Richard Sherman Article on Desean Jackson
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MeekMonizzLLLLLLe14
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http://www.richardsherman25.com/blogs/news/13325245-mmqb-in-this-corner-04-02-2014
I’m not going to tell you that DeSean Jackson isn’t in a gang, because I can’t say unequivocally that he isn’t. I can’t tell you whether his friends have done the things police have accused them of doing, because I wasn’t there. I can’t tell you what DeSean does with his time, because we play football on opposite ends of the country. I can only tell you that I believe him to be a good person, and if you think, say or write otherwise without knowing the man, you’re in the wrong.
And if it’s true the Eagles terminated his contract in part because they grew afraid of his alleged “gang ties,” then they did something worse. [Editor’s note: Jackson has agreed to terms with the Redskins.]
I look at those words—gang ties—and I think about all the players I’ve met in the NFL and all of us who come from inner-city neighborhoods like mine in Los Angeles, and I wonder how many of us could honestly say we’re not friends with guys doing the wrong things.
I can’t.
I grew up in Watts, and I played baseball with DeSean in elementary school on a team coached by his father near Inglewood. His father, Bill, picked me up from elementary school 30 minutes away from his home for practice and games because my parents both worked and didn’t finish until later, and I wanted to play baseball with some childhood friends. Bill was a great coach, and a great man. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2009, the summer after his son’s rookie season. DeSean and I didn’t hang out then like we did as kids.
Those men with DeSean in the social pictures and the police reports weren’t his closest friends in childhood, but when his father died and few people were there for him, they were there. When a tragic event like that happens, the people who are around are the people who are around, and they were there for him.
I can’t change who I grew up with. What I can do is try to educate them, help them and keep them out of trouble.
Was DeSean supposed to then say, “Thanks guys, but now that I’m a millionaire, please leave me alone”? Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t have. In desperate times for people who come from desperate communities, your friends become your family. I wouldn’t expect DeSean to “distance himself” from anybody, as so many people suggest pro athletes ought to do despite having no understanding of what that means. Going to college and playing in the NFL creates a natural distance, but we can’t push people away just because they’re not as successful as us. I can’t change who I grew up with, but what I can do is try to educate them on the right way of doing things, help them when they need it, and try to keep them out of trouble.
There is, of course, a tipping point. There have been times when I realized that someone can’t be helped, because they continue doing the wrong things. Typically, the only time I cut someone off is when they’re in jail, because I can’t help them there.
And if they’re accused of a crime, as DeSean’s friends have been, should that reflect poorly on me? Consider that for every several guys I try to help who end up dead or in jail, there’s another person I was able to rescue from a similar end. Should I give up on everybody out of fear of being dirtied by the media?
Sorry, but I was born in this dirt.
NFL teams understand that. The Seattle Seahawks get it. The Philadelphia Eagles apparently do not.
I’m not going to tell you that DeSean Jackson isn’t in a gang, because I can’t say unequivocally that he isn’t. I can’t tell you whether his friends have done the things police have accused them of doing, because I wasn’t there. I can’t tell you what DeSean does with his time, because we play football on opposite ends of the country. I can only tell you that I believe him to be a good person, and if you think, say or write otherwise without knowing the man, you’re in the wrong.
And if it’s true the Eagles terminated his contract in part because they grew afraid of his alleged “gang ties,” then they did something worse. [Editor’s note: Jackson has agreed to terms with the Redskins.]
I look at those words—gang ties—and I think about all the players I’ve met in the NFL and all of us who come from inner-city neighborhoods like mine in Los Angeles, and I wonder how many of us could honestly say we’re not friends with guys doing the wrong things.
I can’t.
I grew up in Watts, and I played baseball with DeSean in elementary school on a team coached by his father near Inglewood. His father, Bill, picked me up from elementary school 30 minutes away from his home for practice and games because my parents both worked and didn’t finish until later, and I wanted to play baseball with some childhood friends. Bill was a great coach, and a great man. He died of pancreatic cancer in 2009, the summer after his son’s rookie season. DeSean and I didn’t hang out then like we did as kids.
Those men with DeSean in the social pictures and the police reports weren’t his closest friends in childhood, but when his father died and few people were there for him, they were there. When a tragic event like that happens, the people who are around are the people who are around, and they were there for him.
I can’t change who I grew up with. What I can do is try to educate them, help them and keep them out of trouble.
Was DeSean supposed to then say, “Thanks guys, but now that I’m a millionaire, please leave me alone”? Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t have. In desperate times for people who come from desperate communities, your friends become your family. I wouldn’t expect DeSean to “distance himself” from anybody, as so many people suggest pro athletes ought to do despite having no understanding of what that means. Going to college and playing in the NFL creates a natural distance, but we can’t push people away just because they’re not as successful as us. I can’t change who I grew up with, but what I can do is try to educate them on the right way of doing things, help them when they need it, and try to keep them out of trouble.
