Handcuffed by a Dumbass

[amorentz]

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!

[TheMalcolmConnection]

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.

[skin4Life28]

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.

[firstdown]

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

[Schneed10]

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.

[cpayne5]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

I think riding ATVs is downright stupid when you depend on your physical health for your livelihood.

No offense Schneed, but that is an ignorant statement.

[MTK]

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.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

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.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by cpayne5

No offense Schneed, but that is an ignorant statement.

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.

[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 ).

[JET]

Originally Posted by 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."

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

[cpayne5]

Originally Posted by Schneed10

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

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.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.

[Schneed10]

Originally Posted by 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 ).

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.

[Schneed10]

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.