The unusual story of Alejandro Villanueva: West Pointer, Army Ranger Captain, hero... and Pittsburgh Steeler.

Now the starting left tackle for the Steelers.  A warrior's warrior.  A hell of a lot more soldier than I EVER was.

Alejandro Villanueva (American football)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alejandro Villanueva

Villanueva as a senior playing for Army

No. 78 Pittsburgh Steelers Position: Offensive Tackle Personal information Date of birth: September 22, 1988 (age 27) Place of birth: Meridian, Mississippi Height: 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) Weight: 320 lb (145 kg) Career information College: Army Undrafted: 2010 Career history

• Cincinnati Bengals (2010)*
• Chicago Bears (2012)*
• Philadelphia Eagles (2014)*
• Pittsburgh Steelers (2014–present)

 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only Roster status: Active Career NFL statistics as of Week 1, 2015 Games played: 1 Games started: 0 Stats at NFL.com

Alejandro Villanueva
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	2010 – present
Rank	Captain
Unit	1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
Awards	Bronze Star Medal with "V" device

Alejandro "Ali" Villanueva (born September 22, 1988) is an American football player for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League and a captain in the United States Army, with whom he serves as an Army Ranger. He played college football for the Army Black Knights, being recruited at one position, and playing three others during the course of his career. After serving three tours of duty in Afghanistan, he signed a contract with the Eagles on May 5, 2014, after working out in a regional showcase. He is 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m) tall, and signed with the Eagles as a defensive end; he did not make the final cut. Shortly after, the Pittsburgh Steelers signed him to their practice squad as an offensive lineman.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Football career
  • 2.1 College career
  • 2.2 Professional career
• 3 Military career
  • 3.1 Commendations
• 4 References
• 5 External links

Early life

Villanueva was born on Naval Air Station Meridian in Meridian, Mississippi to Spanish natives; Ignacio Villanueva, a Spanish Naval officer who worked for NATO, and Matilda Martin.^[1] Both his mother and father were over 6 feet (1.8 m) tall. Of the family's four children, Alejandro, Paloma, Ignacio and Carmen; Alejandro was the eldest. During his childhood, he lived in Rhode Island, Spain, and Belgium; in Spain, he learned to play rugby, which, for a time, he preferred to football, which he began to play in Belgium.^[1] It was while he was attending SHAPE High School in Casteau, Belgium when he was recruited to play football.^[2] Villanueva's childhood friend whom he'd met at SHAPE HS was recruited to play football for the Army Black Knights; and his friend told the Army coaches about Villanueva.^[2] They kept in touch and Villanueva told him that he was considering attending West Point.^[2] The following year Villanueva enrolled in West Point.^[2]

Football career

College career

Villanueva played college football for the Army Black Knights at several positions including left tackle, defensive lineman, and wide receiver.^[3] Though originally recruited as a tight end, he was a defensive end during his freshman season, although he mostly played on special teams. In his sophomore season offensive line coach, John Tice, lobbied to have Villanueva converted to an offensive tackle which succeeded near the end of his sophomore year. By his junior season, he started every game at left tackle. Voted a team captain before his senior year, he reluctantly converted once more to become a 290 pounds (130 kg) wide receiver; a feature story in the Army football program read, "Already touted as the tallest football player in the country, Villanueva completed the transformation from being an offensive lineman for the past two years, to running routes on the field with the starting offense last Saturday night."^[1] His height, while reported by Army Football in 2009 to be 6 feet 10 inches (2.08 m),^[1] was given by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014 as 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m).^[4]

Professional career

Villanueva practiced with the Cincinnati Bengals as a tight end but did not make the team and went back into military service.^[3] Two years later, he tried to enter the NFL again as a tight end, but this time he practiced with the Chicago Bears. The Philadelphia Eagles signed Villanueva to an undisclosed contract to play as a defensive end on May 5, 2014.^[5] His signing marked the second time the Eagles had signed a military veteran in recent years, having previously had Chad Hall, a wide receiver from the Air Force, as a member of the team.^[6] Villanueva has said that if he does not make an NFL roster, he plans to serve a fourth tour of duty in Afghanistan.^[7] He commented, "I see this as a win-win situation. Obviously, I’m trying to get to a team and contribute. But if I can’t, then I can't wait to get back to the Army and serve in the same manner that I have."^[7] During training camp, Villanueva gained 40 pounds (18 kg), noting that he is eating a consistent diet, which juxtaposed his military career insofar as while in the military, he often did not have time or inclination to eat, whereas with the Eagles, he is getting "plenty to eat".^[8][9] It was announced on Saturday, August 23 that he was one of fourteen players cut from the team.^[10] Shortly after, he was added to the Pittsburgh Steelers' practice squad as an offensive lineman.

