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Welcome to Seattle. I would like you to meet our poster child for success.Shake hands with Jerramy Stevens, our troubled tight end who used to play for the Seattle Seahawks and never will again. He has worn out his welcome with the sorry excuses of a loser.Stevens has proven to be a troubled tight end, a great talent and now a greater disappointment.He could have been one of the greatest tight ends in the history of the National Football League, and even have ended up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. At the rate he is disintegrating, it is more likely he will end up in jail or dead.Stevens was arrested Tuesday morning (3-13-07) in Arizona on suspicion of DUI (driving under the influence for the uninitiated) and marijuana possession at about 2:30 a.m. (like after the bars close at 2 a.m. and you cannot drink any more so you get into your vehicle and drive home after admitting to drinking "four or five margaritas" according to the Scottsdale police report).Stevens, a quarterback at River Ridge High School in Lacey, would play his college ball at the University of Washington as a tight end and create enough of a stir on the field to catch the attention of then Seattle Seahawks General Manager and Head Coach Mike Holmgren. Holmgren made Stevens the Seahawks' number one draft choice in 2002.He was a 6-foot-7, 265-pound tight end that was not hard to miss.Stevens was also no stranger to trouble. His criminal history dates to 1998 with convictions for assault, hit-and-run property damage and reckless driving.Before he arrived at his first Seahawks' preseason camp, he had spent five days in jail for violating his probation after driving into a nursing home in 2000 in a hit-and-run case. He was a student and athlete at the University of Washington at that time.In 2003 he pleaded guilty to reckless driving in a plea deal after being stopped in a Seattle suburb on investigation of drunk driving and spent another two days in jail.Sixteen days after this arrest in 2003 was clocked traveling 90 mph in a 60 mph zone, his sixth infraction in an eight-month period.His on again-off again performance on the field showed just enough possible greatness to escape harsher punishment for his indiscretions.As an unrestricted free agent in a market short on tight ends, Stevens could probably have made a guaranteed $15 million during this signing period.Among the many platitudes you can say about Stevens' talent, you can also say he will never be mistaken for a mental giant.Holmgren clearly took a chance on drafting Stevens and giving him the opportunity of a lifetime to live a privileged existence that working stiffs could only dream about.Holmgren also drafted another problem child a year prior when he took Koren Robinson as a number one pick in the 2001 draft. Robinson, a talented wide receiver from North Carolina, blew his opportunity of a lifetime and was released after too many run-ins with the law.You may fuss at Mike Holmgren for his judgment in making those draft picks but in doing so you must also credit him for his first round draft choices of Shaun Alexander and Steve Hutchinson, both of whom became All-Pro players and legitimate All Stars in Seattle's 2005 Super Bowl season.If you rounded up every miscreant like Stevens in the NFL over the past five years, you would have enough players to field a NFL expansion team.We have far too many talented millionaire professional football players and players in every major sport who are simply underperforming adults with little sense of responsibility, accountability, judgment, common sense and decorum.If you were to bring them together in one place you would have a room full of medicore minds. I am sure the majority of them would either find someone else to blame for their own stupidity or seek more sympathy for their miserably inadequate behavior while still refusing to correct it.Enough is enough.Those who would refer to Jerramy Stevens as a man-child simply enable him to act like a child in an adult world. He is a perfect example of a 27-year-old who acts like an irresponsible 13-year-old child.We expect a 13-year-old to do something irresponsible during his maturation process. We expect a 27-year-old adult to grow up, take responsibility for his actions and do more to help himself.Seattle Times sports columnist Steve Kelley had this to say about Stevens' latest encounter with stupidity: "Second chances are handed out like breath mints in Stevens' world. Every misstep is excused. Every arrest is forgiven. Every dropped pass is explained away." I agree.Far too many sportswriters say this about miscreants like Stevens: "Trouble follows Jerramy Stevens." I say garbage. Jerramy Stevens follows trouble. He can and should make better choices.I have little sympathy for Stevens. He and other talented millionaire professional athletes like him can grow up anytime they decide to do so.Millions of working people without their God-given talent, opportunities and income manage to solve much greater personal problems than Stevens and his ilk ever thought about having, much less solving.In football and in life there are really only two outcomes to any action: results or excuses. People who cannot produce results will always have excuses. Excuses are a game that losers play, not winners.Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley
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Ed Bagley is the Author of Ed Bagley's Blog, which he Publishes Daily with Fresh, Original Articles on Lessons in Life, Jobs and Careers, Movie Reviews, Sports and Recreation, and Internet Marketing intended to Delight, Inform, Educate and Motivate Readers. He also operates an upscale resume writing service for executives and professionals that is part of his Blog. Visit Ed at . . . www.edbagleyblog.com and check out this main article section at . . . www.edbagleyblog.com/LessonsinLifeArticles.html
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