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Per Schefter: Su'a Cravens Considering Retirement


Conn

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I know we're fans and love football, but as fans we can't hate on Cravens for thinking of retirement cause of his health. He had an concussion so bad he had to get glasses and couldn't follow moving objects. Sometimes we look at football players like there invincible with high expectations cause its football but at the end of the day they're human just like us.

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2 minutes ago, SoCalSkins said:

They knew what they had when he refused to play with a bicep bruise when playoffs were on the line last year but he had no problem playing ping pong at the facility. The kid is soft and a head case. How dare he wear 36 for a year. 

 

You can play ping pong with a broken hand. I did it. It's ping pong, unless you are a pro, you can do it.

 

Refused to play with a torn bicep? I don't remember that being a talk back then.

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3 minutes ago, SoCalSkins said:

They knew what they had when he refused to play with a bicep bruise when playoffs were on the line last year but he had no problem playing ping pong at the facility. The kid is soft and a head case. How dare he wear 36 for a year. 

 

Yeah, I was severely disappointed in Cravens when that story came out...

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1 minute ago, RedskinsSerbia said:

 

You can play ping pong with a broken hand. I did it. It's ping pong, unless you are a pro, you can do it.

 

Refused to play with a torn bicep? I don't remember that being a talk back then.

 

It was not torn. Simply a bruise and he refused to show up to have it drained so he could play. 

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6 minutes ago, ConnSKINS26 said:

 

I'm not sure what point you think you're making, but I don't mind being the jumping off point for it. Those guys are tragic examples of the tolls this game can take on players' health. Even more tragic is that those guys didn't know the dangers they were signing up for in their day. The small silver lining is that players nowadays know a lot more about the risks of the game, partially because of the suffering of those who came before them.

 

Which brings us back around to Cravens wanting to retire--as I said, due to the health risks of the game, I can empathize with him and even respect it. That doesn't mean I don't also get to feel disappointment in him as a player and a draft pick. That's part of my relationship with the team and with the players, as a fan. I can separate and understand my emotions, and the reason I have them. Some people can't, or only feel one thing about the situation--that's not my business. You can feel free to feel whatever you want.

 

In fact, I wonder how the FO/coaches who talked him into staying can look themselves in the mirror (even if it makes sense strategically) knowing that if he has CTE in the future, they'd be partially to blame for talking him into continuing taking the risks. But that's another conversation. 

 

My point was that we can feel these things for them as people, but we can also be disappointed in them as players because our fandom is why we're invested in them in the first place. They're modern gladiators in a way, and as an example fortunes are being made in the fantasy football industry off of the stats these guys put up. It's led to a change in how many fans see the players--and it sounds like to you, that's a bad thing. I understand that. I don't read very many fluff pieces about the players interests or families or personal stories anymore. Some, but not like when I was younger and became more invested in the individual players. Now I root more for their performance and W's than for personalities. Turnover is high, injury rate is high, to be honest the scumbag rate isn't high but the media coverage would have you think it is...I find it much easier and more enjoyable to put my hopes in the players as performers and potential winners than as people I want to root for. That's just me. 

 

Like I kinda said, in the modern game that's part of what the players sign up for and part of what they get paid for. I wasn't talking about the health risks, although there's more awareness about that than ever and if they choose to play and take the paycheck, they ARE signing up for that as well. I was talking about the players being seen as objects of entertainment rather than 'just' people, by fans.

 

It's incredibly naive to think that almost anyone here will care about Cravens' life after retirement. He'll just be another wasted draft pick, even if fans acknowledge it was his right to retire, even if they acknowledge it may have been the smart thing to do. Even if they empathize. We're still fans and we still mostly care, first and foremost, whether a guy is a good player and a good use of team resources.

 

I hope I explained my POV clearly enough, you seemed to either misinterpret it or take offense to it the first time around. 

 

You finished your post with "They can take it."

 

Clearly, some can't.  

 

Sure we care if guys are good players.  And you're partially right, I'm not going to keep up with Cravens when he retires unless he's around the game somehow, but that doesn't mean I'd wish him continued health and success after the NFL.  

 

You're also partially right when you say they're modern gladiators, that's not far from the truth.  Unlike the Romans though, I think we've evolved as a society.  Unlike the Roman times, these guys aren't the dregs of society or slaves.  It's an apt comparison from a 20,000 foot view in that they're here for our entertainment but thats where the comparison stops.

 

I think we can agree that the NFL is a job.  People get paid to perform a duty.  

 

I'm not sure what you do in your daily job, but for me, I'm a recruiter.  Headhunter.  Just when I think I've seen people do some weird, wild and crazy **** over the years, another excuse pops up, another "family emergency happened so I can't make the interview..."  Just when you think someone is a solid candidate with good communication skills they all of a sudden ghost and aren't heard from again.  Just when you think a candidate isn't about the money because he said so multiple times and wants to take the job you found for him, he takes an offer to stay at his current company for $5,000.  

