DeSean Jackson is going to end up as a cautionary tale. He absolutely will. Twenty years from now some coach will say to some hot-dogging fool, "If you keep this up, you're going to end up like DeSean Jackson." And that won't be viewed as a good thing.
The sad thing is, Jackson is likely a lost cause. He clearly doesn't listen to anyone and could give a damn about how he's viewed, which are two dangerous aspects of a personality. He's practically destined to jackass himself out of football (yeah, I used jackass that way). Then he'll look back and wonder: What the hell happened?
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| DeSean Jackson's talent is undeniable. His decision making is undeniably bad. (US Presswire) |
Unfortunately Jackson might never get it and he's part of a larger issue, one in which too many African-American players seem to have no problem Steppin' and Fetchin' before America without guilt or shame.
I'm tired of it. It's getting ridiculous. I'm not talking about making one or two mistakes. We all do that. I'm talking about serial Step and Fetchers like Jackson who don't seem to understand that their acts carry larger consequences.
If you haven't heard of Jackson, then you've missed a player who could be the next great wide receiver in football. On Monday night he became the first NFL player in almost seven decades to open his career with two 100-yard performances. He's probably the most physically gifted young receiver I've seen in 20 years of being around the sport.
Unfortunately, Jackson is starting to make Terrell Owens look like Alan Greenspan.
Jackson pulled what almost was the biggest bonehead move we've seen in professional football since Leon Lett. Against a heated rival, with the entire country watching, Jackson decided to showboat after making a big catch by casually tossing away the football. The problem was, he failed to first cross the goal line and what should have been a marvelous 61-yard touchdown was negated.
What in the name of Chris Cooley's junk was Jackson thinking?
Somewhere Don Beebe was laughing his ass off again.
The Eagles still retained possession of the football and were able to score on the following play. If Philadelphia had lost that touchdown, I'd have worried about Jackson's safety upon returning to Philly.
I can hear some black readers now. Shut up Freeman. You're an Uncle Tom. All the man's doing is celebrating.
No, you shut up. You're an enabler.
None of this would be written if this was Jackson's only mistake. We all make them. Except Jackson did this in high school. The exact same thing. He was a clown in college as well. He wants to do this. He revels in doing this. He'll likely keep doing it.
There's no difference between Jackson's actions -- and the cadre of fools like Owens and his ilk -- and those African-Americans who once debased and degraded themselves because that's what they believed whites wanted to see.
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| ttechfan1987: Sorry, nonchalantly flipping the ball is not showboating. Once he realized what he had done, he had to dance so that he wouldn't draw attention to the premature flip. Watch the replay. You can see his body start to turn and go for the ball, but then he sees the ref signaling touchdown, so he goes with it. Had he acted in desperation and tried to recover the ball, he would have been beaten to the punch. |
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| Mike Freeman: The problem with that argument is that Jackson was so concerned about what celebration dance he was going to do, he forgot to earn the actual touchdown. Trying to score a TD? Good. Trying to be cool and focusing on the dance instead of actual football? Not so good. |
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Jackson is young and he'll learn, you respond. That might be true, but it doesn't seem like he's really interested in learning from his mistakes. He might be brainwashed into believing that's the way African-Americans are supposed to behave in the workplace. No one's told him any differently. All the popular media and music do is embolden people like Jackson.
Jackson doesn't think he's doing anything wrong and that's the most frightening part of all this.
After the football bounced back into the field of play Jackson then did a little dance. Just beautiful. What will Jackson do next? Pull out a Sharpie?
Oh, wait, that's already been done.
What needs to happen is this: The Philadelphia locker room is full of great professionals, and some of the players need to pull Jackson aside and give him a good tongue lashing.
Then something else must occur. Some of the black players should have a chat with Jackson. They need to tell him not to become another 21st century sports minstrel.
It's not too late. Don't jackass yourself out of football, Mr. Jackson. Please.
