The other day, I made a discovery. I figured out why America is so mediocre. I'm not sure how I'll tie this into sports, but I never know when I'm going after I click the New Post tab.Ever hear a kid talk about what he/she wants to be when he/she grows up? An astronaut. A baseball player. A fireman. A cop. An investment banker who specializes in small to middle market mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.
Ever hear the kid say the want to be a good astronaut? A great baseball player? An outstanding fireman? A cop who won't abuse his power? An investment banker who specializes in small to middle market mergers, acquisitions and divestitures who won't hunt humans on a deserted island off the coast of Thailand?
Never. The dream seems to be just getting there. You can even ask the same question of adults. Ask your pal who hates his job what his dream job is. It will inevitably be something like porn star or male prostitute because your friends are sickos, but I can guarantee that when he dreams of selling himself for money, he doesn't imagine himself being the best at it.
That brings me to the NFL draft. Hey! Sports! I knew I'd find it!
No league throws more money at kids for just getting hired than the NFL, and the overwhelming lack of greatness from the top-10 picks the past three years is telling.
Obviously it's hard to grade the careers on draftees with 11 weeks or 1 year and 11 weeks or 2 years and 11 weeks worth of NFL experience, but in some cases it's pretty telling that a lot of these guys are just happy to be here and/or see that the direct deposit hit their bank account every two weeks.
The 2007 draft gives us the most information from which to draw, so let's start there.
Calvin Johnson (Lions, No. 2), Joe Thomas (Browns, No. 3) and Adrian Peterson (Vikings, No. 7) are the studs. But look at how many of these other guys received gigantic lump sums of money for being about as good at football as you or I.
JaMarcus Russell needs to return his $32 million signing bonus immediately. Gaines Adams ($19 million) is so bad that the Bucs and their terrible defense had no place for him. Levi Brown ($18 million) has been a bust in Arizona. Ted Ginn Jr. ($14 million) has been relegated to kickoff returns. Amobi Okoye ($13 million) gets run over more than something gets run over a lot.
That's nearly $100 million worth of suck. Meanwhile, LeBron James earned about $10 million total during his first three seasons in the NBA.
Of course, I'm choosing an NFL draft that suits my argument, but I figure that 2007 is the perfect time for when the pussification of American boys would start to push to the forefront. You know. That youth league crap where everyone gets a trophy and kids who are really good at a sport are exiled by parents who are overprotective of their untalented children.
But wouldn't it make sense that with so many years of children being raised to believe participation is just as good as being the best that more athletes are content with getting the fat contract when arriving on the scene than ever before? You think the guaranteed millions didn't influence Mark Sanchez into leaving college early? He sure looked motivated and focused while eating a hot dog on the sideline, didn't he?
You don't want to classify these kids as busts just yet, but Chris Long, Vernon Gholston, Glenn Dorsey, Derrick Harvey and Keith Rivers aren't exactly making the 2008 Draft one to remember.
Maybe it's just me, the NFL seems to heading down a slope and into a pool of mediocrity. There just isn't the star power of the past, and maybe it's because of how kids have been raised the last 20-25 years. Or maybe there's plenty of star power and my unwillingness to accept the likes of Jay Cutler as stars has blinded me. I think just getting there and getting the contract is more important now. I don't know. What am I? A sociologist?
And just so I don't get yelled at on Twitter, that photo is from The Sports Hernia. It came up during a Google search, so la dee freakin' da, big Internet guy.
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