Outside The Lines-Johnny Jolly

[Joemailman]

http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth/post/_/id/34323/outside-the-lines-johnny-jolly

Jolly will be the subject of an Outside The Lines report on ESPN tomorrow. In it he talks about his life spiraling out of control after he was suspended from the NFL. Obviously he created the situation which led to the suspension, but it may lead to a debate about whether players on suspension should be separated from their team while dealing with an addiction issue.

Aaron Rodgers had this to say about it in October:

“I’ve been in touch with him off and on the last couple years. It’s just disappointing. And I’ll be honest, I think the league deserves some of the blame in this case,” Rodgers said, on ESPN Milwaukee, according to sportsradiointerviews.com. “When you look at some of the other guys that have been reinstated in the league after jail sentences, and justly, rightly so, Johnny didn’t serve any days in prison, sat out for a year and still couldn’t get his case heard, from what I was told. I just think that that’s wrong.

“I think the commissioner’s done a great job of cleaning up some of the stuff in the league. That said, if you take a guy away from his support system … I don’t think that’s helping.”

[red]

pretty sad story

and a-rod is spot on. i've been critical of jolly and all his repeats, but him getting suspended for that whole year was pretty nuts

[Harlan Huckleby]

if Jolly will just find Jesus, maybe even become a man of the cloth, the NFL will take him back. Wish it had happened before the TV special, but its never too late for a good redemption story.

[MadScientist]

Jolly's quote:

"My only friend was the codeine, and it kept me numb," Jolly says in a report by Mark Fainaru-Wada. "It kept me from losing my mind. Me losing football is like me losing a loved one, or a bunch of loved ones, at one time.”

I'd guess that is the reason he can't get over the addiction. He needs to turn on codeine as the curse that is keeping him from football, and cost him a SB ring.

[Freak Out]

He's weak.

[pbmax]

Unfortunately, this kind of continued relapse thing probably depends on a lot of factors and requires some care consideration and flexibility. Some players might be more tempted to abuse substances while in their football environment. Others, perhaps like Jolly, outside of that environment.

A reasonable measure would be to evaluate where the player is most likely to succeed and offer that option. Go home and rehab or stay connected to the team in some way and rehab. Or perhaps some need to be on a tropical island for six months and rehab. Of course, subtlety and flexibility are not the hallmarks of bureaucracies or commissioners.

Of course, the player could reject all suggestions and advice and end up where Jolly is.

[Fritz]

"Me losing football is like me losing a loved one, or a bunch of loved ones, at one time.”

I would like to be Jolly's publicist and help him make the loss clearer:

"Me losing football is like me losing a well-loved hooker, or a bunch of hookers who liked to take turns on me and talk dirty with me while performing lewd acts on one another."

[Scott Campbell]

Players are always an instant away from having football taken away from them, be it by suspension or by injury. I feel nearly as bad about his dependence on football as I do about his dependence on the substance.

[MadtownPacker]

ARod is right but Jolly sounds just like all the other dope fiends I have ever heard. He is not willing to take all the blame. He is not ready to change.

[Tony Oday]

If he is in shape we could use him...just give him a chaperone

[pbmax]

"Me losing football is like me losing a loved one, or a bunch of loved ones, at one time.”

I would like to be Jolly's publicist and help him make the loss clearer:

"Me losing football is like me losing a well-loved hooker, or a bunch of hookers who liked to take turns on me and talk dirty with me while performing lewd acts on one another."

I think you meant to say "like to be Jolly's enabler"

[pbmax]

ARod is right but Jolly sounds just like all the other dope fiends I have ever heard. He is not willing to take all the blame. He is not ready to change.

You mean the blame it on the circumstance or something else?

Because admitting to going back to the substance that got you suspended in the first place (directly or indirectly) does seem to indicate he never got off Square 1.

[Zpark93]

Dont feel bad for him as a football player because its not a right to play. But as a person I hope he can get his life together.

[MJZiggy]

Dont feel bad for him as a football player because its not a right to play. But as a person I hope he can get his life together.

As a football player, I feel bad for the waste of obvious talent and the contributions he could have made for our team. That said, it's secondary to the fact that as a human, he needed to get the treatment that worked for him. I understand the policy as putting the league up as an example, yet, I think there's room to evaluate situations. Maybe they can't play, but if they need the support from the team, they can get it somehow.

[Joemailman]

The thing that should have been considered was that Johnny Jolly didn't seem to have the drug problem when he was with the team in Green Bay. It was when he was at home with plenty of idle time. So the NFL decided to separate him from the Packers. This was a case where the team should have had some leeway on how to handle the situation, rather than an edict being handed down by people who didn't know Jolly.