Interview Charles Haley

Originally posted by SofaKing:

Originally posted by Pillbusta:
Think of it this way ... when you are raised in a broken family and community from a very young age there are pressures some of us can't imagine on an individual to conform to that lifestyle and as a black man if you don't have the proper guiding hand from a male mentor it is very easy to get distracted and pulled back into the habits you were raised with and exposed to as a youth. Yes the pro athlete has a meal ticket today but it wasn't always that way and if they weren't raised properly they have a high probability to get into trouble later. It's complicated and 9ersLifer makes some great points but honestly you would have to take way too much time away from football to study these issues than most of us would desire in order to understand this stuff. This is why the NFL has these rookie symposiums for the players because a lot of guys truly need it. I'm watching Ballers on HBO and I see that guy Reggie guiding the DL on the show because obviously his father is not present and the money grubbing homey Reggie is as close as it gets for the player. That ball player is bound to be in trouble and broke before long. I had my grandfather until he died when I was 35 yo. He was a dominant force in my life so I had guidance that I respected above anything else and a to of guys don't have anything close to that so the homies is where it's at for them and that's wrong!

VERY well said, Pillpusta. That's why I don't think there is anything wrong with what Haley said. He understands the conditions some of these young guys grew up in and how it might effect their ability to stay out of trouble. As you said, there is a ton of pressure to conform to a certain lifestyle that may not be in the best interest for their careers. He's just looking out for their best interest.

This and well put by both you guys.

Originally posted by jreff22:
My issue with what you said stems from the normal rationale for breaking the law. When you are uneducated, have no job, no home, no money, no opportunity, etc crime is an easy avenue to follow. With pro athletes we are talking about (mildly) educated well paid individuals with steady jobs and very little down time. They aren't out running the streets doing dumb s**t.

9erslife stated, "those aren't my statistics, check out the links I provided. Plus, and as you pointed out, the NFL is mostly Black players, some 68-70%. This makes Haley's statement even more ignorant. How could it not be that more Black NFL guys would get arrested?" The black populations is obviously a minority but the crime rate and incarceration rate is very high. If the main reason for that is poverty which leads to crime, the numbers shouldn't be matching athletes who are living an easy life with real stuff to do. I understand the point of a mentor but all these guys are obviously naturally driven to get to where they are. I don't get how they, with that opportunity, fall back into the general statistic of criminal behavior. We can argue the socioeconomic status of regular people and point to higher crime rates for the prior mentioned problems. Those statistics shouldn't be carrying over to pro's who aren't afflicted with the same struggles.

What you had missing in the bold was proper guidance! If guys didn't have the proper training nurturing and guidance growing up then they can still be easily influenced even as newly rich adults. Sometimes we have too many women trying to raise men in our poorest communities and quite honestly that is not ideal to say the least

Originally posted by SofaKing:
VERY well said, Pillpusta. That's why I don't think there is anything wrong with what Haley said. He understands the conditions some of these young guys grew up in and how it might effect their ability to stay out of trouble. As you said, there is a ton of pressure to conform to a certain lifestyle that may not be in the best interest for their careers. He's just looking out for their best interest.

Yea I just find it hard for Haley to be cooning because from what I remember he didn't care if you were black white or whatever he was peeing on you whenever he felt like it and shoving his Johnson all up in your grill when you least expected it and if Eddie and / or Walsh weren't white then I don't know what they were but Haley didn't care. I think now he is trying to do what he can to help guys like Aldon who isn't white BTW. Now like I said I know what 9ersLifer said is very real in some instances but I am not sure that is so in this instance. Haley is trying to reach guys