Football players live a catch 22. (Define catch 22: A difficult situation from which there is no escape because it involves mutually conflicting or dependent conditions) Some players learn to deal with this conflicting delema but some live their lives in turmoil trying.

I'm talking about aggression. We want our football players to be aggressive. We like on-field smack talk, hard tackles, and fights breaking out when someone has a late hit on the quarterback (I think it's sweet when offensive linemen defend their QB - no one does that when they go down...). But off the field, we want our football players to be nice family men, who work with charities and willingly sign autographs while out to lunch. Football players are expected to turn on the aggression for an hour during the game, then turn it off in order to fit into the rules of society.

Some guys get it, and some don't.

Hines Ward (Pitt Steelers) gets it. On the field, he lays some pretty hard hits, even as a wide receiver. Just ask Keith Rivers, whose season he ended last year with a hit that broke his jaw. After the game (even between plays) you won't see anything but a smile on Hines Ward's face. He's a happy guy, just doing his job.
Cortland Finnegan (Tenn Titans) gets it. He's a fiesty defensive back, who is usually running his mouth and picking fights on the field. But off the field, you couldn't find a nicer guy. I met him (see picture with me and my daughter), and he was so polite and considerate of everyone around him. Word on the street is that he's always like that.

Then, there's the guys that just don't get it.

James Harrison fits the bill for his arrest for domestic violence in March of 2008. James is a star linebacker for the Steelers, who love his aggressive behavior on the field, but apparently his girlfriend didn't like it in their home when she called 911 on him.
Steve Smith, wide receiver for the Carolina Panthers, plays tough and physical on the field, and it's gotten him to the ProBowl several times. But he's also punched 2 of his teammates (at different times)during practice settings.

Don't let these trouble-makers give you the wrong impression. The majority of the men in the NFL get it. They've learned to use their aggression on the field for their team's benefit and control it off the field for their own benefit. So thanks, Cortland Finnegan, for being so kind to me and my daughter (and all Titans fans), and thanks for being so nasty to the wide receivers on the opposing team!

By the way, I got the idea for this post from a poll on CBSsportsline.
http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/messages/chrono/15274214/0/1

Labels: NFL