Dion Dawkins "A Letter to Bills Mafia Part III"

[Beck Water]

must-read

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/dion-dawkins-letter-buffalo-bills-playoffs-nfl-football

 

[Beck Water]

Big reveal:  Dawkins girlfriend/mother of his children Daiyanna suffered a cardiac arrest out in California during training camp last summer

 

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I haven’t talked about this publicly, but during camp last summer, my girlfriend Daiyaana went into cardiac arrest. She was in California for a minor surgery, and they had to put her under. But I guess her body had a bad reaction to the medication they used, which caused her heart to stop. Fortunately the doctors were able to get her back and on a breathing tube, and after some days in a coma she ended up O.K. But it’s the scariest experience I’ve ever been through — just knowing, like, for a moment there she was gone. For a moment, I didn’t know if I’d ever see her again. Or if my kids were seeing their mom again.

 

And it’s been impossible not to relive all of that as everything has been happening with Damar. Not only the aspect of it that was happening in real time, of watching them shock D-Ham’s heart back while praying to God he’d pull through. But also some of these feelings in the bigger picture, about what it means to play this game.

Because we can put reassuring vibes into the world…. and we can say reassuring things…. and we can have reassuring initiatives…. and yeah, I can write reassuring articles. But there’s no way to sugarcoat it: that what we do is f*cking scary. And at the end of the day?? I just want to get home, man. Just get home safe to my family….. that’s pretty much it. So I appreciate y’all for understanding, and for letting me be honest here. It’s the honor of my LIFE to rep this city, it really is. We’re about to give these playoffs our WHOLE business. But sh*t weighs heavy right now — and I’m working through that.

See you Sunday. I love you. You already shnow.

 

I think it's reasonable to conclude that while they're back to playing football, the events of last Monday are still weighing on the backs of some players' minds

[TheFunPolice]

For this team, this group of people, to be the ones to win a Super Bowl would be special in a way that no other team/season could match. 

 

 

[Warcodered]

This is a pretty good line too.

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It’s JUST football!! And we’re better than these other teams at it, so let’s beat four of them and then have a parade.

 

[WhoTom]

I got chills reading that.

 

[thenorthremembers]

Good stuff.   Well done Dion.

Edited January 12, 2023 by thenorthremembers

[Simstim]

That man makes me cry.

 

Love the shnowman.

[Billz4ever]

Love that dude.

[KingBoots8]

“Their football team can **** around and find out if they see us in the playoffs, but salute to their entire city.”

 

Wordsmith. I freaking love Dawkins hahaha

[Nephilim17]

Very touching and illuminating.

 

I don't always agree with McDermott's football decisions (however, many of them I do agree with) but, as with Dion, Sean has my respect as a human being forever.

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

Dion is awesome.  Today I read about the tantrum that Beckham threw on the plane where he called an elderly passenger fat, ugly and poor while selfishly refusing to buckle his seatbelt or get off the plane.  He implied to the police that he would fight the older man if they didn't keep him away after they got off the plane.  Contrast that with a guy like Dawkins, who could easily skip the charity work or corresponding with fans, but chooses to make a difference and treat people with respect and appreciation.  

 

In a few days the Bills play against a team whose best player and face of the franchise has a history of beating his pregnant girlfriend and abusing his toddler son. The Bills have Josh Allen.  

 

It is nice to cheer for a team that values character and holds their players to a higher standard on and off the field.  

Edited January 12, 2023 by HereComesTheReignAgain

[mushypeaches]

Holy crap that was an amazing read.  Just shows how real Dawkins is, and really how the whole team and organization approaches things

[Alphadawg7]

43 minutes ago, TheFunPolice said:

For this team, this group of people, to be the ones to win a Super Bowl would be special in a way that no other team/season could match. 

 

 

 

Saints winning it after Hurricane Katrina was pretty special too

[RoyBatty is alive]

Fantastic letter, from the heart.  Dion never disappoints, what a great teammate he must be.

[1stgm1993]

On 12/12/2022 at 1:45 PM, T&C said:

 

 

3 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

 

Saints winning it after Hurricane Katrina was pretty special too

 Pats winning *** after 9/11 

[Alphadawg7]

12 minutes ago, HereComesTheReignAgain said:

Dion is awesome.  Today I read about the tantrum that Beckham threw on the plane where he called an elderly passenger fat, ugly and poor while selfishly refusing to buckle his seatbelt or get off the plane.  He implied to the police that he would fight the older man if they didn't keep him away after they got off the plane.  Contrast that with a guy like Dawkins, who could easily skip the charity work or corresponding with fans, but chooses to make a difference and treat people with respect and appreciation.  

 

In a few days the Bills play against a team whose best player and face of the franchise has a history of beating his pregnant girlfriend and abusing his toddler son. The Bills have Josh Allen.  

 

It is nice to cheer for a team that values character and holds their players to a higher standard on and off the field.  

 

That was an outstanding read from an outstanding human.  Funny, I was reading up on that OBJ situation myself today and it was enough to 100% change my mind on his possible fit in the locker room here.  I never thought he was really going to come here, but based on his past teammates support in LA and CLE, I didn't have a fear he would be a locker room issue at this stage of his career if I was wrong and he ended up here.  

 

But regardless if he would behave in the locker room full of peers with a well coached team full of leaders or not...the bottom line is that OBJ does not deserve this locker room after what I saw on video with the plane.  Even if you give him the benefit of the doubt that the airline maybe handled it poorly initially (and that is not even clear on if they did or didn't), it's how he handled himself after that point that was unacceptable and just highlights who he is as a person.  

It is not just how you handle yourself in the locker room, it's how you carry yourself outside it too.  Dawkins letter here is a slice of who this team is, how they carry themselves top to bottom.  OBJ does not deserve to be part of that family, he isn't built the same as these guys and I really don't see any path that would lead him here, and for that I am now thankful after previously being fine with it (even though I never thought it would happen).   

[Captain_Quint]

Interesting about training camp last year. Didn't he miss time for that and there was some rampet speculation on what was happening or something? I seem to recall something like that, where he missed for 'personal reasons' and we were all up in arms about it. 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by Captain_Quint

[JGMcD2]

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I also want the Mafia to know something about Sean McDermott. It’s not that he didn’t have my respect before, because he did. But the way he carried himself through this D-Ham ordeal? He has my respect forever. 

 

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But McDermott stepped up, man, he did. He got in front of the team, and he said we’re not playing, period. He said no matter what the outcome is, we’re not playing. And that might not sound like a lot, but it’s a lot. Because right then, that’s permission to be a person. Not a player — a person. Trust me there’s a difference.

 

Love this from Dion.

 

Especially because of the next section about his GF... I recall a lot of people wanting to rid themselves of Dion because "there's always something mental going on with him and he's not committed" or something stupid as *****.

 

Low and behold his GF was in a coma during Training Camp.

Edited January 12, 2023 by JGMcD2

[BruceVilanch]

This team is going to win the whole damn thing. (knock on wood)

[Dr.Sack]

To put it simply, an awesome dude.