denies former players the money that they need and money that they are entitled to. The NFLPA has painted a very bad picture of themselves by turning their backs on the men who built the NFL up in the first place.

Back to DeMarco, who can list names of players who were gone from the league, examples of Tony Boselli, who played left tackle, gone at 29 after surgeries on his knee, shoulder, and ankle; Leon Searcy, right tackle, leg woes and waived at 32, Jeff Novac, left guard retired at 31 after playing on a leg that bled, but won $5 million due to the doctor who performed surgery on him.

DeMarco states that the trainers were the ones that put the wood to the players. “They handed out these big, long packets of vicodin always hassling you with ‘you playng? You’re playing right?’-And that wasn’t even on game day. That was Wednesday practce.”

What’s amazing though is what happened in 1997. In a game, DeMarco knocked down Tony Siragusa of the Baltimore Ravens. Siragusa was on his back, one leg planted in the turn, when DeMarco was slammed sideways by someone behind him and landed on Siragusa’s upturned knee.

DeMarco shattered three ribs and two dislodged from the cartilage. He was carried off the field and was barely able to breathe because of the pain.

DeMarco states “The doctor took this needle, filled it up with lidocaine, put a towel in my mouth saying, ‘This’ll burn.’ “He stuck that four-inch needed up under my rib cage- six big shots from my rib cage to spine, and suddenly I couldn’t feel a damn thing. They wrapped up my ribs, which were sticking out sideways and sent me back in on the same series.”

He further explains “Anytime a crowd’s gathered around on the sideline, they’re doing something they don’t want you to see.”

Dave Pear states the same thing but that was back in the ’70s. In a game against Seattle in ’79, he took a hit that felt like “lightning” down his spine. Pear says “I came over to the sideline and the team doctor-his nickname was Needles-sends me back in the game.

“He says I had a broken neck, and I was in agony the rest of the season; but he said I was a hypochondriac and there was nothing wrong with me, and host me up with whatever he said I needed.”

It turns out that Pear needed seven surgeries on his upper and lower spine. He is not able to work and can barely earn a living when he could work. Pear had two young children but he was not able to take care of them and had to send them back to their mothers.

In 1983, that was the first time Pear attempted to apply for NFL disability and he was approved by the physician the league sent him to. Yet Dee Becker, a union claims representative, that he brought too much “information” to the examining room (basically stating he influenced the doctor). This meant that his claim was denied.

In ’95, he tried once more this time under a new class of claims which meant permanent and degenerative conditions. As like the other time he applied he had a slam-dunk medical case. The league’s appointed doctor again found him suitable for disability, but again Pear was denied.

Pear asked “what do you have to be to be considered disabled?” Becker responds by saying “Unless you’re in a wheelchair like Darryl Stingley, you won’t get the benefit.”

With nowhere else to turn, Pear took out his pension early and now gets $600 a month from the NFL for his six years of backbreaking service.

Mike Mosley cannot even put a roof over his head. What happened to Mosley was that a doctor botched a surgery. He was a returner and flanker with blazing speed and ran at 4.28.

The doctor who treated Mosley fixed the cartilage that Mosley tore but did not repair the ligament which eventually frayed as he was trying to run. He went from returning kicks to not even being able to bend his knee.

In 1998, he filed for disability and somehow was approved. It meant that he got $9,000 a month allowing him to buy small house and win custody of his daughter, who was five years old.

In 2004, without a word, the NFL union cut him off. He tried appealing but got nowhere. The union would stop taking his calls and soon he lost his house, truck, and he and his daughter had to move into his 75-year-old mother’s. They get back on her social security check of $319 a month.

Mosley explains, “There’s nothing left, they took it all from me, and never even gave a reason. If you talk to Upshaw-and I tried like hell to-could you as him how he lives with himself?”

There’s even more questions the Union needs to answer such as why has Conrad Dobler been denied five times for disability? He’s had 13 operations on just one leg. Willie Wood can’t even pay for his assisted living. Mercury Morris is still fighting in appeals court to overturn the pension board’s decision, 20 years later.

Yet, to ask the question to the league office, good luck! No one will answer the phone or return a call.

So, Solotaroff looked at the facts and found that in the ’60s, the pension fund began to grow just like the game. Team owners in 2005 paid $67.9 million to cover the Bert  Bell/Pete Rozelle NFL Retirement Plan, earns millions more a year in additional interest on its vast investment holdings.

What changed was in 1993 with the landmark bargaining agreement between players and owners that made partners of the long-term enemies. It created confusing new rules and it created a bureaucracy with a six-man board of trustees, made up three reps from owners and players apiece.

A screening committee has the power to approve or reject claims was also created.