Military career

After graduating from the United States Military Academy Villanueva began his military career when he was commissioned into the United States Army on May 22, 2010 as a second lieutenant in the Infantry.^[4] Directly after being commissioned he attended various military schools, including the United States Army Infantry School, United States Army Airborne School and Ranger School; all located on Fort Benning, Georgia. After completing the three courses he was assigned to the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York. It was with the 10th Mountain Division he deployed for the first time; for 12 months to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan as a rifle platoon leader.^[4] As a result of his actions during this deployment he was awarded a Bronze Star Medal with "V" device for rescuing wounded soldiers while under enemy fire.^[4] When he returned from his deployment he was reassigned as a rifle company executive officer.^[4]
Villanueva volunteered for the 75th Ranger Regiment's Ranger Orientation Program in 2013.^[4] He is assigned to the 1st Ranger Battalion at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. His roles within the Battalion have included plans officer, a Ranger rifle platoon leader and Ranger company executive officer.^[4]
He has deployed two more times to Afghanistan for a total of eight months between both deployments.^[4]

Commendations

U.S. military awards and decorations Bronze Star Medal with "V" device and one oak leaf cluster[4] National Defense Service Medal[4] Afghanistan Campaign Medal[4] Global War on Terrorism Service Medal[4] Army Service Ribbon[4] Army Overseas Service Ribbon[4] NATO Medal[4]

U.S. military badges Ranger tab[4] Combat Infantryman Badge[4] Expert Infantryman Badge[4] Parachutist Badge[4]

Michael Sam figures it out: out of football.

As the poster child of victimization, not only because he happens to be black but because he's flamingly homosexual, I knew from the beginning of his self-flagellating odyssey that he had one minor fault when it came to making it in professional football:

He was not and will never be, good enough.

He blamed his departure from the NFL on being gay, because that's what these inculcated victims who have no concept of personal responsibility do.

I suspected that from the very beginning, since he led with his choice of the variety of sexual partners he had (male) and then when I saw that rather disgusting YouTube video when he finally got drafted by those hands up, don't shoot idiots, the Rams.

For a quick refresher: 



Well, as anyone watching him knew, that was going to work out.

It also didn't work out in Dallas.  And, quite apparently, it's not working out in Montreal, either... because he has now quit and is out of football:

Michael Sam tweets his departure from football, citing mental health
Michael Sam will step away from professional football, he announced via Twitter on Friday night.

Sam, the 25-year-old who began the season with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, cited a tumultuous past year for leaving football at this time.

The Alouettes confirmed in a release that Sam has left the club for "personal reasons" and that he has been added to the team's suspended list.

Sam made the announcement in a series of tweets. 

Sam, the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL, agreed to a two-year deal with the Alouettes this summer. He left training camp June 12, citing personal reasons, and sat out the team's first five games. He failed to record a tackle in his Alouettes debut Aug. 7.

Sam, the 2013 SEC defensive player of the year at Missouri, was selected in the seventh round of the 2014 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams, did not make the team and spent some time on the Dallas Cowboys' practice squad before being released.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

His defenders point out that he was SEC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR!!!!

So?

So what?

Would that have happened if he was straight?

Don't know.

But that isn't an indictment of professional football where, clearly, at this point, they didn't care if you knocked over 7-11's as a hobby as long as you can hit the open receiver, so to speak.

Sam gambled everything on continuing his football career by playing the victim.  He lost.

He made an impact of some sort by blowing himself up by "coming out."

Lionized by everyone on the left from the moron-in-chief  down for his "courage," the missing element that might have made this a story worth telling is that he simply isn't good enough.

They put all of their eggs into the basket of what appears to me to be a loser.

Had Sam played it straight, so to speak: had he NOT lead with his sexuality as a reason for... well... anything... had he then made a pro roster and THEN came out?

We'd be telling a completely different story.

In all public figures who lead their professional lives by claiming to be militantly homosexual or militantly black, it shows a huge, gaping maw of insecurity.  They typically hold it up as some kind of shield to deflect criticism for some other weakness... how often have we heard that anyone opposed to Obama is a racist or anyone opposed to Molehill Moeller is a bigot?

I oppose Obama because he's a moron.  He's an idiot.  He's completely over his head and, were he to be discovered to be damaging this country deliberately instead of through his ignorance, cowardice and incompetence, then he should be tried for that.

Obama's color doesn't matter one wit to me.

His hypocrisy, race-baiting and spending us into bankruptcy (Along with the assist from the GOP-controlled Congress, of course) are among the many things I oppose about him, things that could fill a book.

But I oppose his use of the Constitution as his own personal toilet paper NOT because he's half-black... but because he's an idiot.

His color is immaterial to his arrogance, his tin ear and his stupidity.

Sam turned out to be a showman.  All hat... and if not "no cattle," than not enough cattle to start a ranch.

The roar of his arrival on the scene is now a whimper as he leaves it.  And all of those patting him on they back when he showed up?

Well, they're long gone now.

"America loves a winner.  They will not tolerate a loser." - Gen George Patton

On the NFL Network, for example, it was Michael Sam all day, every day, for weeks.

We were treated to updates on what this clown ate for lunch.

Now?

Cricket chirps.

And the question here is... if *I* knew this guy was going to fail and I haven't even picked up a football for over 30 years... then why didn't Sam's most militant allies know?

More details on the massive waste of money by the UW on Husky Stadium.

