Bedard article on Finley (yikes)

[falco]

Just goes to show you what a dickhead I can be. When did I write that? I'd like to look at that thread.

For what it is worth, I apologize for bringing it up in this thread. It really was irrelevant and just a gut reaction move on my part. Certainly not taken in context.

[Smidgeon]

They're going to take a hair follicle for drug testing from Jolly. I'll be pleasantly surprised if he's clean, but that would be a good sign for him if he is. Then if he gets out of the charges in the end and comes back to produce, he could be right back in the good graces of Packer fans. But that looks like a big if at the moment.

Maybe this is an ignorant question, but aren't hair follicle tests kind of like a history of what's been in a body? They can test different parts of the hair to see what chemicals were in the body at the time of that hair growth. I don't know how precise it is, but it would be a better was of telling if Jolly really did violate the terms of his bail more than once.

[vince]

I think I read somewhere that a hair follicle test will hold evidence of drug usage for up to 90 days or so, but that's just from my memory.

[MJZiggy]

Depends on when his last haircut was.

[vince]

and how short he gets it cut.

[hoosier]

Breaks my heart to read this about the guy. He was more than just decent last season. He really stepped ut.

Now this.

I'm gaining a bit of personal experience these days as to why people behave irrationally. Why would a 6th rounder with a great future just screw up like this and risk millions of dollars and life long financial security?

The answer according to my shrink is a deep, hidden filial love. He described it as Taliban-like. Hidden, difficult to detect, impossible to assault with Stealth Bombers, like Freudian phsychiatry) etc, capable of sabotaging the most sensitive areas of your defense.

The more I learn about the way we humans tick, what drives us to do the things we do, the more I think the NFL should build a big clinic in the hills to treat people like Jolly, Pacman et al.

In fact, they should put the rookie class through 2-3 weeks of soul searching so these outbreaks become less frequent.

Johnny Jolly is screwing up because he is unable to come to terms with his love for his brother?

[Tarlam!]

Johnny Jolly is screwing up because he is unable to come to terms with his love for his brother?

That would be fraternal love, no?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/filial+love

filial love

noun

the love of a child for a parent

[pbmax]

I don't think so in this case. The drug offense will fall under the Drug and Alcohol Policy and that does not give the commissioner the same authority as the Personal Conduct Policy does. His hands may be tied because of the nature of the offense. If he should commit a crime of a different nature while screwing this up, then Goodell might be able to act.

Wouldn't violating the terms of your bail fall under Personal Conduct?

I don't think, strictly speaking, that this hearing found that. Behavior that is suggestive, the promise of more troubling photos, perhaps. But I did not read that the judge found him in violation of his bail/bond. I could be wrong, what I read did not address this specific point.

But we are in a very fuzzy area. Its possible that the troubling behavior over parole is not enough for a formal charge or revoking of bail, but might be enough for Goodell. I think, as long as the worst of it is the party flier (no evidence presented he attended) and assuming a clean follicle test, he may be OK. But he's very close to a lot more trouble.

[hoosier]

Johnny Jolly is screwing up because he is unable to come to terms with his love for his brother?

That would be fraternal love, no?

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/filial+love

filial love

noun

the love of a child for a parent

Yes, it would. Must have been brain fart. But I still find it puzzling to think of Jolly's legal problems in the context of his relation to his mommy. Hell, I have no desire to imagine his mother at all. I guess Freud has not yet made his way into the world of sports journalism.

[vince]

From the New York Times Fifth Down blog

Jermichael Finley Will Be the Best, and He Knows It
By ANDY BENOIT

Jermichael Finley is going to be the best tight end in football.

Not eventually — now. This season. It seems so obvious that, while making this prediction, you almost feel as if you’re missing something. Why isn’t everyone predicting this?

The evidence was building last season, and the revelation came in the wild-card playoff shootout between the Packers and the Cardinals in January. Finley had six catches for a franchise-playoff-record 159 yards. Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson said of Finley, who was then 22 years old: “He’s very comparable to Antonio Gates. Hell of a player. He can do it all.”

It may sound ludicrous, but Finley is actually better than Gates – at least athletically. Finley, a third-round pick from Texas, is taller (at 6-5), longer, faster and more agile than the Chargers’ Gates, a six-time Pro Bowler. Like Gates, he has uncanny body control and ball-adjustment skills. In his last eight games last season, counting the playoff loss, he had 44 catches for 575 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Still, to say that a third-year pro with a reputation for immaturity and only 12 starts will be the best player at his position seems overzealous. When you get Finley on the phone, as I did recently, you immediately share your opinion, then say, “Am I smart or am I crazy?”

You’re half-hoping he says crazy. If he does, he’ll have to explain why. That will mean plenty of quotable phrases about working hard, aspiring to improve and overcoming challenges. More important, it will allow you to ride the fence. It will be the green light to write an article that projects Finley not as the best tight end in 2010, but rather as “potentially the best tight end.” It’s safer.

Problem is, Finley doesn’t bail you out.

“I think you’re a genius, to tell you the truth,” he said.

Well, what about the effect of that kind of hype? Does the expectation of being the best tight end in football add undue pressure?

“I don’t think it adds pressure whatsoever,” he said. Finley casually mentions that his speed creates mismatches against linebackers. He discusses the importance of his off-season regimen, which now includes boxing (a trend in the N.F.L.). He cites blocking as the element of his game needing the most improvement. He talks about a big strength, his hands. His tone isn’t boastful, brash – just confident.

Finley’s back story is not unlike those of other tight ends. He was a standout basketball player growing up. He entered Texas as a wide receiver. When he was moved to tight end, he had a few reservations about blocking. But coaches quickly asserted that, given his athleticism, the tight end position presented a special opportunity.

“With Jermichael, we did a lot of different things,” said Bruce Chambers, the Longhorns’ tight ends coach, in a recent phone interview. “We flexed him out – a lot like they’re doing with him now in Green Bay. He spent a lot of time in the wide receiver two-point stance. The only difference was, instead of running his routes on corners, he ran his routes on linebackers and safeties. He became very special when he moved inside. Best thing that ever happened to him, in my opinion.”

The only potholes on Finley’s path have been off the field. His immaturity has been well documented – most recently in an article by The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Greg Bedard, in which Finley spoke about drama with agents, tardiness for meetings, broken curfews (including one the night before the playoff loss in Arizona) and youthful cockiness.

To the Packers’ relief, those problems seem to be easing. Living in Green Bay with a wife and 2-year-old son has a way of shepherding a man out of the fast lane. As Finley said, “If you get in trouble, it’s because you’re looking for it.”

As long as he doesn’t look, Jermichael Finley will be the N.F.L.’s best tight end in 2010.