Foul Territory
A sports blog with no specific focus, though I like wrestling and baseball
2.06.2005
Dangerous Dillon
It's 21-14 Patriots right now, and Corey Dillon just went in for the go ahead touchdown. The rest of the Internet has done a good job analyzing and re-analyzing every possible aspect of the Super Bowl and Jacksonville, so you can check out some of the links to the right to check out that info. I'm going to talk about Corey Dillon.
Dillon has said a lot of less than positive things about his Cincinnati Bengals temas while he we playing there. He threw his teammates under the bus in the press on more than one occasion. It was tough for him I'm sure, as he clearly had top-tier talent while toiling away on the league's worst franchise. Now, he is on the Super Bowl-leading New England Patriots and most of the media can't say enough good things about him and his attitude.
It's been suggested by at least one Internet columnist (King Kauffman) that a lot of the perception we have of the players in professional sports is a result of each player's representation in the media. I'll agree with this, but he goes on to suggest that maybe Corey Dillon isn't as bad as he was made out to be in Cincinnati, though, to his credit, he argues that he is unlikely the saint he's been made out to be this year. As he says, the real answer is somewhere in between, as the train wreck that is the Bengals was surely frustrating to play for.
Saying all that, I can't say that Corey Dillon is to be absolved of all guilt because he now plays for a winner. No matter how well he behaved this year, it doesn't erase the previous years of bad behavior. There's no way it is appropriate for him to have said the things he said about his team and teammates. Things like: They better get it right, or, at the end of the season, I've got a surprise for them. I'm tired of it. Six years of this B.S. I ain't lying to you.-- I'm sick of this crap, period." It only gets worse from there. I know that they are professional athletes, and that professional sports has gradually become more player (and less team) centric over the years, but you have to at least have respect for your teammates, especially in a sport as team-oriented as football. It's for this reason that Dillon lost his job to Rudi Johnson during the 2003 season. He's proved that it wasn't for lack of talent, but that the Bengals decided they would be better off without his mouth running.
The lesson here is the same as the lesson in all sports. Don't badmouth your own team. Winning is hard enough when everyone is on the same page. There's no reason to make life difficult, and whether we know the whole Cincinnati story, it looks like Dillon's character could be called into question for his actions while a Bengal. True class is shown in the way you carry yourself when times are good and when times are bad, though I don't think Dillon has ever been accused of having class, though it looks like he will be wearing a Super Bowl ring before the night is out.
Dillon has said a lot of less than positive things about his Cincinnati Bengals temas while he we playing there. He threw his teammates under the bus in the press on more than one occasion. It was tough for him I'm sure, as he clearly had top-tier talent while toiling away on the league's worst franchise. Now, he is on the Super Bowl-leading New England Patriots and most of the media can't say enough good things about him and his attitude.
It's been suggested by at least one Internet columnist (King Kauffman) that a lot of the perception we have of the players in professional sports is a result of each player's representation in the media. I'll agree with this, but he goes on to suggest that maybe Corey Dillon isn't as bad as he was made out to be in Cincinnati, though, to his credit, he argues that he is unlikely the saint he's been made out to be this year. As he says, the real answer is somewhere in between, as the train wreck that is the Bengals was surely frustrating to play for.
Saying all that, I can't say that Corey Dillon is to be absolved of all guilt because he now plays for a winner. No matter how well he behaved this year, it doesn't erase the previous years of bad behavior. There's no way it is appropriate for him to have said the things he said about his team and teammates. Things like: They better get it right, or, at the end of the season, I've got a surprise for them. I'm tired of it. Six years of this B.S. I ain't lying to you.-- I'm sick of this crap, period." It only gets worse from there. I know that they are professional athletes, and that professional sports has gradually become more player (and less team) centric over the years, but you have to at least have respect for your teammates, especially in a sport as team-oriented as football. It's for this reason that Dillon lost his job to Rudi Johnson during the 2003 season. He's proved that it wasn't for lack of talent, but that the Bengals decided they would be better off without his mouth running.
The lesson here is the same as the lesson in all sports. Don't badmouth your own team. Winning is hard enough when everyone is on the same page. There's no reason to make life difficult, and whether we know the whole Cincinnati story, it looks like Dillon's character could be called into question for his actions while a Bengal. True class is shown in the way you carry yourself when times are good and when times are bad, though I don't think Dillon has ever been accused of having class, though it looks like he will be wearing a Super Bowl ring before the night is out.
Andy, 9:28 PM