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For the first time since I was commissioned back in 81, I attended a football game in Husky Stadium this season... two to be precise, a loss to one of the Arizona schools and a win over UCLA.

I will be going to see their first game next season, against my other alma mater, Eastern Washington on Sept. 3.

And that will be the last game I ever see at Husky Stadium.

The University of Washington is going to waste $250 million on turning Husky Stadium into a professional football venue that isn't needed. And then, they are going to stick it to the students with horrific ticket price increases that many will not be able to afford.

The result?

Husky track will be relegated to 3rd world status as the track is removed. I've heard nothing about where they will move to... or if there will even be Husky track in the future.

There is another allegedly public-owned stadium just down the street, so to speak, known as Qwest Field. There is no reason why the Huskies can't move their entire football game operation to that already paid-for facility and play there permanently like they will be playing there for a third of next season and all of 2012.

It already has all the crap these rich aristocracy wants. It's state of the stadium art. When, for example, the Apple Cup is played there, UW/WSU will be splitting $2.4 million in profits...

For one game.

As a one season walkon who never rose above tackling dummy status in Spring Ball back in the day, I have an affinity for Washington Football. Born in Seattle, I heard about it all of my life... watched Jim Owens-led teams, reveled through Don James, Jim Lambright and pondered the fascinating tenure of Trickey Rick.

I bled through the recent 0-12 season, making the Huskies statistically the worst team in the United States.

And over the past few years, I watched the greediest members of the Tyee Club try and stiff the taxpayers to built their luxury suites at a horrific cost... only to finally admit they had the money laying around and they they could write a check for the whole works, more or less.

But they are not paying for it. They are making, among others, the students pay for it... when it's already been paid for.

Apparently, the rich who view Huskyville as their own personal fiefdom aren't really paying for this: they're lending out money to get it built and then forcing the students to pay that money back if they want to go to a game.

Obviously, they are fine with that. And some reading this will be fine with that as well. They'll indicate that students don't HAVE to go to a game. And that's true, as far as it goes. Except for one thing:

So get past the idea that we need to renovate Husky stadium. We don't.

Because in all of this, we can never lose sight of why we have college football in the first place.

It is first for the students; second for the student athletes, third for the community and fourth for the jock sniffers, aka the big shot Alum. And that duty to the students comes long before the "cold, hard business" nonsense the rag babbles about.

Football finances the rest of the athletic program there. I get that.

But what the rag is advocating is a move from a college athletic program to a huge, semi-pro level program, where the actual justification of college football... the students and the student athletes... are completely forgotten in a cloud of cash.

As it is now, Student season tickets average around $125... which seems like a reasonable cost. When this pig has completed it's non-student-focused lipsticking transplant, that cost goes up to as much as $900.

Is this where I point out that season ticket prices for the National Champion Eastern Washington University Eagles range from $25 per season... PER SEASON... for kids, to $90... PER SEASON.

This should not be about the Alumni.

This should be about the students. And imagine how many kids could be put through the UW if that $250 million was applied to tuition for the next several years.

As for the ticket projections, I'm reminded of another increase in a cost by the great State of Washington that seems to have provided $10,000,000 per month LESS revenue then they planned on... as people voted with their feet on the cigarette tax.... since they jacked that up as well.
In short, moving ticket prices to the stratosphere doesn't mean they'll get nearly the revenue they believe they will.

Huskyville's priorities are all screwed up. Add this to Romar's bizarre idea about wasting additional 10's of millions of dollars for a practice facility (What... the THREE basketball courts at Hec-Ed ain't enough?) and you have some serious reasoning that shows the UW should not be allowed to have their own tuition setting authority and more than an Oxy addict should have their own keys to a pharmacy.

Just sayin.
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The democratian blows it again: Big Plans at UW

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As someone who served, all-too-briefly, as a tackling dummy walk-on in 1977 at Husky Stadium (My abortive effort as a walk-on in Spring Practice cut off by a weapons instructor reassignment to Saudi Arabia... my return to complete the AROTC program in '81 precluding further involvement... that and a desire to avoid getting flattened like a steam roller was building a road. ) I have an affinity for Husky Stadium: some small amount of my blood left on a vastly different rug in the shadow of the Lake Washington end and bodily fluids left on the hundred and hundreds of stadium steps from running those bad boys... so, I understand, probably better then the kool-aid drinker who wrote this editorial, what's going on there.

In part, I have a level of agreement with what was written... but it begins and ends here:

To its credit, after a misguided-but-brief effort to entice the Legislature to pay for the renovation, Washington is funding the project through private donations and expected increased stadium revenue.

DISagreement starts here:

That need for increased revenue is what necessitates the relocation of the students.

Utter nonsense, of course.

The UW is perfectly capable of not doing this, yet another in a series of renovations, at all. In that regard, this amounts to a colossal waste of money.

What we're talking about here is dumping an unnecessary quarter of a billion dollars into a facility that will be used for football around 6 times per year.

Spending $250 million dollars on anything that will be used for 6 days a year is, well, moronic.

Particularly in the face of this little tidbit:

During the renovation, UW will play its 2012 home football season, and the November 26, 2011, Apple Cup game against Washington State at Qwest Field.

