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Originally Posted by THUMPER
Personally, I don't care how talented a guy is, if he has character issues then I don't want him. You can't count on him to be there when you need him. They are more trouble than they are worth. I would much rather stock my team with high character guys (as Parcells has done this year) who maybe don't have quite as much talent as those others and I will win a championship with them.
When was the last time a team with more than couple of low character players won the SB?
It was probably us in the early 90s with Irvin and his group of fellow druggies (Nate, Big-E, Leon, Holmes, etc.) and of course, "Mr. Ego" himself, meIon $ander$. But we also had more than our share of very high character guys on that team (Aikman, Emmitt, Moose, Woodson, Tolbert, Bates, etc..).
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I agree with you to a point. I want high character guys on my football team,
WHO LOVE PLAYING FOOTBALL AND HATE LOSING.
The difference between Irvin and the others is that Irvin, despite his personal sins, loved the game of football, was a hard worker at practice and in the game. He knew football was his route to the big time, and he played like it. He knew he wasn't the fastest or the quickest, but he knew with hard work he could be the best.
That's what separates an Irvin from a Moss. Moss is immensely talented, but Moss isn't a player who is a leader - IMO. He will take a team only so far, and I have to believe his devil-may-care attitude is infectious and may be that pyschological X-factor that keeps a team from making it to the next level - the Super Bowl.
I wouldn't necessarily say Deion Sanders had character issues that impacted his play on the field. He was just boastful and a showman.
And we have to define "character" as it relates to football. The "character" they're talking about is the type of "character" that detracts from an athlete's ability on the field or behavior problems that will make him a negative influence on the team.
As you know, many athletes cheat on their spouses and live very promiscuous lifestyles. While those indeed are "character" issues, I doubt teams take that into consideration
UNLESS their personal/private behavior gets so out of hand that the team has to deal with it.