If only more players felt that way about the teams on which they play.
Troy Brown is a class act, that's for sure.
There is a big problem amongst professional athletes, and the way in which they make decisions at times – and that problem is greed.
Manny Ramirez is a classic example of this obsession with the almighty dollar. He represents all that is wonderful and awesome about baseball – as well as what’s wrong not just with baseball, (um, hello salary cap!) but with the mindset of professional athletes in general. Mind you this is just a general perspective, and not every player fits in that mold however a vast majority of them do.
We all want to receive our worth in life. Whether we are in a “regular” job, or are a professional athlete playing sports for a living. However, when you are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars – upwards to millions of dollars – to play a sport, it seems that the appreciation level of actually being in the career field of your choice falls to the wayside after a period of time. The appreciation for playing for a team that values your efforts often goes behind the potential monetary amount that a person feels that they are “entitled” to, just because they think that they deserve it.
Or maybe it’s because their agents whisper into their ears that they’re "worth it."
It’s not that I think a player should always stick with a team forever; clearly personal growth is an issue, as well as a certain financial growth. I get that. What I don’t get, is that when a player is on a great team and has a good situation with a team where they’re valued, appreciated – and not underpaid – why is there the incessant need for “more”.
More what? Cars….houses….pieces of jewelry? After the first 5 million, who's counting? The majority of athletes started out like most of us – with humble beginnings. And they’ve been given the opportunity to live a life that most people only dream about, complete with an utterly insane amount of money for a paycheck. Money that your average American won't make in 5 years; some their entire lifetime. So where does the greed and need to be the "highest paid player" come from?
(And let's be honest. We've all seen teams with insanely high payrolls, with "the best" players fail.)
Yet, there are some players who get the value of where they are and what they have. And we’re fortunate to have a few of them in our own backyards. Those who give the “home team discount” because they know the benefits of being with an organization that is appreciative of your efforts, and who compensates in ways outside of just “The Benjamins.”
Money can’t buy you peace of mind. Money can’t buy you love of the game.
Maybe it's something as simple as going back to basics. Maybe, some of these guys need to revisit where they started, when it was all about the sport – rather than about the payday.
4 comments:
Troy Brown is a tremendous class act. I hope the Pats retire his number at some point.
They don't make 'em like Troy Brown much anymore. I still remember a couple of seasons back when he played offense, defense *and* special teams because we were so injured, even our practice squad wasn't available!
I agree. Troy Brown is a class act, the type of guy that you would want your children to root for; to wear HIS jersey.But i respectfully disagree with Dawn when she said "They don't make 'em like Troy Brown much anymore."
Every team, in every sport that we follow has guys and gals like Troy Brown. However, we don't hear about them. Media would rather fill the time up with thugs, wife beaters, drug users, idots, and clowns.
It's a shame.
Tommy, I don't disagree with you at all. I think you said it much better than I did. What I meant is that you have to look harder to find these guys. Partially because the media likes to focus on the "drama, drugs & scandal" -- and partially because there are so many players out there who provide the media with that very fodder. The truly classy atheletes are not the majority, unfortunately, and so you have to seek them out yourself, as a fan, much of the time.
The willingness, though, to put the team ahead of yourself, doing whatever may be asked of you, is not something we get to see as often as I wish we would--and sometimes it's more subtle even than the Pacman Jones or the Barry Bonds cases. A prime example would be Bartolo Colon. The Red Sox slotted him as a long reliver/spot starter coming down the stretch, and he is "not comfortable" with that because he sees himself as only a starter? That really bothered me. Especially when you have the likes of a Tim Wakefield to compare it to.
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