So, the obvious question becomes this:

If the Dawgs can play a season and a third at Qwest... then why can't they play EVERY home game there, permanently?

HHhhmmmmm?

Qwest Field, paid for, for the most part, by public dollars (let's never forget that Qwest is a PUBLIC facility) that have already been spent.

The Seahawks use it 10 or so times a year. So why is it that it's so damned important that we have a third unnecessary stadium (The Kingdome could STILL be serving us for a lot less money then the billion taxpayers spent on Qwest and Safeco) to blow dollars in?

The renovation is not something Huskyville NEEDS to have... it is, instead, something Huskyville WANTS to have.

And we're not, I believe, in a WANTS to have economy.

Yeah, it's a shame that we don't have the Nike equivalent up here... although I am reminded of a day during the stadium fight in Olympia when Paul Allen made enough money... on one day... to build 3 Qwest Fields and put an NFL team in each.

But why we don't is irrelevant. THAT we don't is the thing, and we never will.

Oregon isn't doing as well as they are because of facilities. After all, facilities don't make up for all the disadvantages Oregon has to overcome.

First, Oregon is in, well, Oregon. And who wants to play football for, or live in a train wreck like that? No matter what kind of castle Phil builds them, it's still in, well, Oregon. (Folks... there's a reason why NBA championships, for example, don't live there... and facilities ain't it. When a LeBron James hits the free agent market... Blazer-land ain't on the list))

Second, they've had a football team that has needed a probation officer more then a head coach. Is that what we want?

Do we want to hearken back to the Neuheisel Era (which took place, I might add, in a day when Husky facilities still lagged behind Nike's Palace.) and get players without regard to academics, character and integrity? (Thugs like Blount and Masoli come to mind)

There are only so many Don James types to go around. And when we get one... he wins. When we don't, we don't. And right now, it's fairly clear that while we may have one in the Sark, Oregon definitely has one now.

So get past the idea that we need to renovate Husky stadium. We don't.

Because in all of this, we can never lose sight of why we have college football in the first place.

It is first for the students; second for the student athletes, third for the community and fourth for the jock sniffers, aka the big shot Alum. And that duty to the students comes long before the "cold, hard business" nonsense the rag babbles about.

Football finances the rest of the athletic program there. I get that.

But what the rag is advocating is a move from a college athletic program to a huge, semi-pro level program, where the actual justification of college football... the students and the student athletes... are completely forgotten in a cloud of cash.

As it is now, Student season tickets average around $125... which seems like a reasonable cost. When this pig has completed it's non-student-focused lipsticking transplant, that cost goes up to as much as $900.

Is this where I point out that season ticket prices for the National Champion Eastern Washington University Eagles range from $25 per season... PER SEASON... for kids, to $90... PER SEASON.

Section	Bench (A/F)	Bench (B/E)	Premium (C/D)	Visitors (Q/M/P/N)	Visitors (02/01)	Endzone (HIJK)
Season Seats	$70	$80	$90	$70	$70	$60
Fac/Staff	$60	$70
Alumni Season	$60	$70
Family Pack (2 Adults, 3 Children)	$130
Kids Season	$25

And these guys are the National Champions.

So, oddly, what we have here is yet another effort by the democratian to shill for an agenda that is unsupportable, unjustifiable and which will hurt those it's alleged to serve the most.

You know... like the steaming pile that is the I-5 Bridge replacement and loot rail?

And there is no excuse... or need... for that.

Jacking the students, which is what's going to happen here, is never justified.

Student ticket prices are going to hit the stratosphere, pricing many of them out of games altogether.

And while that has no impact on the morons writing these editorials, well... they've proven themselves unconcerned when others are the ones required to spend money.
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When government gets really, really stupid. Illinois soldier unfit for football after Army basic training

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Words fail me.  But they don't fail This Ain't Hell

Illinois soldier unfit for football after basic training

August 13th, 2011

Parachutecutie sends us a link to an article from Yahoo sports about the state of Illinois who won’t grant a waiver for a student, Eddie Nuss, to play football after he missed some of the summer pre-season practices because he was in Fort Benning, GA in basic training;

“There’s this overriding safety issue,” IHSA executive director Marty Hickman told the Record. “Our sports medicine committee continues to feel that being in shape and being in football shape are two different things. We’ve had this issue a number of times. It’s been brought to the board’s attention, and they’ve consistently said that they’re not interested in modifying this policy.

Yeah, being in Army basic training shape and being in football shape are two different things. I played football in high school and didn’t know what “being in shape” was until my drill sergeants showed me what being in shape was. I think someone needs to send Marty Hickman to Fort Benning, GA in the summer and let him go through the first few weeks of basic training, so he can speak to the issue with some experience behind him.

_______

Such idiocy is frightening.  I'm not typically one for government interference, but this sure seems to be one of those times.
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My disgust at the Clark County Youth Football League cannot be overstated.

