Is it possible for an NFL player to function on a roster if he is afraid to fly on a plane?

[US Egg]

3 hours ago, MJS said:

That's Dick "Night Train" Lane. He got his nickname because he was afraid to fly and instead took trains to games.

 

EDIT: Apparently this is false. His nickname came from a song of the same name, given by a teammate.

Yeah, it was 'Night Train' by Guns 'N Roses.  

?

 

Edited September 20, 2019 by I am the egg man

[Albany,n.y.]

The NBA's Houston Rockets had a 1st round pick, Royce White, who was afraid of flying, among other anxieties.  He never played for them & has bounced around (pun intended) teams in minor & foreign leagues:  

Before the start of his first NBA season with the Rockets in 2012, Royce wanted to take his time adjusting to NBA life because of his disorder. He did not show up on media day or the first week of training camp because he wanted the team’s permission to travel to away games on a bus — to manage his anxiety a bit better.

The flying schedule in the NBA is a lot more frequent than in college, so it was going to be tough for him. Royce was quoted saying “To go from 20 to 98 flights, which is the NBA’s travel schedule, is too much exposure for someone with a phobia”.

He wanted the NBA to address his condition with a policy, he tried to meet with NBA commissioner David Stern to talk more about it, but never got the meeting.

The Houston Rockets did his best to accommodate him without following a certain league standard. But the situation with the Rockets never got better throughout the season. He said the Rockets were inconsistent with the agreement to help him with the anxiety disorder.

Royce ended up getting suspended later in the season because the Rockets were said he was not fulfilling his contract. He never showed up for his d-league assignment because Royce says they did not allow mental health professionals there.

His time with the Rockets simply did not work out. They ended up trading him to the Sixers, but he was waived before end of the season.

 

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/the-nba-player-that-had-a-fear-of-flying/

[RocCityRoller]

3 hours ago, MJS said:

That's Dick "Night Train" Lane. He got his nickname because he was afraid to fly and instead took trains to games.

 

EDIT: Apparently this is false. His nickname came from a song of the same name, given by a teammate.

 

Wow, Guns and Roses is older than I thought. ?

 

I'd post a link for the TBD wunderkind, but no version is clean enough....

[Nextmanup]

To answer the question in the OP: I think it would be very difficult.

 

It would help if the player played on the right team in the NE and had a lot of games within close driving distance.

 

But eventually the player would have to drive an awful long way to get to some of the games, which would require him to miss practice time, probably to the point where it just wouldn't work.

 

Rather than trying to solve the problem by driving, it would be better to sit the player down with a psychologist and try to overcome the fear.  It's all mental anyway.

 

 

[RocCityRoller]

3 minutes ago, I am the egg man said:

Yeah, it was 'Night Train' by Guns 'N Roses.  

(Please edit if necessary)

 

beat me to it by a couple of hours.

 

Our stream of consciousness is similar, which of us should be scared?

[bbb]

I knew somebody who was a college punter.  He had offers to try out for NFL teams, but he wouldn't do it because he couldn't do the flying............To me, it was so maddening!  

[BrycePaup4ever]

6 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

To answer the question in the OP: I think it would be very difficult.

 

It would help if the player played on the right team in the NE and had a lot of games within close driving distance.

 

But eventually the player would have to drive an awful long way to get to some of the games, which would require him to miss practice time, probably to the point where it just wouldn't work.

 

Rather than trying to solve the problem by driving, it would be better to sit the player down with a psychologist and try to overcome the fear.  It's all mental anyway.

 

 

That seems to be all you could do. If they cant fly then they likely lose the dream.

Edited September 20, 2019 by BrycePaup4ever

[MJS]

31 minutes ago, I am the egg man said:

Yeah, it was 'Night Train' by Guns 'N Roses.  

?

 

 

28 minutes ago, RocCityRoller said:

 

Wow, Guns and Roses is older than I thought. ?

 

I'd post a link for the TBD wunderkind, but no version is clean enough....

 

Night Train by Jimmy Forrest

 

[RocCityRoller]

35 minutes ago, MJS said:

 

 

Night Train by Jimmy Forrest

 

I know I know.... it was a joke playing with the differences in time between Nightrain Lane and GNR, which to someone under 30 would effectively be the same.

The correlation between GNR and Nightrain being ridiculous to begin with.

 

Started with an 'internet truth' that Nightrain Lane was nicknamed Night Train because he was afraid to fly....

 

Which brings us back to the beginning of the thread.

[Mr. WEO]

4 hours ago, HansLanda said:

I read a story (or maybe heard on the radio) that when Kiko was on the Bills, he was so nervous of flying that they let him sit in the jump seat in the cockpit and the pilots would tell him everything they were doing...Seriously. 

 

I don't think those planes have a 3rd (jump) seat in the cockpit...

[HansLanda]

50 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said:

 

I don't think those planes have a 3rd (jump) seat in the cockpit...

