I would like to see a rehabilitation/maturity program put into place

[K D]

i think players should be able to skip college altogether. set up a developmental, or transitional league for 18-22 year olds that feeds the nfl machine. kids get paid, and don't have to go through the pretenses of "getting an education". leave scholarships for those that are truly students and let athletes get paid for what they are doing. and more directly to your point, put behavioral clauses into all the player contracts so that if a player embarrasses his team they can let him go with no financial penalty. and yes, establish a system of rehab/counseling that would be readily available for those that want it.

So then what happens to the thousands of kids that don't make it to the nfl? No education, no future

[DC Tom]

Thank god, I thought you were talking about a maturity program for TSW.

 

I'm not gonna join! You can't make me!

 

So then what happens to the thousands of kids that don't make it to the nfl? No education, no future

 

Last I checked, you could go to college at any time in your life.

[K D]

Last I checked, you could go to college at any time in your life.

Be grateful that you had the opportunities you have in life. Many of those kids, they come from tough circumstances and the only way they get to go is by getting an athletic scholarship. Sports are their ticket in and a means to an end

[Hazed and Amuzed]

Sorry but I think it's a terrible idea. You can't force people to get help, they have to want it, and I believe that if someone in the NFL "wants it" then they already have the means. The addiction treatment industry is worth upwards of 34 billion dollars. Fact is if a player makes the salary he does then he can seek out the help he needs if he wants it, if he doesn't want it then he has more misery to obtain before he might give sobriety a chance. Cris Carter is 100% on point when he says to cut Josh Gordon, maybe that'll be enough of a bottom for him, than again maybe not. I see people hit new bottoms everyday with addiction in my line of work. The NFL can have all the programs they want, it doesn't mean $#^% if the player isn't ready, and as frustrating as it might be ONLY THE PLAYER can decide when they're ready.

[Beerball]

Why should the NFL be responsible for taking care of anyone?

 

My job doesn't take care of me. They aren't responsible for me. As long as I don't bring it to work they do not care if I come home then smoke some crack, smack around my woman, drive to the Applebees drunk, then pick up an underage asian tranny hooker to hit my nads with a whiffle ball bat whilst covering myself in money then finish the night off with a nice evening Klan telethon.

The NFL has a larger investment in their players. Even though contracts still are not 100% guaranteed like baseball & basketball it is still wise to put the best product on the field that is possible. It also hurts their image. You running with tranny hookers isn't making the news.

 

Sorry but I think it's a terrible idea. You can't force people to get help, they have to want it, and I believe that if someone in the NFL "wants it" then they already have the means. The addiction treatment industry is worth upwards of 34 billion dollars. Fact is if a player makes the salary he does then he can seek out the help he needs if he wants it, if he doesn't want it then he has more misery to obtain before he might give sobriety a chance. Cris Carter is 100% on point when he says to cut Josh Gordon, maybe that'll be enough of a bottom for him, than again maybe not. I see people hit new bottoms everyday with addiction in my line of work. The NFL can have all the programs they want, it doesn't mean $#^% if the player isn't ready, and as frustrating as it might be ONLY THE PLAYER can decide when they're ready.

They can certainly force someone to get help. What they can't force is a player taking it to heart.

[Hazed and Amuzed]

The NFL has a larger investment in their players. Even though contracts still are not 100% guaranteed like baseball & basketball it is still wise to put the best product on the field that is possible. It also hurts their image. You running with tranny hookers isn't making the news.

 

They can certainly force someone to get help. What they can't force is a player taking it to heart.

 

I disagree unless the law steps in and they're baker acted or marchman acted there is always a choice.

[Beerball]

I disagree unless the law steps in and they're baker acted or marchman acted there is always a choice.

Collective bargaining...if the two sides agree it is so

 

(I'm not saying that would be an easy road, or the right one)

[machine gun kelly]

 

 

I disagree unless the law steps in and they're baker acted or marchman acted there is always a choice.