There is, of course, a tipping point. There have been times when I realized that someone can’t be helped, because they continue doing the wrong things. Typically, the only time I cut someone off is when they’re in jail, because I can’t help them there.
And if they’re accused of a crime, as DeSean’s friends have been, should that reflect poorly on me? Consider that for every several guys I try to help who end up dead or in jail, there’s another person I was able to rescue from a similar end. Should I give up on everybody out of fear of being dirtied by the media?
Sorry, but I was born in this dirt.
NFL teams understand that. The Seattle Seahawks get it. The Philadelphia Eagles apparently do not.
Comments
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My ?
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Nothing else really need to be said after this sherman nailed it.
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nailed it
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Well said by Richard Sherman.....................he keeps going the way he is going though, the media is going to be going for his neck even more.
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Quickly becoming one of my favorite people
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ghostf4cekilla wrote: »Quickly becoming one of my favorite people
? been killing it media/press wise. he got ingorant people everywhere ducking for cover. first was the press conference the day after the san fran game which was ether.
then was this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq8vmamA3SY
now this article
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Man of the Year!!!
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He's def gettin that Jim Brown's Real ? Roll Call invite
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ghostf4cekilla wrote: »Quickly becoming one of my favorite people
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And if they’re accused of a crime, as DeSean’s friends have been, should that reflect poorly on me? Consider that for every several guys I try to help who end up dead or in jail, there’s another person I was able to rescue from a similar end. Should I give up on everybody out of fear of being dirtied by the media?
Sorry, but I was born in this dirt.
NFL teams understand that. The Seattle Seahawks get it. The Philadelphia Eagles apparently do not.
He could have just dropped this and won. He went the overkill route and I aint mad at him, especially considering the amount of white tears his write-up has brought already.
I'm getting fat as hell off all these tears Sherm is indirectly producing. I definitely want him to be a media personality when his career is over. -
Richard Sherman is just an example of (white) America's worst nightmare. An educated out spoken black man.
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I just read up some more about Jackson, and I now think that what he is doing warrants criticism, and that Sherman should rethink his defense of him.
It's not just that Jackson still associates with gang members he grew up with; he is actively reppin a gang.
E.g.:
I can't support this, nor can any right-thinking black man.
So I take back my cosign of Sherman on this. I still like the brother though. -
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^?
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^?
What problem, exactly, do you have with what I just said?
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I hope sherman be careful for now on, they might send a big booy white girl to his hotel room and then accused him of ? .
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A Talented One wrote: »I just read up some more about Jackson, and I now think that what he is doing warrants criticism, and that Sherman should rethink his defense of him.
It's not just that Jackson still associates with gang members he grew up with; he is actively reppin a gang.
E.g.:
I can't support this, nor can any right-thinking black man.
So I take back my cosign of Sherman on this. I still like the brother though.
two fingers are a gang sign now?!.....GET THE ? OUTTA HERE -
themadlionsfan wrote: »
two fingers are a gang sign now?!.....GET THE ? OUTTA HERE
It's "Two fingers and a thumb" and yes it's a gang sign -
So just because you throw up a gang sign you're in a gang or is affiliated with one...you ? are a trip.
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So just because you throw up a gang sign you're in a gang or is affiliated with one...you ? are a trip.
There is evidence that he is affiliated with one, but the main point is that there is no way right-thinking black men should be supporting anyone who supports or reps gangs, especially not a high profile athlete like Jackson.
WTF is wrong with you? This ? is obvious.
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LAPD - Desean Jackson no gang affiliations
Gang Members- Desean Jackson not a member.
? outta here ? you bout as worse as these crakkas out here trollin. -
How come them crackas never talk about how Andy Reid had his junkie sons on the payroll and the judge said that Reids house was a drug house and their was no way he didnt know that stuff was going on in his home
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I don't know about y'all, but I don't want these kids see Jackson flash a gang sign and possibly think that being affiliated with gangs is OK.
You're a fake race man if you can't see that. -
A Talented One wrote: »I don't know about y'all, but I don't want these kids see Jackson flash a gang sign and possibly think that being affiliated with gangs is OK.
You're a fake race man if you can't see that.
But I bet you would like kids to be cops and work in politics.
Both groups do more damage then any gang.
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Shizlansky wrote: »A Talented One wrote: »I don't know about y'all, but I don't want these kids see Jackson flash a gang sign and possibly think that being affiliated with gangs is OK.
You're a fake race man if you can't see that.
But I bet you would like kids to be cops and work in politics.
Both groups do more damage then any gang.
Are you ? ? -
Shizlansky wrote: »A Talented One wrote: »I don't know about y'all, but I don't want these kids see Jackson flash a gang sign and possibly think that being affiliated with gangs is OK.
You're a fake race man if you can't see that.
But I bet you would like kids to be cops and work in politics.
Both groups do more damage then any gang.
Are you ? ?
? are you?
Politicians put policies in place that keep the poor poorer and rich richer.
And ? the cops with racial profiling.
? do you live in America?
Oh. You must be wait.
