He's not a murderer. He's not Bill Cosby. He's not a bigot. He's just incredibly dumb. I have no desire to see him do jail time. But the team needs to suspend him. And fans have every right to be mad.
Start with Ben Roethlisberger, the first person suspended before he was even arrested or charged with a crime for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. Again, the league does not need a case to hand out discipline.
Amazing that the Idzik curse follows us even now. Who knows what else his mystical presence may affect this cursed sports team
it doesn't matter what his intentions are dude. look at his actions! save that other BS for psychology class at the local university. The Jets and us fans aren't his priest or his shrink. theres no obligation to understand him, he's the one who needs to understand the damn rules and laws. and I disagree strongly that he cares about football more than anyone else anyway. If he did he wouldn't be suspended by the league.
I'm not being emotional and you can dissect what he did and try to excuse each one individually (yeah, it wasn't him smoking the weed) but what I'm seeing is a picture of a guy who is extremely full of himself and has zero regard for his teammates, his team or the general public. This-too me- isn't the character of an immature kid or a stupid person. I love the player but I think he may be a bad guy. _
Yes, he's very immature. Some people just don't become adults by the time they hit 18 or 21, there's not magical button to press for that to happen. I'm guessing his dad isn't exactly a great role model, maybe he doesn't have a great relationship with his parents. Or they just didn't raise him right. But this kind of stuff happens all the time in the NFL with high draft picks, mostly black players. They want to party, spend money, showoff, they think they own the world. It takes a really good smack in the head for them to realize that they are absolutely meaningless to this world and to football. For them it's not an honor to be in the NFL, it's a right they have because of how talented they are. Well, that's not the case. He will learn. They all do. It's just a matter of time. JaMarcus Russell didn't turn the corner until it was too late. Even though that guy just clearly never cared about football. Charles Rogers, same thing with him. He wanted back BAD when he was out, he was embarrassed. Mike Williams is another guy from the Lions. It was too late for him almost, he was done, out of the league. Somebody gave him a shot (Seahawks) and suddenly he was a stud (quality starter), he turned his life around. They all grow up, sooner or later. Even Pacman Jones. He's a great leader for the Bengals now. He was one of the biggest turds the sport has ever seen. They all grow up. It's up to Sheldon to decide when he does. He can do it right now and save his career or he'll wait until he hits rock bottom. But it will happen. Trust me, it's hard to showoff in a Bentley if you're broke. He'll be lucky to show off in a bus if he can afford a ticket.
Get off his back. These are merely harmless hijinks we can expect from anyone his age with all that money. Holy shit I can't believe folks are defending him or excusing his behavior. _
While I have real concerns about Richardson, my first comment about this thread is it has long ceased to amaze me how message boards and the internet are tailor made forums for petty moralizing about other people. He fucked up for sure, but he didn't kill anyone. Ftr I think pot is virtually harmless compared to lots of other things, but even if you disagree there is no solid evidence Richardson was smoking, even if I think it likely he was. I would definitely talk to him about that and going forward, but he will not be disciplined by the NFL for that. On the personal conduct front, I am most amazed by the 12 year old thing, but running from the police and going 143 mph are also problems. Still, unlike others here I am not prepared to throw him away and condemn him. Does he have a criminal record? Not that I am aware of. Gotta put it in perspective. Moral issues aside the real issue here is how he seems to be combining arrogance with stupidity. Let's not forget he didn't tell the team about this - huh? He thought it wouldn't come out? He didn't think the team deserved to know about it? Arrogance and stupidity, always a bad combination. That is where the real issue is for the Jets. Not phony moralizing. On a going forward basis, I think the Jets need to let him and his agent have their say before doing anything. Maybe a talk with the league office, and review anything they might do under the CBA for possible ramifications of any hasty measures. I can see suspending him, but the league is likely to add probably at least two games to the four he's already gone for. If so maybe suspend him for another 2, meanign half the season. Then they'd have the second half to see how he does, and all next off season to monitor him. They can decide before the 16 season whether to even tty and retain him, or instead trade him. I do think this raises Wilkerson's stock no doubt about it. I thought he was asking for too much money before, but he has more leverage now. So maybe the Jets have to pay him. They probalby do. And for all you nervous nellies, just remember, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Keep your nerve, and don't lose focus.
1) The gun was LEGAL. There should be NO penalty for that. 2) There are no marijuana charges being pressed. There was no marijuana found in the vehicle. Just an aroma. I don't think there should be any extra penalty for being around the smell of weed. If we are going to start punishing players for being around it then Brandon Marshall will get in trouble for being around it in Jamaica for the wedding. 3) Speeding: The league does not have the right to punish someone for a traffic violation. If they do, that's asinine, but I have never heard of the league punishing someone for going to fast or speeding. 4) Resisting Arrest is the only charge I see where Sheldon can be punished by the league or team. Do I think he is out of his mind for what he did? Do I think he is a big dumb idiot? ABSOLUTELY! But I heard Anita Marks say he should be out for 10 games or an entire season this morning on ESPN Radio. That is flat out stupid.
Ftr in my 290 post I did not mean to imply that Richardson's not tellling the Jets about this had no moral component. I was just more impressed by the arrogance and stupidity of not doing so. But surely it was not stand up to not inform the team. It's not something a real team player would fail to do.
No wonder we haven't won in over 40 years. I knew before the season started that the focus would be on negativity. Football is becoming predictable and no longer feels exciting. Media focuses too much on things that have nothing to do with any of us, and what's worse are the stupid, insecure, little dick football fans who are morally bankrupt themselves that think they know better. As long as we know little about the game we can never put the kind of pressure on an organization to focus on a winning tradition. What a dude does on his time is his business. Not yours.
Where did I defend anything he did? I said he's not a bad person, somebody with evil intentions. I think he's immature, he doesn't think things through. There's a big difference to me.
You make some good points here, but under the law in most states (all states?) once you exceed the speed limit by more than a certain number, you potentiallly (meaning if charged and convicted) take the offense out of the moving viollation ranged and up into a misdemeanor range. Then there are other aggravating factors that can even make it a felony. Those usually include harming someone, though. WHich didn't happen here. So I think he still maybe exposed to a misdemeanor charge on the speeding, which would allow the NFL to discipline him under their conduct policy, I htink.
I look at his reckless disregard as much more than immaturity. And I never said he was "evil", just that he's a bad guy. He's not Aaron Hernandez or OJ. But he's a bad guy. _