Even worse is the fact that ex-players have to prove that the injuries suffered were caused by football they have no chance of getting to the $9,000 a month.

Mosley states “That’s the trick they pulled on me.” They shopped and shopped ’til they found a quack doctor who would cross me off their list.”

Even worse is if you even look at what the Union claims the Union stated they paid out $20 million a year to 317 disabled ex-players and that many of them get the maximum benefit of $18,600 a month.

When going through the tax forms for 2006, the most recent year available show that only 121 players received disability and the estimated cost was $9.2 million.

Upshaw then misleads on how the money gets to the players. He states that the money comes from the active players, which is an outright lie. The only thing the players have done is decrease their annual salary by $56,000 to contribute to the fund.

What it really means is that every cent that goes towards the ex-players is from the owners themselves, not the active players.

Bernard Parrish claims that “Gene lies and lies, telling the young guys today that they’ll have nothing to retire on if he pays us. It’s divide and conquer, and it distracts them from his real job, which is guarding the owner’s money.”

Further disgusting the reaction of Upshaw in the case of Webster. He was the member of the all-century team, but after he retired he showed signs of dementia.

According to a lawyer Bob Fitsimmons “He was drifting for years when I got him to the doctors who diagnosed severe TBI (traumatic brain injury).  The union hired an investigator to try to discredit Mike, brought their own doctor in who agreed with my doctors, and they still denied us three or four times and kept trying to spend him dry.

“Finally we got to trial and won a huge judgment in district court. But even after the union lost again on appeal, Upshaw told reporters that the board voted that day, they’d still go against Mike, six to nothing.”

What’s sickening is the fact that Upshaw is supposed to put the players’ interests first, not the owners.

Upshaw though is the most highly paid union chief he makes more than Billy Hunter and Donald Fehr.

Yet, the only thing that can define Upshaw’s legacy as head of the union is his failures. He never got players guaranteed contracts, long-term health insurance, and failed to get a big percentage of total revenues as union chiefs have in other sports.

Ditka states “I know too many guys it’s happened to-Larry Morris, Jim Ringo, Harden Hill, John Mackey-I could go on and on. It just tears you apart to see ‘ em like that, and then have the leauge claim it didn’t come from football. Why is it all on their wives and families, and how many more are out there?”

In 1994 the NFL established the Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Committee, with Dr. Elliot Pellman at the chair. Pellman maybe why because his expertise wasn’t in neurology and is one of the possibilities why his experts could not find a link between concussions and dementia.

The reason for this was because of Brent Boyd, who like so many ex-players ran out of appeals. His case is definitely sickening considering the fact that he had the opportunity to get $18,00 a month, but wanted more because of the concussions and chronic pain.

Barry Axelrod helped him out as well trying to get the NFL to give him the monetary damagers. They went to two different doctors who concluded the same things and that the pain was caused from the concussions.

He went to a third doctor, a neurophysician named Barry Gordon. Gordon didn’t even bother taking a look at him instead a grad student did the exam. Did the student even do any tests? No.

The only thing he did was shine a light into Boyd’s eyes and checked his reflexes. Gordon wrote in his notes that the records were incomplete and that was how Boyd lost out on the money because he was out of appeals even with the numerous doctor visits he had before.

Body says, “Every reputable expert says that blows to the head’ll cause damage if it happens enough. The NFL happens to have the only neurologists who say the juries still out.”

Pellman as stated was no expert in neurology and it showed why because he backed up the practice of sending players with concussions back into games. Which, of course he got scorned by leading neurologists for it and in 2005 The New York Times reported that he’d misstated his bona fides for over a decade. Of course, Pellman stepped down right away.

Andre Waters’ suicide in November of 2006 opened a lot of people’s eyes to the dangers of head injuries. The release of the forensic exams showed that he had a brain of an 88-year-old patient.

Strzelcyzk, like Waters, Long, and Webster also had the brain of a much older man, or what is referred to as a severely punch-drunk boxer.

The NFL committee’s doctors downplayed the findings and thought that they were an exception and dismissed their claims as “soft science.”

Jennifer Smith the woman who was helped the DeMarco’s spent a week with them. She helped get things paid as well as getting them a used truck. The fund that she worked with helped get the DeMarco’s $20,000, but even with that the charity can’t help the DeMarco’s out that much longer.

Smith states that “What Brian needs-what all our guys need-is for the league and union to honor their obligations. We’re a band-aid at best.”

The touching moment of the story is the fact that Smith was able to get DeMarco to a pawn shop in town. What was at the pawn shop? It was a weathered pigskin that was signed by every member of the Jacksonville Jaguars from their inaugural season.

