Gangstas and Thugs?
by kjones407 on Sep 5, 2010 10:32 AM EDT
Email
Print
I found this comment on a message board where the topic was "The Jags are headed in the right direction now":
"As a life long citizen of Jacksonville I think I can speak for many in the community by thanking Gene Smith for completely rebuilding our Beloved Jaguars! After James (Shack) Harris built a team based on Thugs and Gangstas and anything but true football stars it is my oppinion that Gene Smith's commitment to charactar first first has brought a fresh new spirit to the team and the community. This team will become a winner again, surpassing the achievements of the past and winning a Super Bowl with Honor, Integrity and Charactar!
Soon the Blackouts will be a memory serving only to remind this organization that Jacksonville is a town of decent people who will not support thugs and gangstas!!"
While it is true that some of the players had character issues that shouldn't have been acceptable, they were by no means gangstas and thugs. Which players did we have that could carry that moniker? Matt Jones? Reggie Williams? Mike Peterson (not a thug)? Personally, I don't know. What 'Shack' Harris did was draft based on need and physical attributes, which got the team nowhere fast. He also made the mistake of signing washed up free agency players to high price contracts, which also hurt the team. Instead he should have been doing what Gene is doing. That is use free agency as a place to fill certain positions of need with reputable stop-gap players until it can be addressed in the draft. And approach the draft with a BAP philosophy and sticking to it with conviction. Instead of drafting physically gifted players with limited potential, drafting productive, high character young men that carry certain intangible qualities such as leadership, commitment to football, among others. While I do believe Gene will do a much better job at building this team to compete for a championship for years to come, I do not believe 'Shack' built a team of gangstas and thugs. Remember, the face of our franchise, Maurice Jones-Drew, was drafted under his tenure. This team is heading in the right direction, in GENE WE TRUST.
I've seen similar comments written by other Jag fans, here is what I think. What about you?
14 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Both Jaguars.com and Jacksonville.com Jaguars boards are jokes
Waber-Jaguar
by jawsaints on Sep 5, 2010 10:35 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I vote we actually rec a comment
When we write +1. Just sayin’.
Mike seemed like he played with a nasty edge but I don’t think he was a terrible dude in the community. Reggie Williams ran into trouble at the end of his Jag career and is just now really starting to mess up so I could understand if people think hes thuggish. I honestly just couldn’t stand how he felt the need to dance after every 3 yard catch he made.
Matt Jones was the closest thing to thug in my book, he always carried himself like he had accomplished something and his screwups off the field didn’t help his image to those outside of Arkansas.
by jstnblke41 on Sep 5, 2010 2:35 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
rec'd for recommending we rec
You can't reason with unreasonable people.
by JagsAlex87 on Sep 5, 2010 7:56 PM EDT up reply actions 5 recs
I'm not crazy about the term "thug"
There’s a connotation there I never really cared for. And I have thought at times that Shack has and continues to hold a lifelong grudge for the treatment he endured throughout his professional career, and really, who could blame him, BUT I don’t think he’s a dumb man. I also don’t think he set out to torpedo a franchise, some people are just poor evaluators of talent when they have the conn. Do you think Millen got out of the booth when he was on his way to being the next John Madden just to destroy the Detroit Lions?
No one can tell what a kid will do when he has more money than he can spend for likely the first time in his life and all of a sudden is not the BMOC.
I mean the thing with pro athletes is we only see what they allow us to see, unless they run afoul of the law. Some of these “fans” are in my view intimating that they prefer a very “vanilla” team and feel Harris made his decisions with skin color in mind. Again, I seriously doubt that, I just think he was not a great talent evaluator.
kjones, to your points, there is more than one way to build a team. With us, even in a non-capped year, I see a lot of “back to the future” with Gene Smith. He is building a young team and the foundation is on both lines. He knows it won’t be done in 1 year so we are solving groups in one shot. Way I see it is we have the o line, d line, linebackers, receiving corps, special teams, running game set for a few years. Now we need quarterback, which we wisely did not address this year as this draft was awful, and secondary. I see a lot of 1995 and 1996 all over again.
Teams are going to have their head cases and to me, it seems like the winning teams get a bit more latitude in their communities when they are doing what they are not supposed to.
Personally
I could care less about what a player does in his own time as long as he is on the football field to win me games.
Shake and Bake
I see in the poll Matt Jones has alot of votes
I consider him more of a sterotypical hillbilly than thug. I guess my definition of thug is a guy with multiple “serious” crimes, like DUI, manslaughter and etc. I can understand speeding fines or whatnot
"HULU: An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy"
Real fans don’t need a reason.
Gamertag: xXTealNinjaXx
Sensabaugh?
Why is he on there?
Who was the DB that called the cops racist? Brian Williams?
I’d unfortunately vote for Jimmy Smith.
"You know what happens when you punt to Greg Reid." <----Jimbo
That was Khalif Barnes who was calling the cops racist
I’d vote for him for being an idiot and for being a complete bust on the field.
You can't reason with unreasonable people.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
