Wheel of Morality, Turn Turn Turn

Marshawn has crushed my dreams. Now, I don’t believe in nothin’ anymore. I’m going to law school!

Marshawn needs to hang out with Captain Square Ass (Trent Edwards). I don’t know about his upbringing, but let’s just say he didn’t come from Walnut Creek. He might need some guidance – guidance that he may have only partially learned at Cal – in order to turn the corner. Marshawn seems like a loyal dude to me, and he maybe pretty loyal to friends that could get him in trouble.

As a side note, did Marshawn finish up his degree and actually graduate?

Deltha O’Neal actually graduated from Cal and he unfortunately got a DUI in December of ‘06. I don’t know the circumstances around that though. Perhaps he had 3 beers in 2 hours, thought he was ok, and then drove. In this case I can see it as a “mistake.” Or, perhaps he gets smashed all the time and drives drunk…if that’s the case then I don’t think it was a mistake.

Regardless, I think we might be tap dancing around the real issues – and these are issues that I can only speculate without knowing the real facts so please feel free to correct me. Many of our collegiate and professional athletes come from poor SES backgrounds and either have a broken family or have been exposed to things that suburb preppy kids just don’t experience. As a result, it can put them into situations that are very difficult to escape.

Your posse is supposed to have your back. None of these charges should’ve been put on him.

Marshawn is above any of these human laws.

Like many, I don’t care about the marijuana. It’s not something that I’ll be trying, but for the life ofme I’ll never understand why cigarettes and booze are legal when they cause the same issues dope does.

The gun really bothers me. I think it could fall into 2 categories (assuming the gun is in fact Marshawn’s)

1. Marshawn keeps the gun because he feels vulnerable as a successful pro athlete and wants to protect himself. OK, I think that’s a little paranoid, but I’ve never experienced fame, so I won’t judge. But goddammit, register the weapon and make sure it’s legal! Be smart about it!

2. Marshawn just kind of likes having guns around. This one bothers me because it’s blatantly obvious that he’s seen what kind of damages gun violence can do to a community. Sweet Jesus, his home was shot up in a drive by! With his experiences why would he EVER want to be anywhere near a gun?

As for the whole role model issue, I never really bought that. If you were a kid who idolized Marshawn, I doubt you’re wanted to go get an unregistered handgun right now. You’re probably heartbroken that your favorite player has been dumb at least twice now. And to a certain extent, that’s a lesson in itself about the real world.

Any adult who goes nuts about how athletes are horrible role models I think is afraid to face the real reasons that kids go bad and insults the intelligence of the same kids – thinking they have no ability to judge a real-world situation correctly. We have more important issues.

I always wondered why more professional atheletes don’t just spend some or most of their offseason in Amsterdam. You can do as much pot smoking as you’d like, and not have to worry. Sure, its not as nice as being in your own home, with your type of food around, but it beats legal headaches, possible suspensions, and general pain in the ass.

i think marshawn’s actions have been pretty dumb, but morally, i don’t have a problem with smoking pot or owning weapons. i don’t think he’s a bad person, but i do think he needs to be smarter, and realize that when he gets caught doing dumb things he not only hurts his employer (negative press for the franchise) and his teammates (getting suspended), but his own marketability.

i don’t think professional athletes should be required to be saints or anything, but i do think that, due to the extra media scrutiny, they need to try harder to keep their private stuff private.

he’s got to choose a better posse (or weed carriers) THOSE are the guys who are supposed to take the gun charge and the drugs charge. That’s why you have an entourage.