Merriman, Nowitzki, and Me!!!

I woke up this morning to the news of Shawn Merriman being arrested and all I could do was shake my head in disappointment. Not so much at him but at us athletes in general. Sometimes we put ourselves in some really bad/volatile situations and wonder why we get in the predicaments we do. Sometimes we think we are invincible, but the reality is we are actually more vulnerable and have more at stake than the average person. How many of us have to get shot, robbed, killed, or arrested before we change our lifestyles? You would think the media exposure alone would cause us to make better decisions with our personal lives, but it doesn’t.

When I was younger I used to watch a movie called DC cab, and it had a line in it that I will never forget. It said “Don’t let ya dick run ya life”. Too many times we fall victim to our own lack of self-discipline. The same thing (discipline) that makes us good/successful athletes is the same thing that we display the inability to use. We find ourselves chasing after the “flavor of the week”, or every aspiring “model/actress” in VIP. The end result of that is gonna be #FAIL (as my twitter homies would say). I mean real talk, you don’t want a baby mama. It ain’t cute, it causes unnecessary drama, and if you are any type of father it sucks not to go home to your kid(s) every night. And if you already have a child, you can’t bring the female you met at the club home. She can’t be a good mother to your child. She was just “P” poppin’ in the club.

Am I pointing fingers? Yes. At everyone and myself. I have been places I shouldn’t have been, doing things I had no business doing. I have been involved with women I knew were “all bad” for me, but I was just “having fun” trying to date the hottest chicks possible. It’s hard to make mature decisions when you are young, on your own for the first time, with a pocketful of money and everything in the movies and music videos at your disposal, but it’s not a good excuse. When I was in college I did something stupid (1 of many things) and my parents were having a “talk” with me and my dad said “G you are tripping what are you thinking about, you are not making wise choices”. My mother said You are expecting him to make decisions like a 40 year old man. Now, years later, I sit back and understand what she was saying. I was being immature and stupid. I was making decisions with my other “head” and that didn’t stop in college. I know now what I was doing and wish more athletes would stop making the same dumb mistakes they see other athletes make and actually learn from their predecessors. When are we gonna stop thinking “I’m different and it won’t happen to me”. No you aren’t and yes it will!!

We blame the media for only focusing on the negative things athletes do, but we don’t take responsibility for our own actions. We are given so much (money, power, respect) and we show are gratitude for our blessings by being irresponsible and immature. To whom much is given, much is required. We think so much about the right here, right now. We have to do better PERIOD! We have to start thinking about the consequences of our actions instead of ONLY living in the moment. If more athletes dated women like their moms and grandmas, and less like the stuff we see on VH1, MTV & BET we would probably spend less money on lawyer fees and bail money. Just like the old saying goes, everything that glitters ain’t gold, and everything in VIP you can’t take home!!!