http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story...nt-dallas-cowboys-gets-approval-past-midnight This is absolutely insane. Now, to bring it back to the Dolphins, this type of irresponsibility for oneself is why Chad Johnson and Vontae Davis are no longer here. Johnson because of the domestic violence incident of his own, and Davis because he's similarly unable to take responsibility for his professional development and make good on his physical gifts. I'd much rather jettison players like these than "raise" them. There's something to be said about developing players, but that stops at their physical development and has little if anything to do with their emotional development. When you're crossing over to a player's emotional immaturity, you give them the message, hope the light comes on, and if it doesn't let him go. These coaches don't have the time, the wherewithal, or the expertise to "raise" players IMO. Of course there are exceptions to the rule, but I submit they involved players for whom the light went on and they developed the ability to be responsible for themselves.
Most meaningful moment of the offseason..Jim Turner. "I'm gonna show him how it's done, I'm gonna give him everything I got, and if he doesn't get it, then it's on him" When I heard that, and how he said it, the metaphor was how to become a man, to pass all the knowledge you have onto another person..it was awesome.. Screw babysitting these dudes, if their not grateful for being born with a golden ticket, then get the hell off our team.. Chad Johnson showed how stupid he was by acknowledging how he was going to be the old chad for us, and then proceeded to leave a trail of twelve year old behavior..grown *** man acting like a lil punk, lol, bad thing about it, he could of contributed in a positive way for this team.. VD...one you learn to appreciate your lucky gifts, and start doing what a professional should do with those things, come back and ask for forgiveness.. Two idiots who I'm glad are gone.. Could you imagine this team if Marshall, Johnson, and Davis weren't just plain dumb, and knew how to display humility.
I think they mentally develop them, like they did with john jerry, they just have a line in the sand where they stop doing so much closer then say, the Dallas Cowgurls. I don't think you can really expect all of these guys to be mentally mature right out of the gate. I think you should expect them to not get in trouble with the law and go to far in things like not working hard etc.
If these player's weren't dumb or immature then: Marshall would still be a Denver Bronco Davis would've went top 20 in the 2009 draft and would've never been a Miami Dolphin Chad Johnson, well he'd probably still be a Bengal or Patriot. If Dez Bryant wasn't dumb/immature he would've been a top 10 pick easily.
While I think some players are given too many chances, just because they are professional athletes. I have to disagree with you that the Dolphins need to avoid players who have trouble off the field. If the Dolphins cut every player who was a problem child at one time or another, or refused to draft or sign these type players, Soliai, Koa Misi, Bess, and Wilson would not be members of this team right now. Soliai spent his first few years with the Dolphins in the doghouse. He was suspended for a few games because of immaturity, yet the coaching staff and the front office stuck with him and he has matured into a great defensive lineman, who is no longer a problem player. Koa Misi recently plea, "no contest", to a felony battery charge and was required to pay the man he assaulted, $42,000. I guess based on your criteria, he should be released from the Dolphins. Bess was not drafted out of college and was kicked off the team at Oregon State because of his involvement with a theft ring while he was at Oregon State. In fact he served time in a Juvenile Center after his conviction. He later played at the University Of Hawaii, but many teams avoided him because of his past. Thankfully the Dolphins took a chance on him and he is now the Dolphins best WR and he certainly hasn't been a problem while with the Dolphins. Wilson spend over a year in jail facing a charge of murder. While he admitted to killing another person, he was found not guilty based on the fact it was deemed to be self defense. The Dolphins were willing to take a chance on Wilson and he has appeared to be a solid citizen since joining the team. So while some players may be more of a risk than others. It just takes some players longer to mature and become responsible adults. I happen to believe that if Chad Johnson was the receiver he was while he was a member of the Bengals, he would still be a member of the Dolphins. I just don't think he was one of the Dolphins best five or six receivers, and that is why he is no longer a Miami Dolphin. I think his domestic violence charge had very little to do with him being cut. If anything, it only expedited his inevitable release in the preseason. You state that there are exceptions to the rule. How exactly do you find and develop these exceptions unless you are willing to take a chance in the first place? It would be great if every player a team drafts or signs in free agency is completely emotionally mature. But we are talking about young 20 year old men and some of them just aren't emotionally ready to be an adult when they first enter the NFL. Most of these players eventually develop over their first few years in the league, or they soon find themselves out of the NFL. Those with exceptional talent such as Bryant,often are allowed more leeway because their talent out weights their immaturity in the teams eyes. I remember Chris Carter a few years ago stating that it took him several years to mature as a player in the NFL. He stated that he didn't want to listen to his coach Buddy Ryan and that he only cared about what was best for himself his first few years in the NFL. He eventually grew up and matured and became one of the top receivers of his generation. Sometimes teams have to take a chance on those with a past which is questionable. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but other times the player develops into a mature individual who also happens to be a very good NFL player. Avoiding every player with a questionable past or someone who still needs to mature probably would not be in the best interest of the Dolphins over the long run. Many of these players will come into the NFL and fans of the Dolphins will be asking a few years down the road, why didn't the Dolphins draft him?
I think this all goes back to another reason why Ireland is valuable to this team. You might not agree with his methods but he was probably trying to push Dez Bryants buttons to see if he would be a problem for this team. I was surprised when we picked up Chad but I knew we wouldn't put up with any of his crap if it ever got to that point. I never thought it would get to that with him, I knew he was more of a class clown type but I didn't expect him to get in trouble like he did. I was glad we canned him when he became a problem. Kudo's to Ireland. Of course Philbin had a lot to do with that too, but our coach and GM are on the same page, and that makes for a good team!
