Have we lost all perspective?
In the aftermath of the Jets’ victory over the Dolphins last night – a victory they very well might not have achieved without the services of confirmed drunk driver Braylon Edwards – I have been both shocked and appalled at the way Edwards is being glorified. One example is this article by Gregg Doyel, whose myopic take here really disappointed me, but who also reminded me that Edwards is not the only player to recently get picked up for a DUI.
And let me state something right off the bat: this post has nothing to do with my personal, well-known disdain for Braylon Edwards, as you’ll soon see.
Perhaps my distaste for how this story is being covered has been more acute because I can’t stand Edwards, but the general idea of this post is not influenced by Braylon and his underachieving, megalomaniacal “New York essence” one bit. And I mean that. I wouldn’t address a topic of such gravitas if my underlying motivation were so petty.
Here’s the thing: Edwards isn’t the only player who should not have played last night. I don’t think Edwards nor Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown – another confirmed drunk driver, but whose transgression occurred during the offseason – should have been on the field last night; and Brown is one of my favorite NFL players, a guy whose jersey I own and proudly wear sometimes on gamedays.
Both Brown, a guy I like, and Edwards, a guy I loathe, should have been suspended for at least four games for their transgressions. That’s right. If Brian Cushing and others can be suspended for failing a test for performance-enhancing drugs, a crime against only the integrity of NFL competition, then Edwards and Brown should be suspended for just as long, if not moreso, for a crime again the integrity of human life.
Email the author of this post: jerod@midwestsportsfans.com