 

You must currently or previously lived in FL as Baker Acted is a term for forcible hospitalization used primarily in FL. They can only involuntarily hospitalize someone if they are a threat to themselves or someone else. In those two instances, a therapist or police can force him into a mental health facility. Having a drug addiction alone does not warrant a BA52 ( I used to be a psychotherapist before I realized I would be poor so left for the business world).

 

Now a judge can court order treatment in a rehab center for repeat offenders. It sounds like a baker act, but it's different. Court ordered commitments have a lower success rate as was mentioned above as the person may not be personally invested in changing his behaviors. The bottom line is if you have a compulsion to want to get high, you'll do so with whatever is handy, meaning weed may be his drug of choice, but could also self medicate with alcohol.

 

The upside is if in a lock down rehab facility for 6-10 weeks, you will definitely be physically clean and break and physical dependence. The key is have you chosen ( it is a choice ) to refrain form touching the stuff anymore, and have developed coping mechanisms to deal with the motivation to get high.

 

Is Gordon depressed, or is he simply an addict. Typicall there are underlying issues. Only Josh can decide what he wants to do. I don't think the CBA allows a team to make rehab a condition of coming back to work. Now, Goodell can reduce his suspension if Gordon voluntarily goes to rehab proactively before the suspension is formalized. He'd have to sell Goodell he has a substance abuse problem and is trying to get help. Goodell does not want to be insensitive to someone trying to improve his life.

 

That's about his only play and he most likely is gone for a year no matter what, but with the recent DUI, he could get more than a year. The marijuana alone warrants the year, so the DUI can allow Goodell to extend out the suspension.

 

I hope for his sake, he decides to get help, and make it stick. He's such a talented player, but he has to get away from bad influences. The guy who made his bail for the DUI was a convicted felon.

[3rdand12]

Be grateful that you had the opportunities you have in life. Many of those kids, they come from tough circumstances and the only way they get to go is by getting an athletic scholarship. Sports are their ticket in and a means to an end

That was going to be my response to Tom's comment also . Going to college aint free

[Hazed and Amuzed]

 

 

You must currently or previously lived in FL as Baker Acted is a term for forcible hospitalization used primarily in FL. They can only involuntarily hospitalize someone if they are a threat to themselves or someone else. In those two instances, a therapist or police can force him into a mental health facility. Having a drug addiction alone does not warrant a BA52 ( I used to be a psychotherapist before I realized I would be poor so left for the business world).

 

Now a judge can court order treatment in a rehab center for repeat offenders. It sounds like a baker act, but it's different. Court ordered commitments have a lower success rate as was mentioned above as the person may not be personally invested in changing his behaviors. The bottom line is if you have a compulsion to want to get high, you'll do so with whatever is handy, meaning weed may be his drug of choice, but could also self medicate with alcohol.

 

The upside is if in a lock down rehab facility for 6-10 weeks, you will definitely be physically clean and break and physical dependence. The key is have you chosen ( it is a choice ) to refrain form touching the stuff anymore, and have developed coping mechanisms to deal with the motivation to get high.

 

Is Gordon depressed, or is he simply an addict. Typicall there are underlying issues. Only Josh can decide what he wants to do. I don't think the CBA allows a team to make rehab a condition of coming back to work. Now, Goodell can reduce his suspension if Gordon voluntarily goes to rehab proactively before the suspension is formalized. He'd have to sell Goodell he has a substance abuse problem and is trying to get help. Goodell does not want to be insensitive to someone trying to improve his life.

 

That's about his only play and he most likely is gone for a year no matter what, but with the recent DUI, he could get more than a year. The marijuana alone warrants the year, so the DUI can allow Goodell to extend out the suspension.

 

I hope for his sake, he decides to get help, and make it stick. He's such a talented player, but he has to get away from bad influences. The guy who made his bail for the DUI was a convicted felon.

