It was supposed to be the Johnny Manziel Show, but the talk of this year's NFL Draft will center around openly gay University of Missouri pass rushing specialist Michael Sam. His carefully prepared rollout of a public acknowledgment included placed stories in choice outlets designed to spark questions and, most of all, buzz. Questions and speculation runs the spectrum from where will he be drafted to whether he will be accepted.
First of all, plain and simple, if Michael Sam has NFL talent, he will get an opportunity.
At 6'2, weighing 255, his height could be an issue. Ideally, NFL squads like pass rushers with more length than Sam offers. He, however, excelled in the Southeastern Conference against NFL ready linemen. If anyone had any questions about whether or not he has NFL talent, this fact alone answers it.
The bigger question is if he will be accepted in an NFL locker room. Also, how will his team handle the blistering press attention? Some compare his possible entrance to Jackie Robinson, others see loose similarities with Tim Tebow and even Manti Teo.
Former NFL linebacker Lavar Arrington on his drive time show in Washington DC's WJFK insisted that Sam faced many of the same pressures and potentially much of the same hostility as Robinson. The most vulgar in opposing fanbases will never let him forget his sexuality. Then again, you also have the viral video of a Jets fan from last season screaming for his own team's quarterback to tear his ACL. Fans will be fans. Sam will get the taunts, no doubt. Certainly they will sting in a way that no one outside of his situation could imagine.
No one can predict how a specific locker room might react, but certainly executives do fear the scrutiny and potential issues.
That is why Sam will likely be drafted lower than he should, but will most likely end up with a winning organization.
Winning organizations generally forbid chaotic locker rooms. Witness the report on the hapless Miami Dolphins that described continual meltdown over several years. Remember how Tim Tebow, personally the least offensive player one can imagine, polarized the locker room of the New York Jets. Extra attention for non football attributes can rub people the wrong way, particularly on a losing team. No matter whether the player is gay, an evangelical Christian, or a famed balloon artist, there will be jealousy.
Winning organizations establish professionalism. Players and coaches do not become automatons, but they do have a clear understanding of what they can and cannot do or say. They want to stay with a winner, so they conduct themselves accordingly. So Sam will likely end up playing for one of those well-established winners like the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers, or San Francisco 49ers. Winning stems from a professional attitude established at the top. They also specialize in handling the press and putting public attention in its proper place.
And that would be the best possible outcome. On a team like the Steelers or the Patriots, Sam simply becomes a player doing his job. That was certainly not his intention when his people orchestrated his announcement, but that would be the best result for both Sam and whatever team drafts him moving forward.
Showing posts with label Lavar Arrington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lavar Arrington. Show all posts
Friday, February 21, 2014
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
The Allure of Infamy
Yesterday afternoon, Lavar Arrington on his Washington DC based drive time radio show compared the Saturday antics of Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel to singer Miley Cyrus. He pointed out that both individuals used their talents to boost their notoriety rather than their fame.
Neither of them are the first to figure out that bad deeds get more attention. Sometimes this works, but for other people infamy burned out their abilities and the public's patience.
One such example of infamous success was James Gordon Bennett, who has been described as "one of the gamiest characters ever to appear in the world of New York journalism." He founded the New York Herald and made it a success based on the city's hatred of him. Bennett in the 1830s and 40s spun tales of scandal, pornography, and defamation in a day where those convicted suffered a horsewhipping. He used even these tales to feed the hunger of a market salivating for salaciousness. Sheer circulation made Bennett and his notorious paper a political force in a powerful city.
New York also nurtured the outrageous personalities of Senator Roscoe Conkling, Joe Namath and George Steinbrenner.
But for every Bennett comes a thousand or more Icaruses for whom the image outpaced the substance. Bennett, Namath, Steinbrenner, and others of their ilk worked hard to build the substance beneath the style. They never confused image with accomplishment.
Notoriety is freely gained, but lasting success must be earned. Even in today's reality television environment, programs like "Duck Dynasty" have outstripped numerous other shows about pretty young people being pretty and young. The market is more interested in watching people who produce and profit.
