Apples to oranges - We're talking about a "Diva" receiver taking responsibility for his part of an entire team melting down. Not someone who has no respect for women or his responsibilities to his team. Knowing how much charity and how much of a family guy Holmes is it's pretty insulting to put them in the same context. Rape, and stupidity is way different then discontent and,... discontent annnnddd,... Smoking the refer.
I've been VERY critical of Holmes and his seeming inability to take responsibility for his actions last year (celebrating while the team is losing, quitting on the field), but this is a step in the right direction. Not sure if it's sincere, but it was the right thing to say. I'll tentatively give him the benefit of the doubt.
Look at this article, and if you listened to that whole interview, tell me the media isn't bent on perpetuating the negative, "dysfunctional Jets" narrative. This is what I mean when I say he cannot win. He really should stop trying. He'll get killed for it, but at least it's killed on his terms. http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2012/07/santonio_holmes_believes_he_wa.html
If you listened to the whole interview, Holmes came off as somewhat schizophrenic. In one part, he owned up and took responsibility for last year. He even went on talking about what he should have done differently. Then, he turned around and portrayed himself as the victim, saying that he was the scapegoat, i.e., nothing was his fault.
This one is even better, it doesn't even mention that Holmes said the problem last year was him. Guess the writer didn't think the answer to the question "what was wrong last year and who was to blame" being "me" was an important part of the interview, seeing as how Holmes has been blasted for not taking responsibility for his actions. I can see Holmes actually doing it, sincere or not, as not being an important take away from that article. http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/jetsb...?utm_medium=rss&utm_content= Jets Blog
Did he say he was the problem when asked point blank what was the problem and who was to blame? Shouldn't that be the lead part of the story? I am not asking for pom-poms, when the guy is asked who was the problem and who was the blame and he says me, it could be at least the lead of the story or in the Posts case IN the story.
I did listen to the whole interview This is not some grand defensive of Holmes. Believe me, the guy has no benefit if the doubt with me... I just think its emblematic of the way the team is being covered currently. The New York media wants us to believe that the team is dysfunctional and they will shoehorn any story or quote into that narrative to perpetuate it, because it sells papers.
From what I've read of the interview he didn't say he was the problem, he said he was the scapegoat. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/07/30/santonio-says-he-was-the-scapegoat-last-year/ After his meltdown resulted in his benching, he believes he was given too much blame after the season-ending loss. “It was playoffs on the line and your best receiver doesn’t get but two passes thrown his way in 60 minutes of football,” Holmes told ESPN 1050 radio, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “That’s just hard to understand when you want everything just as bad as everybody else does and it just doesn’t happen. And nobody has the answers for it. … but the scapegoat is answer. And that’s what happened.” He did take some responsibility for being too honest? Holmes did say earlier in the interview that he was part of the problem, by being too honest about the team’s struggles. If this is the crux of his interview, then he still doesn't get it.
Here's the audio of the entire interview. http://espn.go.com/espnradio/newyork/play?id=8215300 At about the 4:27 mark is where Santonio takes responsibility. It's actually pretty good to hear. Then, around the 10:00 mark, he screws it all up with his "scapegoat" comments.
Crap. I listened to this again. He does seem to initially take responsibility. He later veers off and claims he was the scapegoat. I guess I was wrong. He will never learn.
You seem to have some nice fantasies about "track records" and that sort of thing. Care to post something that backs that up? I'm guessing no.
Holmes obviously is speaking about how he became an issue toward the end of last year, and I think is going beyond a true explanation to step up, take the hit and try to move on from that. He's probably quite aware of the adverse media coverage and how it affects the weak minded haters here and elsewhere in our sometimes bizarre Jet fanbase. But he didn't create or cause any of the following, which were the real reasons the Jets were so mediocre last year: Wayne Hunter Mangold's injury and no OL bench Burress's lack of production Keller sucking at run blocking and disappearing for long stretchs Greene not being able to take up LT's slack Mediocre play by Ferguson, Slauson and even (early on) Moore Most importantly, Sanchez sucked And that's just on O. Here's the thing for me - I WANT Holmes to be a leader. He has the resume, and the talent. He seems knowledgeable and articulate, and very reasonable. He's also the most talented skill position player on O, and is under contract, not going anywhere, and can make a huge difference going forward. Given all that, the hatred for him here is beyond irrational. It is bordering on the pathological.
It isn't comparing apples to oranges, because I wasn't comparing what you seem to think I was. I am not saying that Holmes' flaws are comparable to Big Ben's. I am saying that other NFL players have a history of sounding apologetic, reformed, responsible, etc in interviews, only to later prove that it is harder to put those thoughts into actions day-in-day-out, for season after season, than it is to say them in words. The Roethlisberger comparison was an example of this. If you need a "better" example, I've recently been hearing people say things like "Oh, I listened to a Randy Moss interview the other day. By the sounds of it, he has really matured. He seems to have a genuine appreciate for the game, and a desire to help the 49ers win". Every time I hear this, I'm thinking "Really? At 35 years old, in his 13th season, playing for his 5th team, he has suddenly matured? Do you not realize how many times other people have fallen for this?" I'm not saying that Moss can't have a good season, nor am I saying that about Holmes, but believing that they have suddenly flipped a switch and changed as a person, after a long documented history of acting a different way, just seems incredibly naive. Especially when your reason for believing this is a single interview during the offseason, when players can say whatever they want without even thinking about backing it up. And spare me the "HOW CAN YOU SAY SUCH A MEAN THING ABOUT A NICE GUY LIKE HOLMES" act. He has been arrested three times, and been accused twice of separate incidences of violence against two different women. But it is "insulting" to compare him to Big Ben, who "has no respect for women"? And, frankly, I'm not that impressed by the fact that the guy participates in charity events either. Sure it is a good thing, but almost every player in the league is involved in charity work, and I'm not stupid enough to believe that they are all great guys. Jerry Sandusky had his own charity organization (and no, I am not saying that Holmes rapes little boys, so you can save yourself the effort of writing that response). Homes still has time left to prove that he is a team player, and a great overall guy. I'm just not even close to being convinced yet.
While both are completely unacceptable behaviors, someone who got in an altercations with his wife / girlfriend, and someone who raped a helpless girl in a bar should not be held on the same level of douchebaggery. Tone's Charity is for Kids with Sicle Cell, Something his son has fought with his entire life, So i'm pretty sure he's serious about it. I honestly forgot about the night-club incident with throwing the glass but the domestic abuse charges were dropped, and it was over 6 years ago. ( He was 22 ). More recently the worst thing he has done is failed to turn off an Ipod, and have a bad season. While I agree with your statements 100% about Moss not really turning over a new leaf after so long, You have to admit he has a much MUCH longer record of being an A-hole. Outside of all of this though, Regardless of if you think holmes is an asshole, regardless of if you think he's a bad or good person, These statements, IMO, if nothing else make him a better teammate.
IF you act like a douchebag people are going to think you're a douchebag. That's how it works. Doing things like making a spectacle of your first down when you're down 3 scores in a playoff game or flapping your wings in the endzone after a score in a game that you've given up 2 turnovers and are getting killed are douchebag things to do. Quitting on your team on national tv is another douchebag thing to do. Holmes himself admits he was a problem last year. That's a great first step in him actually taking some responsibility for something once in his life. You'd have to be completely ignorant to Holmes past actions to not understand why people think he's a douche.