The Junction: The Curious Case of Derrick Rose and Mental Health in Today’s Game.
Every week in ‘The Junction’, the GSC staff weighs-in on debates and controversies related to sports and other off-field issues. This week, we’re talking mental health in sports, the NFL’s potential contributions to African-American communities, prayer at athletic events, and the Giants’ situation with Eli Manning.
A league source told cleveland.com that Derrick Rose plans on returning to the Cavs. What do you make of him being ridiculed, with others defending him and pointing out that mental health was a concern in this situation?
Sandy Mui: I am a huge advocate for mental health considering I have been through a lot of rough patches myself. That said, I would not be surprised if there is more to this Derrick Rose story than meets the eye. We are talking about a former MVP who peaked too early and has only been on a decline since then due to injury. If I were in his shoes, you bet I would feel pretty awful everyday and not want to continue doing a job I know I am going to keep failing at. His predicament is extremely disheartening.
Gord Randall: Derrick Rose’s story should be nothing but a sympathetic one about a sublime talent whose body completely failed him. It would not surprise me in the least that he is having mental health issues… it must be so damn hard, knowing that you have the ability to be great, and you just can’t do it anymore. People making fun of him really need to stop and think for a second.
Parker Goss: It is often understated how hard it is for athletes coming back from serious injuries. Most fans just see it as part of the game, and it is, but these athletes are people too, and the toll rehab puts on someone is not something they are immune to. There is so much more to the D-Rose saga than we all even know about, and that makes it all the more touchy to comment on. But, as a Chicago sports fan, I am definitely sympathetic to what the guy has been going through on and off the court.
Brandon Anderson: As a Bulls fan, making fun of Derrick Rose is practically religion at this point. It is part of our coping process as we try to ignore living in the darkest Bulls timeline. And, D-Rose has definitely given us plenty to make fun of over the years. But, I personally did not realize there was a mental health component. It makes total sense now and should cause us as fans to stop and think a bit before we rag on athletes or other celebrities when we do not know the context. Personal health always comes first. Though he does not do himself any favors when he disappears from the team instead of letting the team report that he is out for personal reasons or something.
The NFL submitted its final proposal to players that would contribute nearly $100 million to causes considered important to African-American communities. Is this enough to close the gap with the NFL’s problem concerning Colin Kaepernick and anthem protests?
Mui: How about the NFL starts by acknowledging that athletes who protest the anthem are not doing anything wrong? The $100 million is a nice gesture and all, but that has nothing to do with the message all these protests were sending. Try again.
Randall: I feel like somebody needs to tell the NFL that the anthem thing is not actually about them…
Goss: This is heavy-handed, even by Goodell standards. They are trying to give NFL players their idea of a cash equivalent to their right to peaceful protest, and it should go without saying why that is irresponsible. If the NFL was pledging these donations to the chosen causes as an apology to the players for, you know, subjecting them to endless ridicule from the press, then that would be more understandable. Players are rightfully upset.
Anderson: It is almost comically not enough. If anything, it feels like a bad cover up and a terrible quid pro quo. I am all for the NFL contributing $100 million to African-American communities. That is three times Roger Goodell’s salary (no, seriously!). But, it should be its own independent effort. The fact that they are trying to trade this goodwill for the players’ silence and compliance with the anthem is absolutely ludicrous. Colin Kaepernick and other players are protesting police violence against innocent black men, and the NFL is literally trying to buy them off. The NFL should give $100 million to African-American communities. It just does not have anything to do with the player protests.
An Indiana high school was drawn into controversy after football players and their coach prayed following a game. How do you feel about prayer taking place at athletic events?
Mui: I am a spiritual but not religious person, so honestly, I’m probably not the best person to talk about this “issue.” What fascinated me the most about this subject is how deep the history runs though — I had no idea there were three Supreme Court cases that shaped the policies that exist today. The 2000 ruling that requires all prayers at athletic events to occur voluntarily seems to be the biggest issue regarding Evansville Reitz High School. Despite the fact that I am not particularly religious, that court reached a decision I can agree with — it is wrong for the head coach and assistant coaches to constantly be promoting religion to students. The students can decide for themselves whether they would like to be associated with religion.
Randall: Well, the constitutional case on this one seems pretty cut and dry. People are rightfully passionate about their religious/spiritual beliefs, but it is hard to argue against multiple consistent Supreme Court rulings. I am actually a little surprised there is such a strong law separating church and state in a country that still has “One Nation Under God” on their money, last I checked.
Goss: Prayer of all kinds should be allowed at events. So long as nothing is mandated, this should be a non-story. Move on. Tolerate.
Anderson: I am a follower of Jesus Christ, so prayer is part of my daily personal life. But, the key there is personal. The team thing is different. For me, the players are totally welcome to do what they want there, but the coach should probably stay out of it. Even if he is not leading it, his involvement puts unfair implied pressure on the other players to join in. In general, broad public prayer at a sporting event seems a bit out of place to me. Prayer is a personal, private conversation.
What were your thoughts on the New York Giants benching Eli Manning?
Mui: I am not really a football fan, but I will always remember Super Bowl XLVI. I was probably like 10 years old and only just getting interested in sports (essentially basketball), but this game was exciting because hello — championship game with my hometown team in the mix. Eli Manning was inevitably a big deal to me. Obviously, that was 10 years ago, and a lot changes in 10 years. It is crazy what has transpired since the Giants benched him; Ben McAdoo and Jerry Reese were fired, and Manning got the starting gig back afterwards. Yikes in the Big Apple.
Randall: It’s hilarious to me because I love a good dumpster fire. You knew the way things were going that McAdoo was going to have to try and throw someone in front of the bullet intended for him. You also knew they couldn’t just have Eli Manning play out the string… but this could not have been handled worse. The Giants decided asking a proud competitor if he wanted to start the game out of pity for a dumb streak would help. They decided to start Geno Smith, a flameout former Jet (I guess that’s redundant) instead of getting an evaluation on rookie Davis Webb, so there’s no “looking forward to next year” argument. GM Jerry Reese never met with the media while this was going on, and McAdoo is awful in press conferences. You could not have had two worse personalities running a team in New York City. It was an astounding series of bad decisions that ultimately cost them their job, and left Eli haters with the visual of him choking back tears talking about it.
Goss: It’s about fucking time. No, seriously. He has been a notch below mediocre for the past three years. Outside of the two rings he yanked from Tom Brady, he has had a forgettable career. It sounds callous, but I‘m convinced Giants fans do not watch regular season football games if they really didn’t want to see this guy ride the pine. Eli Manning is a perfect example of how rings-based quarterback rankings fail.
Anderson: I thought the whole thing was silly. The Giants have every right to bench Eli Manning. He has not been great this year, but he has not been discernibly worse than the last few years either, and he’s missing half his offense on IR. The Giants were 2–9. If you want to bench Eli to take a look at third-round pick Davis Webb, sure, absolutely. The team needs to see if it has anything there. But, benching him for bench retread Geno Smith was a waste of everyone’s time. There is not a person left in New York who still thinks there is anything there. That was just a coach making a statement.