Enter the earlier compared individuals. First, Miley Cyrus. She had established a strong career path that started with acting, then branched into singing. Then, either out of rebellion, weirdness, or calculated career movement, she went for the lowest common denominator of entertaining, stripping down and singing about partying and sex. Her recent television performance garnered her everything from accusations of racism to outright ridicule.
In other words, people saw a cheap stunt for what it was.
The sun has already singed Johnny Manziel's feathers. The freshman Heisman Trophy winner from last year turned quickly into the most hated individual in North American sports. Manziel may or may not have signed autographs for cash, but few see that alone as a moral failing. The NCAA suspended him for a half of a game because they could find no evidence to prove what they thought that he did. For a brief second, the NCAA was the bad guy picking on a 20 year old kid.
Then came the strangeness of the part of his game against Rice where he was allowed to appear. He scored touchdowns, but also taunted opposing players (of Rice, mind you, hardly a powerhouse) with hand gestures indicating autograph signing and demanding money. He then showed complete disrespect to the coach who put him on the stage when he was removed for generally behaving like an ass.
This came after a fun off season of trashing his own university, behaving like a boor at a University of Texas college party, and generally acting like, as Brian Urlacher said this week, "a punk."
Even though he comes from a family with generations of flouting the rules, Manziel courts disaster.
He may not realize it, but the NFL has seen this act before. Usually it falls flat. General managers and coaches want to invest endless hours of time and many millions of dollars into players they can believe in. Quarterbacks are especially dicey. The right one can set a team up for a decade of success. The wrong one can deliver heartbreak and coach firings fairly quickly.
Some busts, like JaMarcus Russell, suffered from a handicapping condition. Russell had sleep apnea, slept through meetings, got cut, gained weight, and will never play again. Ryan Leaf had a bit of Manziel's bad boy persona and flamed out quickly. Tim Tebow behaved properly, worked like a madman, but did not pan out because the NFL demands more precise abilities than he could muster.
And some great college quarterbacks just don't have the brains or the thick skin to handle the intellectual and emotionally rigorous demands. The job also requires intense discipline. Manziel has already shown that he lacks this. Wide receivers, some defensive players, and a few other positions can be characters to an extent. Quarterbacks have to be machines. They can have personalities, but those must come second to the work and the leadership.
In short, if you want to make the NFL as a quarterback, act like all four of the Redskins quarterbacks. Robert Griffin III is charismatic without being arrogant, hardworking without bragging, swagger based on substance. Kirk Cousins is the direct understudy. He knows that he will only start if disaster strikes, but works with the coaches, remains upbeat, and bides his time. Rex Grossman serves as the elder statesman. Much maligned (with reason, he does throw a ton of interceptions) he serves as an extra coach to mentor the three younger men playing his position. Last on the list comes the rare fourth string quarterback Pat White. He frittered away his first opportunity at Miami, but came back this summer. Grit, physical courage, intelligent game management, and determination won him a spot, at least for now. If the Redskins ever release him, many other teams have also expressed interest.
In short, none of them are knuckleheads and all are on track to pursue their dreams.
Antics grow old because a person has to top their last stunt to keep people's attention. One can only get so far and then people stop paying attention. Or they get in the way of what the person is actually supposed to be doing. Miley Cyrus's next stop is Sydney Leathers and Kim Kardashian style pornography. Unless Manziel gets his mind right, he might find his draft stock drop considerably.
Attention does not equal accomplishment. Maybe the likely falls of Cyrus and Manziel could serve as object lessons for the next generation. But as long as people equate infamy with success, that is unlikely
Neither of them are the first to figure out that bad deeds get more attention. Sometimes this works, but for other people infamy burned out their abilities and the public's patience.
One such example of infamous success was James Gordon Bennett, who has been described as "one of the gamiest characters ever to appear in the world of New York journalism." He founded the New York Herald and made it a success based on the city's hatred of him. Bennett in the 1830s and 40s spun tales of scandal, pornography, and defamation in a day where those convicted suffered a horsewhipping. He used even these tales to feed the hunger of a market salivating for salaciousness. Sheer circulation made Bennett and his notorious paper a political force in a powerful city.
