Follow me on Twitter: @mk1157
New York Jets defensive back Jamal Adams, a rookie taken sixth overall in the 2017 NFL draft, raised quite a few eyebrows when he said the following yesterday:
"I'm all about making the game safer, but as a defensive player, I'm not a big fan of it. But I get it. I can speak for a lot of guys that play the game. We live and breathe [football]. This is what we're so passionate about. Literally, if I had a perfect place to die, I would die on the field. And that's not a lie. There's so much sacrifice that we go through as a team, and just connecting as one and winning ball games. There's nothing like playing the game of football. But again, I'm all about making the game safer."
Later on, Adams’ teammate, cornerback Morris Claiborne, made similar comments.
Very quickly people came out to either cheer or jeer what Adams had said. Green Bay Packers Tight End Martellus Bennett tweeted that there is no way he would ever want to die for football, adding “I hope All these young cats that are willing to die for the game of football find a higher purpose in life.”
Former New York Jets running back Thomas Jones fully backed Bennett’s tweets, adding in a series of tweets of his own, “Only a brainwashed buffoon would say they're willing to die over a damn ball. Fake ass tough guys. Get it together. Same NFL cats willing to die on the field are the same ones "nae naein" and "hitten them folks" all day. What part of the game is this? Here's an idea. Instead of "DYING" valiantly for football" take some of the earnings, create your own business & "LIVE" comfortably.”
Jones’ former Jets teammate, ex-Safety Kerry Rhodes, had a more measured response, though he still felt the idea of dying for football was off-base. “Guys saying they will die on the football field are nuts. I love the passion for what you do, but would your owners die for you to play? I personally don't want to die anywhere if at all possible…..and I'm very passionate about quite a few things in my life.”
On Fox Sports, former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and former Denver Broncos Tight End Shannon Sharpe both said that while they certainly weren’t looking to die for anything, they understood what Adams meant. Lewis and Sharpe agreed that even knowing the risks, they both still felt a life of football was worth it and that the good they got out of football outweighed the bad. Sharpe even went so far as to say he would have said the same thing as Adams 15 years ago, although he indicated he would be much more careful with his words now.
And I think Sharpe touched on something that makes a lot of sense.
Adams is 21 and while Claiborne is a little older, even he is still only 27. They are both very young men in the heat of the moment talking about something they love and are passionate about. When I read the comments Adams made, I read it more along the lines of what Sharpe and Lewis said - that even with the risks, there is nothing on earth he would rather do, and the positives outweigh the negatives for him, even if it takes a few years off of his life in the end.
Even if you disagree with Adams – and I certainly understand both sides of the argument here – I don’t think he literally meant he wanted to die for football. He’s going to have to learn to become more judicious with his words, and now that he’s in New York, he will no doubt have a whole staff of trained professionals making sure he is more careful.
Deep down, I don’t think Jamal Adams wants to be sentenced to death. Seems more like an over-excited kid who is succumbing to the exhilaration he is currently feeling. He will eventually gain some perspective, and maturity will allow him to frame what he says in a better, more dignified way.
But that doesn’t mean he won’t still love football or decide – like Lewis and Sharpe did – that when it is all said and done, the physical toll of a violent game and overall risk to his health were worth it to him. Or maybe he won’t. Only time and experience can ultimately tell that tale.