 

They ALL do. 737’s have one, 757s have one or two depending on model. 

2 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

That seems highly unlikely, but it’s possible a charter flight might get away with having a person in the cockpit who isn’t cleared for it.  On the other hand, it’s highly surprising a charter pilot/copilot would accept this.  The usual rule is “sterile cockpit below 10,000 feet” though, meaning only necessary and flight-related communications between the PF and the PNF that leg (pilot flying and pilot not flying) and if distraction led to an incident or accident it would be their butt in the sling

 

Now they might have been asked to let him into the cockpit and give him a tour and explain what they do, when and why while they were on the ground.  I could see where that might help a nervous flyer.

 

 

I was thinking that myself.  

 

I didn't make it up. 

 

 

 

[US Egg]

3 hours ago, MJS said:

Night Train by Jimmy Forrest

 

Definitely had to be played in Burlesque shows.

2 hours ago, RocCityRoller said:

.....it was a joke playing with the differences in time between Nightrain Lane and GNR, which to someone under 30 would effectively be the same.

Now he can go Wikipedia what Burlesque means.

[Solomon Grundy]

Wasn't Reggie White afraid to fly?

[LSHMEAB]

This thread reminds me of a conversation George Constaza had with Keith Hernandez. 

[Bakin]

I fly ALOT. 

Once or twice a month. Usually long distances over an ocean. 

 

I used to be petrified of flying when I was younger but it went away after I got married and my wife was even worse than I was. I had to be strong for her. 

 

Now I make jokes about my plane crashing. Turbulence excites me. 

I watch Mayday on my iPad during the flight.

 

You have to have a huge ego to believe YOUR plane is going to crash. It’s totally irrational. 

The odds are astronomical. Like 1 in 10 million. Especially lower if you travel in North America. 

We all know it’s the safest way to travel. 

You just have to surrender control and that’s very difficult for some. 

Edited September 21, 2019 by Bakin

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

8 hours ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:

 

...The "Birth of the Madden Cruiser"?......

 

...check this out ...$2.489 MILLION for a "cruiser"............

http://www.featherlitecoaches.com/inventory/featherlite-vantare-prevost-3915/

 

 

Actually initially it was Amtrak, then switched to the cruiser.

 

Pluse with all the expansion, likely many of the southern cities weren't even served by Amtrak.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

7 hours ago, HansLanda said:

 

They ALL do. 737’s have one, 757s have one or two depending on model. 

 

I didn't make it up. 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t think you made it up, but “put him in the cockpit” could be interpreted different ways - put him in for a tour pre- flight? Let him ride there?  

 

Im not saying it couldn’t be true, I’m just saying I’m surprised if a professional flight crew would accept the need to explain everything they were doing to a large human who might freak out, during departure and arrival phases of flight.

 

”is he clear, that Pan Am?”

 

 

[sherpa]

NFL charters are usually 757's or 767's, except the London stuff.

They have two jumpseats.

Not likely that anyone sits in the jumpseat, but it used to be possible on charters.

 

Only a few of situations where the same guy flies a team on all away games.

I know that the Cowboys and Dolphins used to have the same captains for their road games, but there are contractual requirements that are involved.

The guy who used to fly the Dolphins had to trade out of his weekly trip in order to fly the Sat/Sun charter. He was a bit senior to me and always flew mid week Paris trips. I always took his trip so he could do the charter. 

Jim Ritcher flew a Dolphin charter to Buffalo as first officer once.

 

Quick story involving a Dolphin charter that involved a captain different than the one above.

Dolphins were coming back to Fort Lauderdale from an LA game.

There was a weak hurricane, but a hurricane nonetheless in South Florida. 

Jimmy Johnson was the head coach and he insisted that they land in Fort Lauderdale.

Captain tells him to get back to his seat and they are going to land In Ft. Meyers.

Argument ensues and Jimmy tells him that if they don't land in Fort Lauderdale, he is going to blast the airline in his Monday press conference. Captain tells him it is far too dangerous and he doesn't care about Jimmy's threat and to get back to his seat.

They land in Fort Meyers and Jimmy whines about it in his Monday media thing.

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by sherpa

[skibum]

16 hours ago, Rocket94 said:

I took a Bus from Buffalo to San Diego when I young for the experience. I would not recommend it. Long and grueling and full of characters. Who do you meet on a bus? Escaped mental patients, the indigent, the haunted!

True, riding the Dirty Dog is nasty. Lots of people on the fringe; usually a few folks who were handed tickets by local police and told to get out of town, where they can be someone else's problem. I've seen desperate people loading all of their belongings, which are in trash bags, into the cargo hold. 

 

But I doubt that's the kind of bus you ride when you're an NFL baller. 

[billsfan1959]

12 hours ago, HansLanda said:

 

They ALL do. 737’s have one, 757s have one or two depending on model. 

 

I didn't make it up. 

 

 

 

Since we are talking about Kiko, I'm sure the explanation went something like this: