Handcuffed by a Dumbass
 

Uh Rabach, we don't want to [U]have[/U] to draft a C with our 2nd round pick and they're guys available who play other positions closer to the top of our draft board.

Re: Handcuffed by a Dumbass
 

To play devil's advocate, you can't really ask professional atheletes to not have fun in the offseason. It sounds like Rabach's accident was just that, an accident. It was a stupid ass KWII situation where he was popping wheelies. Accidents happen.

I'm sure you can imagine all the stories we DON'T hear about of Skins players, driving drunk, partying with hookers, etc. If it was like the story of him JUMPING his ATV, I could see being pissed, but we have to understand these people have lives outside of football.

Re: Handcuffed by a Dumbass
 

Is driving ATVs disallowed under contract?

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Depends. I'm sure they have some kind of language but I doubt it's standard. I mean I'm sure they have things that are "unncessary risks" but I don't think that driving an ATV would qualify.

I'm assuming "unncessary risks" falls into things like skydiving, bungee jumping, cage fighting, etc.

Re: Handcuffed by a Dumbass
 

I know football players are allowed to have fun, but if I'm making that kind of money, I surely wouldn't endanger my livelihood by popping wheelies on an ATV. I guess he isn't too smart.

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Did it say anything about him popping wheelies on it?

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From what I know about Rabach, he's a big hunter.

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[quote=TheMalcolmConnection]Did it say anything about him popping wheelies on it?[/quote]Would you admit it? I hoping for the best but hopefully this doesn't put a strain on the draft. Did Gibbs mention it on the noon online-interview?

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[quote=TheMalcolmConnection]Did it say anything about him popping wheelies on it?[/quote]

Not specifically. I was comparing it to the Winslow situation. I hope it doesn't come out that Rabach was popping wheelies, too. At least he'll be healed long before mini-camp.

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[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection]From what I know about Rabach, he's a big hunter.[/QUOTE]
The only hunting season in VA any time soon is turkey. You would not gash your leg like that hunting or dragging even big game.

Re: Handcuffed by a Dumbass
 

Sounds like he's going to be fine, nothing much to worry about here.

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[quote=Mattyk72]Sounds like he's going to be fine, nothing much to worry about here.[/quote]

Right. More than anything it'll just give his wife something extra to love him for. Remember chicks dig scars, they do NOT dig damaged ACLs.

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[QUOTE=TheMalcolmConnection]Depends. I'm sure they have some kind of language but I doubt it's standard. I mean I'm sure they have things that are "unncessary risks" but I don't think that driving an ATV would qualify.[/QUOTE]

Actually driving 4 wheel ATV's is dangerous due to the high number of roll overs. Which is exactly what happend to Rabach. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that each year 120 children die and 37,000 are injured in ATV rollovers each year. This is just children, this does not include adults.
The problem has become so bad that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is drafting new policys for ATV's like printed warnings on the ATV's and other proposals that will be in place soon.
I know about this because a friend of mine broke his back while riding an ATV. It rolled over him and he was lucky he was not paralysed.
Four wheel motorcycles are a bad idea. The wheel base is too narrow. Dirt bikes are less dangerous. I have two dirt bikes and while there is risk in riding any vehicle there are huge diffrences in the amount of risk. The injury/death stats back that up. There are probably less deaths in Sky diving and bungee jumping than ATV deaths each year in the US.

Re: Handcuffed by a Dumbass
 

There's also less frequency of sky diving and bungee jumping than ATV driving. I'm not trying to say that ATVs aren't dangerous, I AM trying to say to let the guy live a little. This is the type of news that you only hear when it goes bad. I'm sure many of us would be appalled to know what some of our favorite players do in the offseason.

Say we had a player get chomped in a shark attack while snorkeling on vacation? The same could be said for that. Also, for the ATV rollovers, they also don't factor in good ol' safety precautions. It's just pure stats and I would almost guarantee than 90% of those accidents were caused by doing something wreckless.

Re: Handcuffed by a Dumbass
 

Unless driving ATV's is against the law it is his business, he could of been hurt as bad or worse driving his car

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I mean honestly...cant you just not do excessively dangerous things for your 10 year career? Then you can retire a multi-millionaire and ride ATVs and motorcycles for the next 40 years!

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I'm going to weigh in on the "living life" side of things and say, would you rather have your fun while you're young? Sure, don't do overly stupid things, but seriously if you want someone to take ALL the chance out of their life, just tell them to stop playing the game.

Re: Handcuffed by a Dumbass
 

you need to think about the emotional burden that is forced on these players. they really have no escapism from the game. i'm sure he's been driving atv's for a long time. just one of those freak accidents. stuff happens.

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Ok, I take it he had and ATV accident. This started out like question number three and did not link an article or tell of what happened. I'm very smart so by reading all the post I figured out what happened and yes I hid my intelligence very well

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I come down on the side that says this is a retarded thing to do. Malcolm, you can "live life" without doing dangerous things. There is no rule anywhere saying that in order to "live life" you have to do dangerous or risky things in which you get a rush by throwing caution to the wind. You can "live life" by jetting off to paradise and taking a 4-week beach vacation to the Carribbean. You can "live life" by going fishing or playing golf. You can "live life" by getting drunk at a party and calling a cab instead of driving home wasted. There are plenty of ways to live your life without doing dumb, risky things. I think riding ATVs is downright stupid when you depend on your physical health for your livelihood.

That said, he's only hurt for three weeks, and he'll be fine for this season. So I don't care about Rabach. I'm just arguing principle.

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[quote=Schneed10]I think riding ATVs is downright stupid when you depend on your physical health for your livelihood.[/quote]

No offense Schneed, but that is an ignorant statement.

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Rabach plays football for a living, a very dangerous occupation in of itself.

You can't control what these guys do in their free time.

In a pefect world these guys would stay home the entire offseason reading, working out and not engaging in any potentially harmful activities that could jeopardize their careers.

But in the end it's their call, it's their career, and their life they are making decisions for.

Re: Handcuffed by a Dumbass
 

[quote=Mattyk72]Rabach plays football for a living, a very dangerous occupation in of itself.

You can't control what these guys do in their free time.

In a pefect world these guys would stay home the entire offseason reading, working out and not engaging in any potentially harmful activities that could jeopardize their careers.

[B]But in the end it's their call, it's their career, and their life they are making decisions for.[/B][/quote]

I agree with every single thing you said, Matty. Especially the bolded part. They're allowed to make whatever choices they want to make, but I'm also allowed to criticize their decisions if I think it's dumb.

And yes of course football is dangerous. Maybe even as dangerous as to ride ATVs, I don't know the stats on injury likelihoods. But he gets paid to do one, not the other. If you get hurt doing what you're paid to do, it's just part of the job.

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[quote=cpayne5]No offense Schneed, but that is an ignorant statement.[/quote]

None taken, but I think you're way off base. Simple question: are you more likely to get hurt by choosing to ride ATVs or choosing not to ride ATVs?

Perhaps more pertinent, are you more likely to get hurt by riding ATVs or by doing any of the following:
1) taking a vacation to the Carribbean
2) taking a vacation to Europe
3) going to a party and catching a cab home
4) going fishing
5) working around your house
6) playing golf
7) playing hoops with some friends
8) umpteen million other fun alternatives to riding ATVs

I'm sure I'm going to get lectured on not trying to tell someone how to live their lives. I'm sure we have some people on this site who ride motorbikes. And that's fine, everyone can choose whether or not to accept that increased risk. It's just something I'd never ever do, I don't see the logic in it even for an everyday person. I especially don't see the logic in it when you're an athlete who depends on your body's well-being to earn a living. Think about it, bad accident and poof, there go any contracts you could have signed down the road.

I get it. Some people just like ATVs. It's just what turns them on. But for a football player, it's still stupid.

Re: Handcuffed by a Dumbass
 

I missed a lot of this argument, but my points lie in the fact it wasn't anything SERIOUSLY stupid that he was doing. It was an accident and that's all. I just think it's wrong to criticize someone on the basis of what they do pertaining to their job. Sure, criticize them all you want just for the actions, but it's extremely easy to say, "What that person is doing is jeopardizing their career." I'm sure most of us need our brain cells to do our jobs properly and I'm sure I've killed more than one with all the drinking I've done, and no one is like "Dammit Ben, you should talk drinking or else you're not going to be able to do your job." If I get a lecture, it's just a "Stop drinking because it's wrong (and those people are stupid ;)).

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[quote=TheMalcolmConnection]I'm sure most of us need our brain cells to do our jobs properly and I'm sure I've killed more than one with all the drinking I've done, and no one is like "Dammit Ben, you should talk drinking or else you're not going to be able to do your job." [/quote]

Actually, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea for you to "talk" drinking quite so much, TMC.:)

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[quote=Schneed10]

1) taking a vacation to the Carribbean - [B]sharks![/B]
2) taking a vacation to Europe - [B]stupid frenchies[/B]
3) going to a party and catching a cab home - [B]have you ridden in a taxi lately?![/B]
4) going fishing - [B]could poke your eye out, for crying out loud!!![/B]
5) working around your house - [B]some tools are sharp[/B]
6) playing golf - [B]flying clubs from other ticked off players[/B]
7) playing hoops with some friends - [B]didn't Turk get hurt playing BBall?[/B]
8) umpteen million other fun alternatives to riding ATVs - [B]but are they equally fun??[/B]
[/quote]


Everything can be dangerous if you're not careful. Maybe Rabach wasn't careful - maybe it was just an accident, I don't know. I'm not going to chastise him for it.

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[quote=cpayne5]Everything can be dangerous if you're not careful. Maybe Rabach wasn't careful - maybe it was just an accident, I don't know. I'm not going to chastise him for it.[/quote]

LOL. Your edit of my post was funny. But seriously, riding ATVs is inherently more risky than a whole bunch of other activities. You can be as careful as you want, but you're still not nearly as likely to get hurt doing countless other things.

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[quote=TheMalcolmConnection]I missed a lot of this argument, but my points lie in the fact it wasn't anything SERIOUSLY stupid that he was doing. It was an accident and that's all. I just think it's wrong to criticize someone on the basis of what they do pertaining to their job. Sure, criticize them all you want just for the actions, but it's extremely easy to say, "What that person is doing is jeopardizing their career." I'm sure most of us need our brain cells to do our jobs properly and I'm sure I've killed more than one with all the drinking I've done, and no one is like "Dammit Ben, you should talk drinking or else you're not going to be able to do your job." If I get a lecture, it's just a "Stop drinking because it's wrong (and those people are stupid ;)).[/quote]

Drinking moderately, even once-weekly binge drinking, is not a serious threat to your career. Drinking to the point of alcoholism is, though. So if you see someone drinking that much, then yeah, they should get a lecture.

It's not about doing what's right and wrong. It's about doing what's in your own best interests. You can make millions of dollars playing football, you do something risky that gets yourself hurt, all of a sudden you can't make millions any more. The cost/benefit is out of whack. The trouble is nobody ever thinks of the costs; nobody thinks they're going to get hurt on an ATV. They think oh I'll be fine, I'll just be careful. And then before you know it, their leg muscle is hanging out of a huge gash.

Someone said it on here already, just ride the ATVs once you retire from football. At that point, millions of dollars are not at stake. It's the money at stake here that makes it such a stupid decision.

Re: Handcuffed by a Dumbass
 

There's just no rational argument you can make for why riding ATVs in the NFL offseason is a smart idea. It's dumb no matter how you cut it. The only reason people do it is because it's fun, and damnit, they don't care if it's stupid, they just want to have fun.

And that's fine. But don't complain when I call a spade a spade.

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[QUOTE=Schneed10]LOL. Your edit of my post was funny. But seriously, riding ATVs is inherently more risky than a whole bunch of other activities. You can be as careful as you want, but you're still not nearly as likely to get hurt doing countless other things.[/QUOTE]
I couldn't disagree more with that last sentence.

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[quote=cpayne5]I couldn't disagree more with that last sentence.[/quote]

Then you're flat out ignoring the facts.

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Schneed, have you ridden an ATV?

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[quote=cpayne5]I couldn't disagree more with that last sentence.[/quote]

You're telling me that you honestly think you're just as likely to get injured by riding ATVs as you are by lying on a beach in Turks & Caicos?

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[quote=Schneed10]You're telling me that you honestly think you're just as likely to get injured by riding ATVs as you are by lying on a beach in Turks & Caicos?[/quote]
and you think its just as fun lying on the beach as it is riding an ATV?

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[quote=cpayne5]Schneed, have you ridden an ATV?[/quote]

Yes. But only for about five minutes.

And I understand what you're getting at. You're saying that people who know how to ride an ATV can protect themselves by taking precautions. And that the know-how is what really protects you.

But that know-how is subject to human error. If you mess up on an ATV, even though you're being careful, something nasty can happen.

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[quote=steveo395]and you think its just as fun lying on the beach as it is riding an ATV?[/quote]

This is the crux of my entire argument. People care more about how fun it is rather than how much of a risk it is to their financial future.

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A regular joe risks his regular joe salary when he rides ATVs. He could get hurt an not be able to make it back to his 9-5.

A football player risks his NFL salary (for many it's in the millions) when he rides ATVs. BIG difference.

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Gotta jet now guys. I have to ride home on my ATV. LOL

Maybe I'll pick up the discussion over the weekend.

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[QUOTE=Schneed10]Then you're flat out ignoring the facts.[/QUOTE]
I've seen people get hit in the head by a golf club and spend months in the ICU. I've seen people tear ACLs running on the beach during a 'relaxing' vacation in the Carribean. etc etc

I've also seen myself ride ATVs for the past 18 years and never get hurt. I've seen relatives race dirtbikes professionally for 10+ years and never get hurt.