An earlier post points out that Davis was not drafted in the top 20 picks because of his immaturity going into the draft. If that was the case, Why did Ireland draft him in the first round to begin with? Ireland was also the GM when the Dolphins made the trade for Marshall. Personally I don't think Ireland is any different than any other GM who is willing to overlook some flaws in a players character, if he believes this player will make his team better and therefore his job more secure. The fact that Marshall and Davis were traded and Johnson was cut had everything to do with Philbin and very little to do with Ireland, IMO. Especially when you consider that Ireland was responsible for trading for Marshall, drafting Davis, and signing Johnson as a free agent this past off season.
questioning the thread title..does he really get it, celebrating his birthday a day before a national televised game ?
I don't think Bryant really has been productive enough to warrant this kind of retrospective in either direction. He hasn't done a lot to suggest we really missed the boat even without the personality issues. He's pretty good, not spectacular.
This isn't what I'm suggesting they do. What I'm suggesting is that they give those kinds of players the expectation of becoming emotionally mature and taking responsibility for themselves, and then give them very little leash in that regard. In other words, a warning should be sufficient when you're talking about grown men who make very large sums of money to play their profession. IMO a football team should be no different from any other employment situation in which an employee receives disciplinary action along with some statement about what is expected from him and then is let go if the problematic behavior continues. And all of this becomes even more important if your goal is creating a team culture revolving around professionalism, as Joe Philbin's appears to be. Under those circumstances there is nothing about the National Football League or the Miami Dolphins that should make these players' employment scenario any different from the typical one with which we've all been associated in which emotional maturity and personal responsibility are expected, the opposites of which are not tolerated for long. This is a football team, not a surrogate parenting situation. By this time in your life, you should be able to parent yourself.
It was sarcastic. Anyone who is in his 20s and is given a midnight curfew by his employer is hardly "growing up." He may be "improving" with regard to the poor place from which he started, but he's hardly growing up.
I agree with 100% that football players in the NFL should not be treated any differently than a person working in a normal job in society. Unfortunately they have never been treated the same in life since they became star athletes in their youth. They were coddled and told they were special because of their ability to play a game. Most athletes do mature and they don't expect to be treated differently once they achieve a certain degree of maturity. Others though, take more time to mature or they never fully mature while they are playing in the NFL. They continue to expect to be treated differently than the average citizen, even believing that they are above the law in some cases. This is probably related to the fact that they were helped to stay out of trouble when they were younger and adults intervened anytime they were in trouble to get them out of trouble, because of their star athlete status. For the small percentage of players who have great skills, but who remain a problem or immature. There are always teams who are willing to take a chance that they can be the organization to turn this player around. Also teams are willing to put up with behavior which would not be tolerated in the average workplace, because these players can help them win games. When Johnson was one of the best WR's in the NFL with the Bengals. His on the field behavior was seen as fun and the networks hyped his antics each week. Once he lost his great skills and continued to behave in the same manner, he was seen as a immature player who was a problem on the Bengals, Patriots, and the Dolphins. Several teams continued to sign T.O. to contracts during his career because of his ability as one of the top WR's in the league. He acted immature and caused trouble on many teams, but it wasn't until he was no longer effective that the NFL finally had enough of his behavior. Your right that the teams in the NFL should not have to be surrogate parents to the young men on their teams. For the most part, they aren't. Yet if you have a special skill set and the team really wants you, the reality is that some teams are quite willing to take on this surrogate responsibility. Fair or not, that is just the way it is the NFL.
Context in their past, totally ok to give a kid a shot, were talking about a lack of awareness and humility and just plain laziness.. I know it's a big red flag for me..if your projected to get drafted, and your not already displaying work ethic, then you ain't comin to my team, jmo...I'm not giving lazy athletes who are talented a shot..it's not worth the risk, way to many negatives that can come from it..
I think far more often than not it's due to simply inadequate parenting by the family of origin. These immature NFL football players are no different from other immature individuals in society IMO, and far more often than not the cause of that is inadequate parenting. Sure, but my team doesn't have to behave in that manner, and I'd prefer it wouldn't. I like the culture of professionalism Philbin is trying to engender, and I like the implications that likely has for how much tolerance the team is going to have for these kinds of guys.
This is just silly. Chad Johnson was done before he arrived. We all saw SS24 punking him on Hard Knocks. He didn’t get cut because of his domestic violence charge. He got cut because he doesn’t have it anymore. I’m not sure why you have such disdain for Vontae Davis because his brother also had issues early on and from what I can tell he’s become a top 5 TE. I vaguely understand you’re nature vs. nurture argument, I just don’t understand why you seem to keep harping on it.
With the new rookie cap, everything has changed. Teams are no longer chained to a talented but troubled young player. The stupidity of youth? Guess what? You too can and will be replaced; rather cheaply infact.
Just my opinion, but if you truly believe Chad Johnson and Vontae Davis's absence from this team has nothing to do with the kinds of emotional factors that are illustrated in the Dez Bryant case, I think you're mistaken. And if you disagree with that, we've reached an "agree to disagree" point already, so there's no need to discuss the issue any further.
My brother votes Republican, is a Christian, roots for the Giants, won't use a computer and picked his wife over another girl cause she has a better tan.
And if you've seen Vernon Davis and Vontae Davis's personalities out of uniform on TV, the difference, even just on the surface and at first glance, is remarkable.
amazing lets give Ireland the statue of liberty and anoint him Jesus . Ireland isnt the reason weare winning its Philbin is a much , much better coach . as for Dez half ofhis problem is Tony Romo so if you put dez with Tanny we would see a better side of Dez. like another poster said we cant afford to snub every player with a handicap of not having good parents. Remember we have had imature Cornerbacks and safeties who were boneheads see Ben Kelly the guy who would fall asleep in meetings and other knuckleheads GregJermaine and cecial Collins.
