You know that times are getting tough

[Chainfire]

when NFL players are having to commit armed robbery to eat.....

That is what happens when folks are pampered from childhood for their ability to run over other people.

I am really sad for the men........

[Baclava]

1. Making millions and you pull an armed robbery? Idiots more like it. Money money money

[rampartc]

2. stole $12K in cash and a few overpriced watches

escaped in separate cars, a lamborgini, a mercedes, and a bmw.

they need jail time.

[nsd]

3. One of the getaway cars was a Lamborghini.

I can't even begin to comprehend the thought process here.

[jayfish]

4. Or...

Is it possible someone placed a bet they couldn't/wouldn't cover? But please judge and condescend away. NFL players? "Pampered from childhood"? The NFL is 68% African American. Deandre Baker and Quinton Dunbar are both African Americans. You think they've been pampered from childhood? Shallow, knee-jerk comments like these feel like something one would expect on a RW board. No?

[nsd]

5. What are you talking about?

Placed a bet they couldn't cover? What is that supposed to mean?

ETA: Also, you're coming dangerously close to saying that being African-American is somehow a mitigating factor in criminal behavior, which is extraordinarily patronizing and (dare I say it?) racist.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. I have no idea what OP is referring to. Has no names, links, titles, or usable search terms. . . nt

[Chainfire]

7. My comments have nothing to do with race

I have little respect for professional athletes regardless of their color. Especially stupid bastards that hold up people at gunpoint. People who threaten to kill people for their Rolex are slugs and deserve to be called out for what they did, not what race they are. That is what I did, and I stand by it.

I do understand that there are athletes who are model students, honorable people and good citizens. My post does not address them.

From middle school, many excellent athletes, white or black, are treated differently than the other children. They are held to much lower standards in academics and social development. They are forgiven for things that would get non-athletes expelled. These kids learn from an early age that they are special. Some of them later become armed robbers who escape in a Lamborghinis. So yes, star athletes are pampered from an early age. I know this and I suspect that you do too.

I worked at a major university and got to know a lot of the seed stock for the NFL and for the most part I found them to be, for the most part, spoiled rotten children in oversize bodies and with underdeveloped minds and over-aggressive personalities. The were routinely forgiven for stealing, skipping classes, cheating in class, fighting and many times forgiven for mistreating women. I personally know of one graduate student teacher who was strong-armed by university staff for failing two star athletes for getting caught cheating on tests twice! She refused to pass the students, so it was done over her head, and behind her back.....The lesson was, that since you are a star athlete, cheating is OK.

Big college football programs hire people to run behind the athletes cleaning up the messes that they make and the problems that the cause. The armed robbers will now have to pay for the attorneys that will attempt to protect them from their crimes, maybe it will be a good life lesson. I hope the guys lose their jobs, and their freedom.

So, to sum up, you can take your racial attack on me to someone who gives a damn.

[jayfish]

8. I'll Bet You Have Black Friends Too.

You should do some reading on poverty among high-school & college athletics.

Study: "The Price of Poverty in Big Time College Sport" - 9/13/2011

Highlights

- The average scholarship shortfall (out-of-pocket expenses) for each “full” scholarship athlete was approximately $3222 per player during the 2010-11 school year.

- The room and board provisions in a full scholarship leave 85% of players living on campus and 86% of players living off campus living below the federal poverty line.

- The fair market value of the average FBS football and basketball player was $121,048 and $265,027, respectively.

- University of Texas football players’ fair market value was $513,922 but they lived $778 below the federal poverty line and had a $3,624 scholarship shortfall.

- Duke basketball players were valued at $1,025,656 while living just $732 above the poverty line and a scholarship shortfall of $1,995.

- The University of Florida had the highest combined football and basketball revenues while its football and basketball players’ scholarships left them living $2,250 below the federal poverty line and with a $3190 scholarship shortfall.

NCAA’s amateurism rule exploits black athletes as slave labor

My father, Jimmy Collins, was once one of those young athletes. He grew up in poverty in Syracuse, New York. Every night, my grandmother, a single parent with barely a grade school education, prayed her children would beat the odds and find success, or at least make it out of Syracuse alive. Dad’s way out was basketball. Awarded a scholarship in 1966, he went on to lead New Mexico State University to the Final Four in 1970. He earned national accolades and even a Sports Illustrated cover.

While his image was used to sell magazines across the country, he lived in relative poverty and had to scramble to make ends meet. He worked a series of increasingly dangerous jobs — including a short-lived stint as a rodeo clown! My family laughs about it now, but at the time he could have easily destroyed his body, let alone his career, in the blink of an eye.

Today, the student-athletes who generate the most revenue for universities, brands and TV networks are in the football and basketball programs. The vast majority are black. To maintain “amateur status” and thus be eligible to play, athletes cannot accept any money or gifts off their image or likeness. Because of rigorous practice and game schedules, most cannot work while under scholarship and some may go hungry or have difficulty paying rent. Some, like my father, come from impoverished backgrounds and need income to support their families.

Meanwhile, like modern-day overseers, predominantly white coaches, administrators and white schools reap the rewards of this black labor. More than 82 percent of college basketball coaches are white, more than 92 percent of FBS head coaches are white, and more than 86 percent of conference commissioners are white. Not a single person of color has served as commissioner for one of the Power Five conferences. In 2015 alone, the top programs made a combined $9.1 billion. The NCAA itself just signed an $8.8 billion TV deal with CBS Sports and Turner to air its March Madness tournament.

Student-Athletes Make Billions for the NCAA. They Deserve A Seat On Its Board.

Student-athletes work tirelessly to perform at the highest levels of athletic competition while simultaneously endeavoring to graduate on time and prepare for future careers. Their efforts generated more than $1 billion for the NCAA and its member institutions in the 2016-17 school year alone. But while many coaches and commissioners took home seven- and even eight-figure salaries, student-athletes did not receive a penny of compensation beyond their scholarships, which do not always cover the full expenses associated with attending college.

The exploitation of student-athletes also produces serious adverse health outcomes, including debilitating knee and ankle injuries and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease. Many student-athletes, especially Black student-athletes who are often concentrated in high-profile, revenue-generating sports, such as football and basketball, also struggle to graduate on time. It does not need to be this way.

I'm sorry you weren't able to get away with whatever it was you wanted to get away with.

[Chainfire]

9. Believe what you want to believe