 

Some people take a job and stay there for years and years and are tremendous employees.  Some people take a job and it turns out that it wasn't what they expected and they leave after the first few months.  

 

Maybe that's how I'm viewing it.  Maybe Cravens REALLY wanted to play in the NFL and when he got to the league he realized he didn't like it.  Maybe he feels that the health risks aren't worth it.  Who knows.  Maybe he just doesn't like football.  

 

You are right though, I don't know how the coaches and members of the organization can look at themselves in the mirror after talking him into staying.  

 

 

 

 

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Redskins placed S Su'a Cravens on the non-football/exempt list.

Per beat writer Mike Jones of the Washington Post, he'll be sidelined for at least a month. Cravens has battled a near-constant wave of injuries since arriving as a second-round pick in 2016 and nearly hung up his cleats this weekend before having a last-minute change of heart. Teammates have suggested that Cravens may be dealing with personal/mental health issues. The 22-year-old is only a few weeks removed from minor knee surgery.
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7 minutes ago, XxSpearheadxX said:

Though I agree wth you here, weren't you doing the same thing on the page previous when you called people's opinions in su quitting sad and pathetic? 

 

No, not even close.  They were sad and pathetic, but I didn't question whether they should be football fans or not. That is the difference. You can be a sad and pathetic football fan. You can be a judgemental asshole football fan. Being a fan doesn't mean you have to subscribe to a particular opinion. 

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48 minutes ago, RedskinsSerbia said:

 

You can play ping pong with a broken hand. I did it. It's ping pong, unless you are a pro, you can do it.

 

Refused to play with a torn bicep? I don't remember that being a talk back then.

 

You can play football with two broken thumbs or a dislocated shoulder as well. Doesn't really mean anything though...because the story wasn't about not practicing with a bruised bicep as much as it was about not having a "my teammates need me for the playoffs" mentality and instead seeming to be happy not having to practice and playing ping pong at the facility while everyone else is sludging through practice. I believe he was a players Scot brought into his office as well to talk with (the other being Breeland)...

 

49 minutes ago, RedskinsVa7 said:

I know we're fans and love football, but as fans we can't hate on Cravens for thinking of retirement cause of his health. He had an concussion so bad he had to get glasses and couldn't follow moving objects. Sometimes we look at football players like there invincible with high expectations cause its football but at the end of the day they're human just like us.

 

Do we know yet it's because of his health?

 

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2 minutes ago, Califan007 said:

 

 

Do we know yet it's because of his health?

Not at all. It could just as likely be that he wants to breed his pitbulls full time or maybe start in the porn industry himself.  

5 minutes ago, Gamebreaker said:

 

No, not even close.  They were sad and pathetic, but I didn't question whether they should be football fans or not. That is the difference. You can be a sad and pathetic football fan. You can be a judgemental asshole football fan. Being a fan doesn't mean you have to subscribe to a particular opinion. 

Lol ok i misunderstood your point in your last post

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Get him into some therapy before we close the door on him.  He's a young kid with a lot of pressure on him from many angles.  He can play, but we need to see what issues are present and see if they can be worked out in such a way that he wants to keep playing.

 

Sad situation, but if his primary concern are injuries, not really surprising.  Guys have been retiring for it, and if he feels like he'll never be 100% for a long stretch, it can definitely take a toll on a kid.

 

But mainly I wish we'd had a chance to examine this prior to the cut down to 53.

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7 minutes ago, Gamebreaker said:

 

No, not even close.  They were sad and pathetic, but I didn't question whether they should be football fans or not. That is the difference. You can be a sad and pathetic football fan. You can be a judgemental asshole football fan. Being a fan doesn't mean you have to subscribe to a particular opinion. 

 

I got the impression that he meant if CTE is something that truly bothers you so much,  you probably shouldn't be a fan of watching something that causes CTEs...

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8 minutes ago, Gamebreaker said:

 

No, not even close.  They were sad and pathetic, but I didn't question whether they should be football fans or not. That is the difference. You can be a sad and pathetic football fan. You can be a judgemental asshole football fan. Being a fan doesn't mean you have to subscribe to a particular opinion. 

I think the similarities are that you questioned fans "opinions" on this issue regarding Cravens but took offense when another poster questioned fans "opinions" regarding CTE. Point is, people have opinions. It's going to vary. 

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2 minutes ago, Califan007 said:

 

I got the impression that he meant if CTE is something that truly bothers you so much,  you probably shouldn't be a fan of watching something that causes CTEs...

 

If he wrote the way you did he wouldn't have received half the backlash in the following comments. I'm sure. 

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