Quote:
Originally Posted by the_spatula
I don't want to pull the "you never played" card, but...... yeah.... you probably never played. If he doesn't carry a vet's pads when asked, then yes, the message he sends to the team is that he is bigger than the team. He is above everybody in the fact that he doesn't have to do what everybody else had to do. He's special.
Here's something to think about:
Which group utilizes hazing more than any other? Oh yeah, that's right.... the military.
Are they ever going to be told that what they are doing is "ridiculous" or that they should stop? No. Why? Because it's tried and true, and it works.
The NFL does it in a much tamer fashion, but the end result is the same. You fall into line and do what you are told.
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I played baseball in high school l and then covered a pretty big D1 college football team for my school paper while in college, so I've spent plenty of time around sports and football teams, thank you very much. My time spent around football is how I know this "system" people keep talking about is so stupid.
I remember the team I covered in college had a pretty big time, highly-touted freshman cornerback enrolling there on my first year on the football beat. Some of the upperclassmen in the secondary did something that wasn't too heinous to him - I think they took all his stuff after practice and made him go back to his dorm naked or something. Anyway, he got really pissed and the next day, approached the ringleader of it and basically checked him and told him he wasn't having any of it. I found about this a few weeks after it happened so I what the immediate ramifications were for it, but I do know that the player I'm referring to ended up having a pretty good career and was considered a team leader by the time he left school.
If Roy Williams wants to respect Dez Bryant, he should respect him for signing early, showing up to practice early, leaving late and working his butt off. His respect for the guy shouldn't hinge on whether he not he carries on some stupid tradition that isn't around for any particular reason.
Besides, if Dez DID carry Roy's pads, what would it prove? That Bryant looks up to him and respects him and knows he's in charge? He would only be doing it to humor the guy, nothing more. It's just pointless.