I was stunned and sickened to read this article in the Reflector:

FEATURED
Hockinson youth football team shut out of playoffs due to success 

Hockinson’s seventh and eighth-grade football team is so dominant other teams are refusing to play them again
Jonathan Haukaas jonathan@thereflector.com

Seventh and eighth-grade Hockinson Hawks tackle a Battle Ground athlete earlier this year in a Clark County Youth Football game. The young Hawks have proven to be one of the most dominant squads to ever come through the league, having outscored their opponents 272-34 this season.

Photo courtesy of Rachael Wheeler

Last week, Sean Mallory’s squad of stout seventh and eighth grade Hockinson boys were preparing for the Clark County Youth Football playoffs when he got a call from the league office. 

Although his team had won every game in decisive fashion, proving themselves the heavy favorites for a championship, the league office informed them that they would not be a part of the playoffs. 

Why? The other teams were refusing to play them.

More:

The upshot of all of this is the morons running this league are punishing this team because of their pursuit of excellence.

They're punishing these kids... because they worked harder and have more talent than the other teams in their division.

Out of sheer gutlessness, the teams remaining refuse to play Hawks because they've given up already and believe they'd get stomped.

And because of that... and that alone...    the league has decided to punish these kids who worked so hard to achieve the success that has rightfully come their way as a result.

We look around at the snowflakes infesting us.  The products of inculcated victimology.  And we wonder, "Gee... how did that happen?"

This is but one of the many examples.

Those running the league are moral cowards, who shouldn't be allowed to run an elevator, let alone a league where developing young men and young football players of character should be job one.

As for me, I wouldn't be caught dead allowing my kids to play in a league like that.

Punishing success and blaming the obviously exceptional "management" of the Hockinson Hawks little league team as their excuse... holding a tournament to determine the first loser... all of that is both despicable and indefensible.  It sends a message... the wrong message... and each and every whining, sniveling punk involved in the decision should be removed.

This decision is despicable at the cellular level.  And those who made it should be ashamed of themselves.

Thoughts on Belcher, the NFL and that blithering idiot Bob Costas.

By now, most sentient beings are aware of the Jevon Belcher tragedy.  Only God knows what causes anyone to slaughter anyone they allegedly love... or at least loved at some point, but the mother of one's children (Or 3 month old child, in this case) should, you might think, get special dispensation.

Many, if not most reading this, have "ex" horror stories.  Many, if not most reading this have, perhaps, thought about the act as an outlet of revenge or anger.  Some have even had their ex's make their lives a living hell.

But no one reading this has ever shot their spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend/bearer of their child(ren).

Reading about Jevon Belcher is reading about a stereo-type of the college/professional football player.

Their bodies are their tools... their instruments.  The expectation is that they will be 100% all the time.

I played football for a lot of years, never once giving a thought to the cumulative physical damage or emotional toll of a violent game.

No matter what element of society one considers, there will ALWAYS be those in that segment who are, essentially, damaged.  Jevon's actions would tend to show that he was one of them.

I don't know for sure if his actions in this matter were a result of his involvement in football, but it may have had some impact.  After all, over the decades the game has been played, how many of its players have ever done this?  If football at this level was a proximate cause, you'd think it would happen with much greater frequency.

Many out there, looking for the cheap and easy fix of a way to explain his actions will undoubtedly make the claim. Drudge's headline puts a stereo-typical pro-football paint job on it:

NFL NIGHTMARE: THE PILLS, THE PAIN, THE MURDER...

Make no mistake:  With the possible exception of wrestling with alligators or divorce lawyers, few sports are more painful... and fewer still have the life-long, crippling effects.

The joke of wondering why more players on the Chiefs don't off themselves given their utterly abysmal record of 2/10 aside, I was a tackling dummy for the Huskies for a brief time in 77 and that was as far as I got.  But there was a lot of military ball, and park ball and flag and so forth.  And I have leg whip scars on my shins, every finger on both hands has been broken (some, repeatedly) knees that should be left at Leif's Auto Collision for repair, a broken wrist, fractured collar bone, dislocated shoulder AND toes and at least 3 concussions.

That recitation of injury may seem a lot to those who don't play the game.  But to those who do, it's a fairly standard, long term list... but it doesn't include much college or pro ball: imagine what those people have sustained physically; injuries amplified by the demands of the game and the team that you play hurt, even if by playing hurt you make what would otherwise be temporary injuries much more permanent and long lasting.

This discription, from The Bus, Jerome Bettis of the Steelers, sums it up: 

During the Pittsburgh Steelers' 2000 season, Bettis rushed for 1,341 yards -- and did it despite playing with turf toe, a lump the size of a cue ball in his lower left leg, injured ribs and a bad left knee.

On game week I would only practice on Thursday and Friday, sometimes only on Friday.

Saturdays weren't any fun, though. Even with the limited practice schedule, my knee would swell. So every Saturday a team doctor would come in and drain the knee. The needle was as long and thick as a No. 2 pencil. Think about that for a minute. Then the doctor would extract all sorts of pus, blood, and little pieces of cartilage.

Yeah, it hurt. Damn right it did. But if I wanted to play, that's what I had to do. Pain is part of the game. It's as much a part of the game as the crowds or the Miller Lite commercials or the TV cameras. If you can't endure pain, you can't play in the NFL.

