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LIKE IT IS : Arkansas’ Superman caught in the cross hairs
WALLY HALL
Posted on Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Email this story | Printer-friendly version
More than a year ago, someone on the Doak Walker Award selection committee called with a question.
At the time, Darren McFadden was not on the committee’s list of candidates. They were concerned about his character.
McFadden, who is a “yes sir” or “no sir” young man, was put on the list and became a twotime winner.
However, when McFadden went to the NFL Scouting Combine in February, he was asked about his character by coaches.
Their concerns are the fight he had at the Palace and an incident at Ernie Biggs where he apparently hit one person, his little brother, with a forearm to shove him out the front door. The question really should not be about McFadden’s character, but about his maturity and life experiences.
Being underage and going into a 21-and-over bar is done all over the country, maybe most of the free world, on a regular basis. That doesn’t make it right. However, for McFadden, it should serve as a lesson that he’s now subject to people wanting money for videotapes that have him on them, even if the tapes don’t show him doing anything wrong.
McFadden looks like a man, but he won’t be 21 until Aug. 27 of this year.
That’s not to make excuses for him. He has to learn — and he has to do it now — that his life changed the minute he was projected as a first-round NFL Draft pick.
If anyone is concerned about his focus and football, they are wasting their time. McFadden has a pure passion for the game. Whether it is running, passing or even blocking, he gives 100 percent on every play, even when he is hurt.
At times, McFadden has looked like he should have an S on his chest. His 321 yards against South Carolina tied an SEC record. And against No. 1 LSU, he ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns and threw for another score.
Now, though, McFadden probably needs a Kevlar vest on his chest.
People are gunning for him.
He’s taken two paternity tests, both requested by the same woman, and the results indicated McFadden is not the father. At least one other woman has suggested he was the father of her baby, but when confronted, she said she had had a miscarriage.
Understand, McFadden is one of 12 kids, and that in the world in which he was raised, it is not uncommon to have very large families.
But any child support he gets hit with is not going to be a few hundred bucks a month. It will be based on his NFL salary, and it will run thousands of dollars a month. That is something else he needs to learn right now.
McFadden also needs to realize there are millions of guys out there that will try to provoke him into a fight in hopes of getting a million-dollar punch to their face.
McFadden needs to understand that he is young and he needs guidance and that his representative Mike Conley is a guy he can turn to and learn from.
Internationally, Conley’s reputation is impeccable.
He’s sat in boardrooms with some of the most powerful companies in the world and negotiated his endorsement contracts.
In other words, Conley has played it the smart way, and that is something McFadden needs to learn today.
He is a target for people looking for an easy buck. Right now, he is an easy target.
The best thing he could do for himself and his family is live yearround in the city where the team that drafts him is located.
One reason the Dallas Cowboys would be a great option for him: Jerry Jones has a full-time therapist on staff to help his players mature and learn to cope with the wounds in their heart — wounds that everyone has.
McFadden is above average in intelligence and off the charts in street smarts (and yes, he has a bit of a temper, too ), but what he lacks is life experience in an environment where fighting is not acceptable, which is still the majority of our society.
McFadden is not a bad person. He’s a youngster in need of direction and maturity. That’s something millions of 20-year-olds need. But being on the verge of becoming an instant millionaire sets McFadden apart from the rest.
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/220118/
WALLY HALL
Posted on Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Email this story | Printer-friendly version
More than a year ago, someone on the Doak Walker Award selection committee called with a question.
At the time, Darren McFadden was not on the committee’s list of candidates. They were concerned about his character.
McFadden, who is a “yes sir” or “no sir” young man, was put on the list and became a twotime winner.
However, when McFadden went to the NFL Scouting Combine in February, he was asked about his character by coaches.
Their concerns are the fight he had at the Palace and an incident at Ernie Biggs where he apparently hit one person, his little brother, with a forearm to shove him out the front door. The question really should not be about McFadden’s character, but about his maturity and life experiences.
Being underage and going into a 21-and-over bar is done all over the country, maybe most of the free world, on a regular basis. That doesn’t make it right. However, for McFadden, it should serve as a lesson that he’s now subject to people wanting money for videotapes that have him on them, even if the tapes don’t show him doing anything wrong.
McFadden looks like a man, but he won’t be 21 until Aug. 27 of this year.
That’s not to make excuses for him. He has to learn — and he has to do it now — that his life changed the minute he was projected as a first-round NFL Draft pick.
If anyone is concerned about his focus and football, they are wasting their time. McFadden has a pure passion for the game. Whether it is running, passing or even blocking, he gives 100 percent on every play, even when he is hurt.
At times, McFadden has looked like he should have an S on his chest. His 321 yards against South Carolina tied an SEC record. And against No. 1 LSU, he ran for 206 yards and three touchdowns and threw for another score.
Now, though, McFadden probably needs a Kevlar vest on his chest.
People are gunning for him.
He’s taken two paternity tests, both requested by the same woman, and the results indicated McFadden is not the father. At least one other woman has suggested he was the father of her baby, but when confronted, she said she had had a miscarriage.
Understand, McFadden is one of 12 kids, and that in the world in which he was raised, it is not uncommon to have very large families.
But any child support he gets hit with is not going to be a few hundred bucks a month. It will be based on his NFL salary, and it will run thousands of dollars a month. That is something else he needs to learn right now.
McFadden also needs to realize there are millions of guys out there that will try to provoke him into a fight in hopes of getting a million-dollar punch to their face.
McFadden needs to understand that he is young and he needs guidance and that his representative Mike Conley is a guy he can turn to and learn from.
Internationally, Conley’s reputation is impeccable.
He’s sat in boardrooms with some of the most powerful companies in the world and negotiated his endorsement contracts.
In other words, Conley has played it the smart way, and that is something McFadden needs to learn today.
He is a target for people looking for an easy buck. Right now, he is an easy target.
The best thing he could do for himself and his family is live yearround in the city where the team that drafts him is located.
One reason the Dallas Cowboys would be a great option for him: Jerry Jones has a full-time therapist on staff to help his players mature and learn to cope with the wounds in their heart — wounds that everyone has.
McFadden is above average in intelligence and off the charts in street smarts (and yes, he has a bit of a temper, too ), but what he lacks is life experience in an environment where fighting is not acceptable, which is still the majority of our society.
McFadden is not a bad person. He’s a youngster in need of direction and maturity. That’s something millions of 20-year-olds need. But being on the verge of becoming an instant millionaire sets McFadden apart from the rest.
http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Sports/220118/
