Thursday, April 05, 2012

Gregg Williams

Jesus f---ing christ.

I hate to be Pollyanna about this - perhaps this goes on in every single NFL locker room - but man - I think this guy needs to be banned from football. Targeting guys heads after they've been tackled and hit? Especially after what we know about the long term effects of concussions and how the NFL doesn't monetarily support these players after they've retired? And plus - he's targeting 49er player that I love. Fuck Gregg Williams. The only guy that got KO'd in that game was his boy - Pierre Thomas. I can't decide whether to be horrified or gloat in the 49er toughness vs. the Saints.

There's being tough and there's trying to injure people. I think Ray Lewis or James Harrison put it this way, and it rings true to me - I want to hurt guys, but I don't want to injure them. Williams is talking about injury - and serious injury. That's the line. And it isn't cool.

2 comments:

Charles DeRosa said...

I'm always interested in the duality of creating uber agressive human beings while at the same time expecting them to know exactly where the line is drawn between "proper" agression and outright bad behavior.

Do you remember the story from a few months ago about the soldiers who, after being in a heated firefight with some Taliban fighters, urinated on the corpses of the fallen Taliban? There was both political and popular outrage at the event.

However, isn't America's military success in many ways tied to our ability to create soldiers who are killers - men and women who are willing to follow orders without a second thought ?

We aim to stir the deepest aggressive tendencies in our troops but then want them to flip a switch and be the friendly face of the US military. Isn't degrading your fallen foe, perhaps by urinating on the bodies, an essentially human reaction to having just been fighting for your life?

There's a fundamental contradiction in a world that asks human beings to base their existence (whether making an NFL roster or living through a firefight) on being as aggressive as possible...but at the same time wanting them to constantly be aware of crossing the boundary into impropriety.

Greg said...

very true