Much more... horrific... history of this one player and the price he paid.
 
But his price was not unusual.  The expectation is that everyone is Jack Youngblood, who knowingly played... on a broken leg throughout the playoffs AND a SuperBowl.




Many readers and even some family members would cheerfully point to my average, long term injury list as the reason behind my writings and positions... that I've had enough head injuries to knock a screw or two loose... maybe even an entire hardware store.

But I've never thought about murdering anyone.

It's likely we'll never know for a certainty what caused this young man to snap.  But to blame football?

How many times have we heard that violence on TV is one of the causes of gang violence?

Does that mean that watching comedy may cause you to unexpectedly break out in a stand up routine?

Which leans me to the NFL being stupid enough to play the KC-Jacksonville game... which SHOULD have been cancelled.

It's all about the messaging, you see.  And the message they sent with this fiasco is that the wasted lives of these two young people meant nothing... and means nothing to them... playing up to THEIR stereo-types.

Neither of these teams are going anywhere this year, except home.  Would it have killed the NFL to show a little humanity and cancel this game, or at least postpone it or something?

Of course not.  Except, of course, it's ALLLLLL about the Benjamins. And these young men, who are frequently crippled as a result of the NFL's handling of this game, suffer that lack of concern for the rest of their lives.

As for that Costas moron:

The problem isn't Costas' babble. The problem is that Costas' spewing his fringe-left garbage during a football game isn't what we're watching the game for. Costas is a nobody. Sure, he's got a right to babble like the rest of the blithering leftists.  But Costas' expertise is sports... not guns.  I did not need or want his opinion on the subject.  For me, the fact is that he's got no clue. He has no more idea about the firearms issue than he does fornication with a goat.

Blaming firearms for this tragedy is typical, leftist garbage... like blaming a spoon for obesity or a pencil for misspellings. Only morons believe Costa's tripe, and yes, he has the right to project it and those of us wise enough to verbally smack an idiot like that have the right to do the same.

A few days ago, a guy walked into a classroom and shot his father with a compound bow, and then proceeded to stab him, and himself, to death. Would Costa be stupid enough to indicate that it's the availability of knives, bows and arrows that are responsible for the deaths?

He's a leftist. Of course he would. Thus, the outrage. Using this tragedy to further the ultra-fringe-left agenda of NBC? He ought to get his testicles re-arranged for that alone... rhetorically speaking, of course.

This is a tragedy.  And it's a tragedy likely to have happened with or without the advent of guns.  And Costas' desire to expound on it is a minor tragedy in itself.

What can we learn from yesterday? (Seattle Seahawks come from behind victory)

At the ripe old age of 59, I look back on over 50 years of involvement in playing and watching the game of football.

I would’ve liked nothing better than staying home yesterday and watching the Seahawks play; but our monthly commitment to donating the truck and our time to the food bank comes first.

I have an app on my smart phone called “TheScore”, which keeps track of most major sports events around the country, from racing to basketball to football at college and professional levels.

So yesterday, while I was in Yacolt, I was reduced to keeping track of the game using this app, on the very edge of any kind of data transmission. There were times when I had a data signal and could get information, and there were times when the little wheel grinding was just going round and round on the screen.

The Score disheartened me at the end of the first half, as I'm sure many Seahawk fans were equally disheartened. We were supposed to kick the hell out of the Green Bay Packers, for a variety of reasons, none of which matter at this point and we were failing to do that. Our game manager, our rock on offense, Russell Wilson, was doing an abysmal job at the quarterback position. Our statistics up through halftime were a joke. I'm sure I'm not alone when I tell you that I think that many of us felt that the team was dead and that it was just a matter of rolling over, playing that role, and allowing the inevitable to happen.

Those who've read my column for any length of time will probably conclude several things about me and hopefully one of those things is that I’ve never ascribed to the concept of when rape is inevitable, I should just relax and enjoy it.

No one should do that.

Nevertheless, things were looking bad… Until we had that spark of light in the form of the fake field goal, when all of a sudden the monster that had just been pricked with the Seahawk pin started to bleed.

I was keeping track of the clock to the extent possible, as much as any Seahawk fan or player. I knew that time was both an ally and an enemy. To the extent that it was an ally, because frankly, there was time available to actually come back and take control of the game, to the extent that as an enemy there was a finite time available to make that happen.

After we scored the touchdown through the fake field goal, I was thinking the defense could shut these guys out and we would win the game, 17 to 16. But then Green Bay responded, coming back and kicking a field goal, making the score 19 to 7. At that point, my timing became a very long putt to make.

The game went on, the clock wound down; we go into the fourth quarter… Nothing happens… Both teams are slugging it out with each other… with five minutes or so left in the game, things started happening quickly.

It all started unraveling for Green Bay.

It seems like somebody had kidnapped the Russell Wilson who actually showed up to start the game and replaced him with the Russell Wilson that we've had all season long, who finished out the game. I won’t even begin to try and understand what was going on with him, for the first 55 minutes. Suffice it to say, however, that I am sure nobody on this planet feels worse about the events that transpired in the first 11/12ths of the game, some of which were not his fault, others of which that were, during that time frame.

