This isn’t a blog about football but it involves football players. By now the news waves are flooded with the sad tale of Geno Smith. The erstwhile quarterback of the NY Jets was involved in a locker room altercation with a teammate. Now there are some facts and sociological rules to put in place before I tell you what happened. Fact: at the time Smith was the starting QB for the Jets. He was a second round draft pick and tapped to be the leader of the franchise. Sociological Rule: The QB is a team’s lifeblood. Nobody touches the QB. Fact: a backup linebacker dropped Geno Smith with one punch in plain view of his team mates. Nobody hit that dude back.
How can we rationalize that rule with those facts? Upon closer inspection I learned that the altercation began over a failed appearance at a football camp. He made a promise to appear and then didn’t. As a result the ‘puncher’ looked bad. He in turn asked Geno to pay the $600 he was out because Geno didn’t do what he said he would. After a few weeks of Geno not paying, the player confronted Geno. Words were exchanged. At some point Geno apparently stood up and walked over to the other guy, a Linebacker 1.5 times his size, and put a finger in the man’s face. Geno Smith was punched so hard that his jaw was broken in two places. One punch. This was not a sucker punch as is being sensationalized. This was a reaction. This was a reaction that ignored a lot of social rules. My question is, how did it happen?
I think it boils down to immaturity and an inability to lead. Peyton Manning would never ever get punched out in his own locker room. Geno’s issues are clearly on display when you consider what both he and his attacker tweeted out after the incident. Smith’s attacker, who was fired, tweeted a major apology. Smith snapped a selfie with the tagline ‘I’ll be back‘. This is pure and unavoidable evidence of the man’s immaturity and inability to handle such a public job. This is further evidenced by the fact that no one stopped the attack. Once the altercation heated up, someone should have stopped it. There were several witnesses who spoke under conditions of anonymity, because nobody wanted to admit that they were there and did not act. If they did not act, there are deeper issues at play here. Geno was allowed to be hit.
Some Thoughts:
- 2014 was the most difficult year of my life. Between dealing with the emotional fallout of deaths over the two previous years and the incredible heartache of divorce, I just broke. My teaching suffered. My writing suffered even more. I am making the best of a 2015 recovery, but I vow that 2016 will bring me to new heights.