Jeremy Shockey - Right or Wrong?

[JimmyBlueEyes]

Hmm Tight End.....Homo....think he speaks from experience?? Sorry it was too easy to let that one slip by.

[Flock of Moosen]

Originally posted by JimmyBlueEyes
Hmm Tight End.....Homo....think he speaks from experience?? Sorry it was too easy to let that one slip by.

:lol:

[SO]

the media blows everything ridiculously out of proportion.

I agree, and I think that this is one of those cases. But I think the players should be aware of this as well, and watch what they say to reporters, for their own good and for the good of the team. Trash talking is fine, but dissing the coach of a team you have to play twice...eh, it was just a dumbass thing to do.

[The Brain]

Originally posted by tricia
really, these guys are known for their physical abilities, not for being great talkers, so why do we feel the need to watch or read interviews with these sports personalities? but, since we do, we can't complain when they say something stupid can we now.

Mohammed Ali changed that mindset. A man who was a brilliant athlete, and an even greater wordsmith, created the era of the athlete soundbite. Of course, no one expects today's athletes to have the same rapport that Ali had with the media (in particular Howard Cosell), but all the same, it continues to provide the fan with another glimpse into the minds and personalities of their favorite athletes.

Just to be fair: for every outspoken athlete (Shockey, Keyshawn Johnson), there are quiet ones who don't make waves in the papers (Bernie Williams, Marvin Harrison), and yet they go out and do their jobs with equal efficiency. And then there are others (Albert Belle, Barry Bonds, and Eddie Murray come to mind) who were downright hostile to the media.

If all athletes were loudmouth trash-talkers, we would grow tired of it and tell them to shut up for a while; if they were all quiet and kept to themsleves, we would beg them to say something-- <i>anything</i> to add a bit of spice; and if they were all surly, we would tell them to lighten up and enjoy their time in the limelight as much as the fans enjoy them being there.

Let Shockey have his say-- no one has to take his words as gospel, after all. If he bothers you so much, there is always going to be an athlete out there to root for who is basically an anti-Shockey, who goes to work every day and does his best, quietly and without a lot of wind and bluster.

<b>EDIT:</b>

Trash talking is fine, but dissing the coach of a team you have to play twice...eh, it was just a dumbass thing to do.

How is that any different than when Parcells-- then coach of the Patriots-- referred to his player Terry Glenn as "she"?

[Flock of Moosen]

Originally posted by The Brain
If all athletes were loudmouth trash-talkers, we would grow tired of it and tell them to shut up for a while; if they were all quiet and kept to themsleves, we would beg them to say something-- <i>anything</i> to add a bit of spice; and if they were all surly, we would tell them to lighten up and enjoy their time in the limelight as much as the fans enjoy them being there.

But what if they're uppity? That's the real question.

[SO]

Trash talking is fine, but dissing the coach of a team you have to play twice...eh, it was just a dumbass thing to do.

How is that any different than when Parcells-- then coach of the Patriots-- referred to his player Terry Glenn as "she"?

That was a dumbass thing to say as well, but Parcells didn't have to line up against a pissed off Roy Williams...

[The Brain]

In that case, look at it from a different angle:

Parcells made the "she" comments because Glenn was drafted by the Pats against Parcells wishes... but the comments eventually became a motivational tool, a way for Parcells to get inside Glenn's head, to make him play better. Hell, there must be <i>some</i> reason why Glenn quickly wanted to rejoin Parcells in Dallas this season.

Now, I may be giving young Shockey too much credit on this, but his comments have the same effect: they get into the other team's head. Maybe now Roy Williams wants to shut Shockey down so badly, he overplays him and gets burned.

Or Parcells (and this one is doubtful because Parcells is such a damn good coach) sets up more double-teams on Shockey, opening it up for other receivers to have big games. Parcells would win the battle with Shockey, but Shockey would have a better shot winning the war if those strategies net two Giant wins over Dallas.

You have to remember, those soundbites we get are not always reflective of the person's true thinking, just what he or she wants us to believe they're thinking.

Again, I could be giving him way too much credit, and he could just be the type who likes to hear himself talk.

[SO]

Again, I could be giving him way too much credit, and he could just be the type who likes to hear himself talk.

Yeah, I think that's it. That, and he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

And I'm a huge Shockey fan. I really don't think there was anything strategic to his quote; he was merely speaking his mind.

As for the Parcells quote, calling Terry Glenn "she", I think you hit the nail on the head. He was simultaneously expressing his frustration with management drafting what he felt was the wrong player, and trying to motivate (what he saw as) a player he felt was soft and unmotivated. Parcells is an old school coach, and that's an old school move on his part.

But going back to Shockey, if his words cause Dallas to lose focus a bit, that's fucking great. I'm just worried that he *might* just "accidentally" get his fucking legs broken by a team annoyed about some punk kid dissing their coach. A player playing for a contender, pissing off a team with little chance of going anywhere, is not a smart tactical move.

[Justin]

I found it absolutely funny that Shockey called Parcells a homo.

He leaves teams like sluts who have one night stands. He's completely fucking arrogant and thinks he's the man who invented football (hoo-hoo).

He's also sooooo overprotective of his image. (ie, He will never allow NFL films to film him or have a mike on, doesnt want his image in Madden 2004.)

Shockey isn't much of a saint too. Bragging that you banged half of Manhattan's (and Hollywood's) hottest women is just frat boy shit.

He's playing in the pros and not with the canes. He should act a professional.

[The Brain]

Originally posted by Justin
I found it absolutely funny that Shockey called Parcells a homo.

He leaves teams like sluts who have one night stands. He's completely fucking arrogant and thinks he's the man who invented football (hoo-hoo).

He's also sooooo overprotective of his image. (ie, He will never allow NFL films to film him or have a mike on, doesnt want his image in Madden 2004.)

Shockey isn't much of a saint too. Bragging that you banged half of Manhattan's (and Hollywood's) hottest women is just frat boy shit.

<b>He's playing in the pros and not with the canes. He should act a professional. </b>

Yes, clearly he's not holding up the other end of "professionalism" by going out and being involved in (allegedly) criminal activity.

See: Michael Irvin (cocaine), Damon Stoudamire (pot), Anthony Mason (underage girls), Mike Tyson (rape), and Ray Lewis (homicide).

It's more than being a "professional" or not-- it's about celebrity, and the general public needing to be spoon-fed every single nuance and brain-fart of information that come out of a celebrity's life.

I mean, you say he should he be "professional", as if that somehow is supposed to make him more mature than the rest of humanity. It doesn't. It is clearly apparent that celebrity always gives a person more access to things that are basically unattainable to someone with a "regular" life-- whether that is wealth, drugs, groupies, or a constant media presence hanging on your every word.

And frankly, I think it is difficult for a professional athlete to "grow up" in the sense that you want them to, when their job, by its very nature, is to "play". Athletes are basically grown children, with more toys available to them, and in Shockey's case, that toy was a microphone and a reporter's notebook.