Nor can I adequately explain the feelings that I was undergoing as I watched this all come apart for Green Bay in a way that was simply beyond by my belief.

As I said, I played a lot of football and watched a lot of football. I have never seen a football game like the football game that took place in Seattle yesterday. I may never understand the mechanics of it. I may never come up with the answers, with how the dots seem to magically align at the last possible moment. How things began to happen that were inexplicable, how Green Bay suddenly started to make mistakes that were simply beyond my comprehension, and how suddenly all the passes, which seemed either be intercepted or fall harmlessly to the ground, began to connect with the intended receivers.

Or how Beast Mode (“Pay the man!”) kept carrying the game on his back, doing his job, play in and play out.

The courage of many of those athletes out there, some of whom have been vilified such as Richard Sherman, who never stopped laying his soul out on the field to win this game, who never stopped rallying the troops, who never stop demanding of himself and others. The excellence that it would take to actually win… Who simply never gave up.

Typically, I feel no sympathy for the team that loses. As a matter of course, they come in, or we go there, and when they lose it’s all good. Yesterday was the exception.

I actually empathized with the players and the fans of the Packers. To have your heart ripped out like that? To be so close, but so far away? And the young man who screwed up the onside kick for Green Bay. Brandon Bostic, who was the third string undrafted free agent from a college no one has ever heard of (Newberry College) to mishandle the kick and fail to do his job, which had he done it, would likely have resulted in a Seahawk defeat.

I can’t help but think that his name will forever be etched next to names such as Bill Buckner, immortalized because of his legendary failure at first base. (Buckner cost the Red Sox a World Series victory in 1986 (the fact that I can even remember that some 29 years later gives testimony to the legendary name of Buckner)). He will, at minimum be vilified locally in the Green Bay area if not around the country for the rest of his life because he tried to do something he wasn't supposed to do and is blamed for everything bad that happened as a result. I believe that aspersion is unfair, and while his actions did play a role in the outcome, they certainly weren't the only thing the Green Bay did that was the wrong call on the field in Seattle yesterday. (And I in fact can empathize with Bostic for his actions on a professional level… and in how some in political circles around here when it comes to the issue of blame being placed, lies being told, and grudges being held.)

All of which sets the table for the title subject: what can be learned from yesterday’s Seahawk victory?

Life is a tough business. This might be an interesting time to load up on bumper sticker sayings, such as: “it really doesn't matter how many times life knocks you down; the question is how many times are you going to get up?”

And there’s an element of truth to that question. When do we give up? When is enough, enough?

There’s something to be said about never giving up.

There’s something to be said about perseverance.

There’s something to be said about faith.

There’s something to be said about not letting the doubts of others determine your destiny.

Along with every other game Seattle played this year, I have this game on my DVR. I have Wilson’s tearful post game remarks. I've played the game of football (In fact, between that and my time in Combat Arms, there isn't a day that goes by that I don’t pay the price for It.), though not for some 29 years. I will watch it repeatedly.

It will teach me.

I know the emotions of it, the focus of it, the playing through pain, the study, the travel. The broken bones, sprains, bruising, concussions. Watching Richard Sherman get up in agony, stagger back out to the field and play with a screwed up arm.

It will teach me.

Watching these men come together to triumph over adversity… a microcosm of purpose, unity, leadership, vision.

That will teach me.

Most of the elements of life in a nice, neat, 4-hour package.

This game is likely to be replayed ad infinitum. If you missed it, watch it. If you can hear a “wired” version of it (Some of these players were actually wired for sound) then do that. Do both.

Learn from it. Remember it.

Most of us will be met with personal disaster. Many of us carry crushing burdens. We begin to stare up at the clock wish it would go to 00:00…. Game over.

Let this game serve as a metaphor for life. Help can come from the strangest places when you least expect it.

And you can persevere. You can survive.

You can win.

Reinforcing my decision to dump the Seahawks as my team.

Freedom of Speech does not come with freedom of consequences.  Sentiments such as these, expressed by people making money and living a life of privilege few can even dream of, does not result in anything positive for either the individual or those they represent.

At the beginning of this current season (2016) a whack job down in California, Colin Kaeperpick, decided to inject HIS politics into football.  Other jocks in the NFL joined his juvenile antics of kneeling during the National Anthem before a football game.

This kid, getting paid millions of dollars to play a game, made a spectacle of himself... and others soon joined him.  The NFL, in the face of dramatically lower ratings, did nothing.  Kaeperpick's team, the 49'ers, did nothing.

The following week, a Seahawk player emulated his multi-millionaire colleague who had never known a day of oppression in the entirety of his life and who was, in fact, raised as a child adopted by a white family in Fond du Lac... hardly straight out of Compton.... in besmirching this moment to pay tribute to those who have bled for this country and for what this country stands for... by the name of Jeremy Lane.