After reading this story there were a few words that could describe my feelings after reading it. Here are some examples: pissed, angry, sick, etc…

The example of Boyd reminded me of Steve Wallace who was a left tackle for most of his career with the San Francisco 49ers. I remember him having to need a special helmet because he had so many concussions.

Steve Young and Troy Aikman also had to retire early due to concussions. How is the NFL going to treat those three if they suddenly deteriorate due to the concussions they suffered in their careers?

It’s amazing how many stories of ex-players there are being turned down by the league and what makes it worse is the fact that there are a limited numbers of appeals a player has to get disability.

Other sports like baseball and basketball have guaranteed contracts. So, even if a player is injured they can still get money or at least save some so if they need it at a later date they have it.

Even worse is the fact that team doctors are willing to put players back into games when they are severely injured. That isn’t even ethical.

Although, I do see the league changing its stance on concussions. There have been times where a player has suffered a concussion or head injury and for precautionary reasons they are sent to the doctors.

I wonder why that might be. Could it be the fact that ex-players have been fighting with the Players Association for disability for so long, that they are now trying to cover their asses by sending them to the hospital?

Recently there has been a $28.1 million settlement between the Players Association and retired players, but it wasn’t about disability it was about licensing misusage.

The good news for the ex-players is that DeMaurice Smith has taken over as the head of the Players Association after the death of one of the most despicable human beings in Upshaw.

Smith was quoted as saying that he “wanted to move toward a better partnership between retired players.”

This comes from the article recently in the New York Times titled “NFL Union Reaches Deal with Retired Players.”

If Smith wants to build a better relationship with the retired players it is time for him to change the way the process of getting disability is handled. Meaning getting rid of the men currently on the board who are just as bad as Upshaw.

There’s definitely changes that Smith needs to make and it starts with getting these ex-players the disability they deserve.

Donte’ Stallworth Articles Are Getting Ridiculous

There’s been plenty of discussion and articles lately on bleacherreport and elsewhere in regards to the punishment that was handed down for Donte’ Stallworth who plead guilty to DUI Manslaughter.

The charges come from an accident involving Stallworth and 59 year-old Mario Reyes. Stallworth had been out drinking that night and was driving drunk. He had a blood alcohol level of .126 which of course is over the legal limit of .08.

Reyes was in a hurry to catch his bus after he had just clocked out from work, which meant it was around 7 A.M. Reyes was crossing a causeway between Miami and Miami Beach.

The speed limit on this stretch is 40 miles per hour. Stallworth though was going around 50 miles per hour at the time of the accident.

So, here’s the facts of what happened—Reyes was jaywalking trying to cross the causeway to get to his bus stop, and Stallworth was going around 50 miles per hour while he was driving drunk.

From articles describing the accident, Stallworth tried honking his horn and flashing his lights at Reyes, but there was too little time for Reyes to get out of the way and Stallworth hit Reyes with his Bentley.

Stallworth immediately stopped, called 911, and explained what happened. Reyes died on his way to the hospital.

During this time, Stallworth cooperated with the police, took the routine tests that are standard procedures, and admitted to what had happened, taking full responsibility for what had happened.

Also, after Stallworth plead guilty to the charge, the NFL suspended Stallworth indefinitely without pay.

Yet, this accident was avoidable. If Reyes wasn’t jaywalking Stallworth would have never hit him. What makes it even harder, there’s no guarantee even if Stallworth hadn’t been drinking that he would have been able to avoid hitting Reyes.

There’s only one factor in the two illegal activities and that was Reyes. If he hadn’t been in the causeway, Stallworth would have never hit him.

Stallworth was able to make a plea deal, and he got 30 days in jail, two years of house arrest, eight years of probation, 1,000 hours community service, and a lifetime suspension of his license (only after five years can he get special circumstances to be able to drive, such as going to work), and a financial settlement with the Reyes’s family.

Both sides agreed on this and were happy with the outcome. One of the reasons why is that the family wanted it to be over as quickly as possible, the second reason was because of the lack of a criminal history of Stallworth, and lastly and most importantly is that Stallworth remained at the scene and took accountability for his actions and accepted the consequences that were associated with what Stallworth had done.

Sean Crowe, though, would have you believing that Stallworth is a murderer. In Crowe’s article titled “Roger Goodell Should End Donte Stallworth’s NFL Career, Crowe is quoted as saying “Mario Reyes was guilty of nothing more than trying to walk home from work.”

Yet, Crowe pointedly ignores the fact that Reyes was doing something illegal himself. He was jaywalking—while jaywalking isn’t as bad as driving drunk, there was a reason why it is illegal. It is so events like the one that happened to Reyes do not happen.

