I don’t think fans or media don’t think he will play again. Most of fans/media want Jerry to take a stand and cut the kid. They feel that there should be some kind of punishment because a young life was lost. I will admit I have an issue with Joseph and still feel kind of slimy. The reality is that it appears there will not be any criminal charges. It will be interesting to see how the league attempts to discipline Joseph under the personal conduct policy.
Fair enough.
My personal opinion is that the situation was tragic, but it’s not impossible to understand why Joseph was with those guys or why he didn’t come to authorities.
Joseph is from South Baton Rouge, if you know anything about that area then you can understand my drift. Certain communities generationally don’t go to the police for anything and living in areas like that with rampant poverty and crime you’re going to have unsavory friends. I’m willing to bet every NFL player who’s come from one of these underprivileged backgrounds has friends with shady pasts or felonious records. Just an unfortunate reality of growing up in some of these areas.
Therefore I’m not shocked he was with childhood friends who were shady. Yes, we want guys to shed those bad influences once they get to D1/the NFL but it’s not that simple. To expect a 20 something year old kid to just drop most of his childhood friends like hot potatoes is a bit unrealistic. And for the record I’m not saying what he’s done is right, I’m just adding the real context as to why some of these guys get into messed up situations.
As for the failing to report the incident, I would like to bring back the point of certain communities not contacting police as well as the idea that reporting a murder is some simple thing with no possible repercussions. If you are told from your childhood never to talk to the police why would I expect you to do anything different? Again in these communities this philosophy is instilled from childhood.
Secondly, friends can turn to foes real quick. Does nobody understand that him going to the police immediately would’ve put a target on his and his family’s back? Witness tampering is real and violence can happen to anyone testifying to put someone away for years. Once again, this does not excuse the action, but it illuminates the things Joseph would have to consider when going to the police. These circumstances are extremely intense and I would venture to say nobody or very few members of this board have been in that type of situation.
I end my spiel with reiterating that I don’t think what he did was right by any means. But I’m not obtuse to the circumstances that lead to these situations and the whirlwind of things that can happen as a result. Dude has to do a lot of good to make up for what he did, and to the victims family he may never do so. But as unfortunate as the event was the lack of going to police and having those friends is a reality that many young football players could face. Most of these young men do not come from privileged lives and do not have the same thought processes many of us claim to have. I don’t excuse, but I understand where the actions came from given the circumstances.
Thanks for reading lol
