The recent events surrounding Jeremy Hill and the associated outcry of emotion from the fan base caused me to take pause amid the swirling storm and reflect. Scott Rabalais in the Baton Rouge Advocate (http://theadvocate.com/sports/lsu/6685286-123/rabalais-if-jeremy-hill-is) put it well into perspective when he questioned quotes by others who have mislabeled Jeremy Hill as a “monster”. Hill is far from being a monster. He is most definitely a youngster. Further, he is a person. He is a human being. As we all are, he was created by God and placed on this earth for a reason. And like him it is up to all of us to recognize the lessons presented, learn from them and grow. The reaction and response to Hill’s transgressions by the fan base was diverse and illustrative. It shows the passion and devotion that we have to our beloved Tigers but it also highlights a lesson to us all. First, we must never forget that no matter our chosen path we are all part of a single team. We are all human beings and we are all on this journey of life together. We must never forget that we are all expected to take care of one another. “Let me seek first to console rather than be consoled, to understand rather than be understood, to love rather than be loved.” And we must all forgive. Jeremy Hill has my support. Just as Tyrann Mathieu, Jordan Jefferson and every other young man who has come through this system. They made mistakes. It is a moment in life but it does not need to become the definition of their lives. Failure is an event and just like that ill-advised pass, it needs to be learned from and then left behind. My prayer for each of them is that they use these events to hone their characters and move forward to accomplish great and wonderful things and live a life fulfilled. As fans we must be cautious about our passions. We should be careful to govern our emotion and our actions. Passion is a great thing when used for positive outcomes. We should be careful, however, not to fuel the fires of judgment. We should be careful to remember that these are human beings. They have hopes, dreams, fears, families, and passions of their own. I think that it is also important that we remember that we also helped create all of this. As fans, we place our exceptional athletes on a pedestal and pay a little less attention to those who don’t stand out. We shower them with our love, our devotion and our hopes and dreams. We continuously put a premium on their physical abilities and their game skills. We expect every pass to thread the needle and hit the receiver in stride, every linebacker to bust a helmet loose, every running back to race untouched into the end zone. Our heroes can do no wrong. Until they do. Then we turn our backs on them and want to toss them to the wolves for dashing our dreams of a championship season. As a diehard fan I understand it. I really do. I’m just suggesting that there is a better approach. What if we continued to look at each player as a person and we wrapped them with love, support and encouragement? What if we picked up our fallen brothers and sisters? That may mean that we would have to look at all people as part of one body.
How true. We have many opportunities to do better. It is a daily struggle and it takes lots of energy. When we kick someone we can turn and walk away and feel justified. When we hug someone, we are committed to a longer course that takes more effort but produces far greater rewards for others as well as ourselves. But you have to hold out hope that we can make a difference .... Long live the optimist!
Very well said. We're seeing that now with the guy from the Eagles (Riley Cooper?), and one of the guests on ESPN - a black commentator, no less - really hit the nail on the head this morning when he said,"why is it that the penalty we seem to demand of these transgressions lately is the complete destruction of their lives?" Of course, this is apples to oranges. Cooper got caught saying a "taboo" word, Hill - if found guilty, and of course, the video is pretty damning evident - actually hurt someone. In this case, I think a lot of what we're hearing is frustration. This is the third year in a row we've had this kind of incident, and not long before that you had the Perrilloux incidents. Many of us are old enough to remember Cecil Collins. There have been others, of course, but it so often seems to involve a "savior"-type player. Collins and Perrilloux had Heisman potential. Mathieu was a Heisman finalist. Jefferson - doesn't fit the definition, but he was the starting quarterback, and therefore a pivotal player. Hill clearly showed us his potential last year, and I think a lot of people have Trent Richardson, Marcus Lattimore -type hopes invested in him. You said "What if we continued to look at each player as a person and we wrapped them with love, support and encouragement?" I admire the sentiment, but its not realistic. Most fans have no sentimental connection to the players beyond their membership on the LSU football team. I think its beneath any fan to harbor ill will on a member of "their" team who transgresses, but that's it. I don't think its unreasonable for fans to expect the players to stay out of trouble. The obligations vis-a-vis fans and players is simple. The player plays his butt off on Saturday night, and the fan supports him by cheering his butt off. If the player screws up as a person, the fan is obligated to say,"hey, you've got to do better than that. Get your act together. Oh, the screw-up was so bad that you can't play anymore? Sorry to hear that, best of luck, hope you can straighten out your life. Later."