Reyes was in a hurry to get out of work and catch his bus. Instead of going to a crosswalk and waiting for it to say “walk”, he decided to tempt fate and unfortunately for Reyes, it didn’t end well for him. 

Then in the article it tries to state that a dog’s life is more important than a human life, which couldn’t be further from the truth. The only reason why Crowe even mentions dogs is because of Michael Vick who got suspended by the NFL and was put in jail for two and a half years.

He may have had a valid point at having NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell suspend Stallworth and make an example out of Stallworth, but by comparing the two cases it just cannot be done. 

There were more issues than just the dogs being killed. There was the fact that Vick held the fights at his residence, he financed the whole operation, and then he attempted to cover it up and lie about what was going on there.

Stallworth didn’t purposefully run over Reyes, and Stallworth never lied about what happened, and like mentioned before, he took accountability and accepted the punishment that was handed down to him.

There’s a huge difference between Stallworth purposefully running down someone and driving away. Then you could make a murder case; but that is not what happened.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m not saying that Stallworth is a saint, and that he didn’t deserve to be punished. He has been punished and I believe it was a fair punishment that was handed down to him.

Each side in the case was happy with the outcome. Part of it was because of what I mentioned before that Stallworth has had no criminal history before, and the other part of that was the Reyes family themselves wanted to get it over as quickly as possible.

 

 

The All-NFL UCLA Team

UCLA has had some great players that have come into the NFL either by being drafted or by being signed as a free agent. This slideshow will examine the best of the best that have come into the NFL.

There of course will be some surprises, there will be players that are big names, and others who weren’t so big but made an impact. The slideshow will start from the offensive side of the ball to the defensive side and will include all positions.

The NFL All-Cal Team

This is a slideshow that if a team was going to be created by players played for the California Golden Bears. Some names will surprise and others won’t be much of a surprise.

It will include all positions from quarterback to kicker. We’ll start with the offense and then work to the defensive side of the ball. Some players will be playing out of position due to the lack of depth at the position.

Some of the positions like receiver, cornerback, and quarterback was hard too choose from due to the lack of players drafted/signed as a free agent form Cal, but all in all this team would definitely be solid.

Washington Redskins Win In Court To Keep Name

In court, the Washington Redskins have won a legal case stemming from the name “Redskins” which has been said to offend some Native Americans. Too them, it is deemed as a racially offensive.

According to my source the “Redskins win new legal fight with Indian Group.”

The Redskins won in both the court of appeals and the lower court ruling that determined on a technicality that the seven Native Americans waited too long to challenge the name Redskins.

So, on a technicality the Redskins were able to keep their name the way it is as well as it should be. It is true that it shouldn’t have taken 17 years for the cases too proceed through the court system.

I get the fact that in today’s world people want the American culture to be politically correct, and there are things that will offend certain people, but may not offend others.

For example, Barack Obama speaking at Notre Dame for the graduating class at the University of Notre Dame has offended many Catholics.

A few people were offended he was asked to speak at Notre Dame based on his views of abortion. Yet, even though there was a minority who didn’t want him there as well as protestors, Obama still gave his speech.

There is another article on Bleacher Report as well titled “Washington Redskins win Legal Battle to be Racist.” It was written by Jarrett Carter.

While I respect his opinion, I disagree with the fact that the court is stating that the Washington Redskins won the right to be racist. In fact I have the exact opposite view.

There’s other teams out there that could be also considered offensive too people although some of the names may not be racist, but they can be controversial too some as well.

Plenty of teams have names that could be considered offensive too some like the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Golden State Warriors, Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Braves, etc….

I believe that the Redskins should be able to keep their name and it has nothing to do with how much money is spent on the team, whether it’s for apparel, billboards, etc.

The reason why the Redskins should be able to keep their name is because the National Football League and the Washington Redskins players can assist with educating their fans and others about Native Americans.

Also, the Redskins organization could donate time, money, and services too assist Native Americans as retribution.

Instead of looking at the team name in a negative light the organization can help too create a more positive light on the situation and the name Redskins, instead of a negative one.

Lastly, if you were ask people name some famous Redskins, you are more likely to get an answer about “the hogs”, Joe Gibbs as coach, Doug Williams, etc….So, the meaning of name isn’t held to what it once was.

The “N” word doesn’t hold what it used to; it still is considered a racist term if a Caucasian person used the word. I don’t mean to stereotype, but there’s plenty of African Americans using the word too address each other these days.

Words can change meanings, some in negative ways and others in a positive way. Maybe the term “Redskin” can be the one that is seen more in a positive light then negative light.

Either way, whether you agree that the Redskins should keep their name or not, it’s time for people to come together and understand others cultures and that there’s much bigger things in life then fighting over a football’s team name and if it should be changed.

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