Like millions of others, I found their actions to be insulting, juvenile and designed to bring attention on themselves as individuals.  You see, it's difficult to sympathize with millionaires who, up to that point, had done little to nothing for those they were expressing so much concern about and even after the fact, had done little more to address the issues most important in their respective communities... in Kaeperpick's racial community, that of the half white/half black football player who's half-black brethren are apparently oppressed while his half-white brethren are apparently not.

For my part, I waited for the NFL to act.  I waited for the Seahawks to act... and by act, I mean to act against the mixing of politics with the playing of a game.... and by "act," I mean to act to make sure these protests stopped.

Nothing happened.

And like millions of others, my interest in the game I played as a child... through high school... for all too brief a time in college... and in the military at the professional level... my support for a football team that had been unwavering for 40 years... vaporized.

By failing to act against these multi-millionaire punks, the NFL was expressing support for their actions and their positions.

An organization who fined football players for wearing the wrong shoes... fines in the thousands for wearing the wrong headband or some other symbol they didn't happen to like... did nothing to stop their self-inflicted bleeding.

For the year, we're told TV Ratings are off 8%.  This, we're also told, "...led to a great deal of consternation and study in the NFL's League office in New York."

But having identified at least a part of the reason for their bleeding... what have they done about it?

Nothing.

And the bleeding continues.

Added to that today was the recent public pronouncement from Russell Wilson, a pretty good quarterback and self-anointed political expert who said this:

Wilson was speaking while sitting in a barbershop chair, streaming the experience on Facebook Live. After soliciting sports topics for conversation, such as the upcoming Super Bowl (“The Pats will win”) and Serena Williams (“One of the greatest athletes of all time”), the three-time Pro Bowler said he wanted to move on to “world issues,” specifically his country’s new leader.

“Donald Trump becoming our president, despite anybody’s political issues or views, everybody has the right to choose who they want to vote for, but this thing is getting out of hand,” Wilson said, alternating between looking at the camera and at others in the barbershop. “It’s getting out of hand, people."

“I don’t care who you voted for — just so you know, I voted for Hillary [Clinton] — but, when you think about it, it’s only been what two weeks? Or even less than that. . . .

“Basically, I think that when you think about all the negativity that’s happened within a 10-day period, or however many days it’s been, it’s already too much,” Wilson continued. “It’s already crazy. It’s already affecting people’s hearts and souls and lives in such a negative way, in my opinion.”

Wilson then brought up the large protest over the weekend at Los Angeles International Airport, one of many across the country, of Trump’s executive order barring travel into the United States by citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries. Saying that “there’s people all over the place fighting for their lives and protesting,” the quarterback noted, “If we’re gonna be a nation that says we’re equal, we have to be equal.”

“Obviously you have to be smart, but you also have to treat people fairly, you have to be able to love everyone,” Wilson said. “I know from even my own faith, the Christian faith, you still have to love everybody. No matter what our issues are, we still have to find ways to love people and care for people.”

“I think that’s the thing that’s been crazy already. I don’t even know if he’s going to be able to last four years, in my opinion.

“You don’t want to wish bad upon anybody, because if he doesn’t last four years, that means that something went wrong. So hopefully nothing goes wrong, any more than what it’s already doing, but it’s just been a crazy 10 days already.”

Wilson then issued a plea for the return of the president Trump replaced, exclaiming “Barack! Come back, Barack! Come back, Barack!”

Obama was praised by the Seahawks star for how he “was able to deal with situations,” with Wilson positing that “people have a greater appreciation of his class” and that of former first lady Michelle Obama.

Parsing Wilson's words isn't difficult: it appears he wants Trump dead or otherwise incapacitated, a sentiment shared by a large portion of Hillary supporters.

Wilson, then, is a leftist, a leftist using his celebrity as a Seahawk to babble about issues that he knows little to nothing about like so many out there today.  He lives in his own multi-millionaire cocoon in the middle of one of the fringe-left centers of the universe, Seattle/Bellevue/Mercer Island... a place as far away from the real world as the 12th dimension.

That Wilson would even consider wanting arguably the worst... and among the least popular presidents of all time to return to office shows that his positions are either race-based or partisan-based,

If I were in the market for someone to run an offense, Wilson likely would have been among my top picks for consideration.

But his ignorance and partisanship (He voted for Clinton) show both a lack of knowledge and how his reaction to voting for a loser has infected his perspective.

He babbles about what he happens to see while ignoring what the rest of us both see... and know: that millions support Trump's efforts and that, as of this writing, no Clinton supporter, including Wilson, has come up with a better idea.... or for that matter, any idea at all.

As a high-profile individual representing more than one organization, Wilson should have known better.  A fringe-left media will naturally use his words as yet another arrow in the leftist quiver to attempt to stop Trump from doing the many things he said he was going to do as a part of his campaign.

But everything he says and does reflects on those he works for.  The good Wilson does with sick children at Seattle Children's Hospital, for example, reflects quite positively on the Seahawks organization.

His political ignorance and partisanship?  Not so much.

Does Wilson have the right to express these views, as moronic as I believe them to be?

Of course.

Do I have the right to bury whatever allegiance to his team that I've built up over the past 40 years even deeper as a result?

Absolutely.  And I have.