 

Yes I do live in Fl and I'm in a similar line of work that you were. My point was that the only way to "force" someone to get treated is through either the baker or marchman acts, not inferring that either is effective at all.

 

Yes addiction/alcoholism is a sign of underlying issues and I hope that Gordon chooses to seek out help, however as you know- loss of money, family, fame or material things rarely has an effect on an addict. I have a gross amount of experience with this both personally and professionally.

 

I truly believe if someone isn't letting you help them up then you help them down, accelerate their journey to the bottom. Cut Gordon, tell him what he needs to do to get his life back in order and let him prove he can do it on his own. There is a network of former players that understand this, that are trying to help players like Gordon, he won't be abandoned as long as he's doing SOMETHING to help himself. I know 4 current or former NFL players personally that are reaching out to players like Gordon but players like Gordon need to do ALL the work, not just some but ALL.

[3rdand12]

You must currently or previously lived in FL as Baker Acted is a term for forcible hospitalization used primarily in FL. They can only involuntarily hospitalize someone if they are a threat to themselves or someone else. In those two instances, a therapist or police can force him into a mental health facility. Having a drug addiction alone does not warrant a BA52 ( I used to be a psychotherapist before I realized I would be poor so left for the business world).

 

Now a judge can court order treatment in a rehab center for repeat offenders. It sounds like a baker act, but it's different. Court ordered commitments have a lower success rate as was mentioned above as the person may not be personally invested in changing his behaviors. The bottom line is if you have a compulsion to want to get high, you'll do so with whatever is handy, meaning weed may be his drug of choice, but could also self medicate with alcohol.

 

The upside is if in a lock down rehab facility for 6-10 weeks, you will definitely be physically clean and break and physical dependence. The key is have you chosen ( it is a choice ) to refrain form touching the stuff anymore, and have developed coping mechanisms to deal with the motivation to get high.

 

Is Gordon depressed, or is he simply an addict. Typicall there are underlying issues. Only Josh can decide what he wants to do. I don't think the CBA allows a team to make rehab a condition of coming back to work. Now, Goodell can reduce his suspension if Gordon voluntarily goes to rehab proactively before the suspension is formalized. He'd have to sell Goodell he has a substance abuse problem and is trying to get help. Goodell does not want to be insensitive to someone trying to improve his life.

 

That's about his only play and he most likely is gone for a year no matter what, but with the recent DUI, he could get more than a year. The marijuana alone warrants the year, so the DUI can allow Goodell to extend out the suspension.

 

I hope for his sake, he decides to get help, and make it stick. He's such a talented player, but he has to get away from bad influences. The guy who made his bail for the DUI was a convicted felon.

Environment Environment . Major factors .

Good post

[Fingon]

I would like to see a minor league football program.

 

One of my colleagues at work had a son drafted by the Giants (baseball) after college. A lot of the kids drafted were in HS. The lowest level minor league programs (short season A, long season A) sound like are designed to continue a kid's education and help them grow up, from what he describes - the lowest levels, where kids don't get paid crap, the teams arrange for them to live with host families, borrow a car, it's like an extension of living at home. As the level goes up, the pay and the responsibilities go up gradually. By the time the kids are making enough money to live on in AAA ball, they know something about managing their lives.

 

Instead we have this phony pretense in the NFL that the kids are student athletes but can't be compensated in any way or *shock*horror*scandal* but because actual college is beyond the academic and time management skills of all but a few football players, they get heavily coddled to bring them along and keep them in a program, until they are thrown into the ocean of life as pro's, going from 0 to 6 figure salaries in months. I don't think the cure is to try to throw on extra bandaids, which could not be mandated and rightly so.

 

I think the whole system is broken and should be changed to admit that colleges make huge $$$ on young football athletes and the athletes should be compensated, but also expected to pick up responsibilities.