New York also nurtured the outrageous personalities of Senator Roscoe Conkling, Joe Namath and George Steinbrenner.
But for every Bennett comes a thousand or more Icaruses for whom the image outpaced the substance. Bennett, Namath, Steinbrenner, and others of their ilk worked hard to build the substance beneath the style. They never confused image with accomplishment.
Notoriety is freely gained, but lasting success must be earned. Even in today's reality television environment, programs like "Duck Dynasty" have outstripped numerous other shows about pretty young people being pretty and young. The market is more interested in watching people who produce and profit.
Enter the earlier compared individuals. First, Miley Cyrus. She had established a strong career path that started with acting, then branched into singing. Then, either out of rebellion, weirdness, or calculated career movement, she went for the lowest common denominator of entertaining, stripping down and singing about partying and sex. Her recent television performance garnered her everything from accusations of racism to outright ridicule.
In other words, people saw a cheap stunt for what it was.
The sun has already singed Johnny Manziel's feathers. The freshman Heisman Trophy winner from last year turned quickly into the most hated individual in North American sports. Manziel may or may not have signed autographs for cash, but few see that alone as a moral failing. The NCAA suspended him for a half of a game because they could find no evidence to prove what they thought that he did. For a brief second, the NCAA was the bad guy picking on a 20 year old kid.
Then came the strangeness of the part of his game against Rice where he was allowed to appear. He scored touchdowns, but also taunted opposing players (of Rice, mind you, hardly a powerhouse) with hand gestures indicating autograph signing and demanding money. He then showed complete disrespect to the coach who put him on the stage when he was removed for generally behaving like an ass.
This came after a fun off season of trashing his own university, behaving like a boor at a University of Texas college party, and generally acting like, as Brian Urlacher said this week, "a punk."
Even though he comes from a family with generations of flouting the rules, Manziel courts disaster.
He may not realize it, but the NFL has seen this act before. Usually it falls flat. General managers and coaches want to invest endless hours of time and many millions of dollars into players they can believe in. Quarterbacks are especially dicey. The right one can set a team up for a decade of success. The wrong one can deliver heartbreak and coach firings fairly quickly.
Some busts, like JaMarcus Russell, suffered from a handicapping condition. Russell had sleep apnea, slept through meetings, got cut, gained weight, and will never play again. Ryan Leaf had a bit of Manziel's bad boy persona and flamed out quickly. Tim Tebow behaved properly, worked like a madman, but did not pan out because the NFL demands more precise abilities than he could muster.
And some great college quarterbacks just don't have the brains or the thick skin to handle the intellectual and emotionally rigorous demands. The job also requires intense discipline. Manziel has already shown that he lacks this. Wide receivers, some defensive players, and a few other positions can be characters to an extent. Quarterbacks have to be machines. They can have personalities, but those must come second to the work and the leadership.
In short, if you want to make the NFL as a quarterback, act like all four of the Redskins quarterbacks. Robert Griffin III is charismatic without being arrogant, hardworking without bragging, swagger based on substance. Kirk Cousins is the direct understudy. He knows that he will only start if disaster strikes, but works with the coaches, remains upbeat, and bides his time. Rex Grossman serves as the elder statesman. Much maligned (with reason, he does throw a ton of interceptions) he serves as an extra coach to mentor the three younger men playing his position. Last on the list comes the rare fourth string quarterback Pat White. He frittered away his first opportunity at Miami, but came back this summer. Grit, physical courage, intelligent game management, and determination won him a spot, at least for now. If the Redskins ever release him, many other teams have also expressed interest.
In short, none of them are knuckleheads and all are on track to pursue their dreams.
Antics grow old because a person has to top their last stunt to keep people's attention. One can only get so far and then people stop paying attention. Or they get in the way of what the person is actually supposed to be doing. Miley Cyrus's next stop is Sydney Leathers and Kim Kardashian style pornography. Unless Manziel gets his mind right, he might find his draft stock drop considerably.
Attention does not equal accomplishment. Maybe the likely falls of Cyrus and Manziel could serve as object lessons for the next generation. But as long as people equate infamy with success, that is unlikely
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