MLB is being sued because they violate minimum wage laws. Yes, minor league baseball players are paid less than a McDonalds cashier. The pay goes up from like $5,000 a year to $10,000 when you hit the highest level. I would argue that college players are compensated far better.

[bowery4]

Why should the NFL be responsible for taking care of anyone?

 

My job doesn't take care of me. They aren't responsible for me. As long as I don't bring it to work they do not care if I come home then smoke some crack, smack around my woman, drive to the Applebees drunk, then pick up an underage asian tranny hooker to hit my nads with a whiffle ball bat whilst covering myself in money then finish the night off with a nice evening Klan telethon.

 

This would actually explain a lot of your posts.

[jimmy10]

Why should the NFL be responsible for taking care of anyone?

 

My job doesn't take care of me. They aren't responsible for me. As long as I don't bring it to work they do not care if I come home then smoke some crack, smack around my woman, drive to the Applebees drunk, then pick up an underage asian tranny hooker to hit my nads with a whiffle ball bat whilst covering myself in money then finish the night off with a nice evening Klan telethon.

 

Plenty of workplaces offer Employee Assistance Programs these days. Therapy, couples therapy, smoking cessation, addiction issues, etc. Happy, healthy employees are productive employees. Just sayin'...

[Gugny]

Thank god, I thought you were talking about a maturity program for TSW.

Buffalo Bill recently broke me. I am rehabilitated, boss.

[boyst]

 

 

This would actually explain a lot of your posts.

what's every other Tuesday and most Wednesdays going to matter?

[simpleman]

A lot of those opposed to the idea think it is strictly for the benefit of the players. True NFL talented players are a very rare resource. Only a few humans have the raw talent and ability to transition into a good NFL player. That is why we pay them so much as a society.

Smart businesses have learned that if you have a valuable resource, it is often cheaper and quicker to repair/rehabilitate it than spend time and money looking for a replacement from scratch. Peoples/workers are often a businesses most valuable resource, especially in professional sports. We are not talking about a unlimited pool of candidates like we are for an assembly line worker, we are talking about a very limited pool of candidates. The better the talent is of those playing the game, the better the quality of the game is to watch.

[Mr. WEO]

There are very few NFL players who would fall into the category the OP envisions. Setting up some sort of system to "rehab" dumb choices is problematic on many levels. What program even exixts for this? How would the NFL create such a program if it likely doesn't exist?

 

 

Sure, many of thses guys came from poor/bad homes, but they got out--they got full ride scholarships and NFL contracts. Many of us here have parents or grandparents who were pennyless immigrants or poor first generation Americans who sacrificed for their children. They weren't handed college educations and millions of dollars for jumping and running and hitting and throwing. For them, a 24 year old man was a grown man with a family. There is no incentive for the NFL to babysit these guys beyond what they do currently. You cannot force a bonehead to be something other than a bonehead. Give him guidance, sure--that's the TEAM's responsibility. If he continues to screw up, cut him. Being form the hood shouldn't have prevented him from taking advantage of a free education.

 

As for a "developmental league", again, there is no reason for the NFL to form one of their own. There are already other pro football options (AFL, Canada) for guys who aren't good enough for the NFL. Why would the NFL create another entire lesser league for the one or two guys per year who would break into the NFL? Makes no sense. The NFL has alrady seen enough of the XFL and the UFL to confirm that Americans don't want to watch D-league football.

[8-8 Forever?]

i think players should be able to skip college altogether. set up a developmental, or transitional league for 18-22 year olds that feeds the nfl machine. kids get paid, and don't have to go through the pretenses of "getting an education". leave scholarships for those that are truly students and let athletes get paid for what they are doing. and more directly to your point, put behavioral clauses into all the player contracts so that if a player embarrasses his team they can let him go with no financial penalty. and yes, establish a system of rehab/counseling that would be readily available for those that want it.

hear hear

[You herd it hear last]

survival of the fittest. fail to adapt, yer out... opportunity for another organism...

 

 

ahhh, science