Our lives are a collection of moments. Some are mundane, while others can affect the path of your life forever. In this week’s Friday Sports Dump, we cast light on some of those moments.
—
The NFL Combine is a series of moments that has the ability to change one’s life. Usually, the work you put in at the combine will lead to a big payday. This year, Adidas wanted to give instantaneous feedback in the form of greenbacks. The shoe company offered $100,000 to the three fastest 40 times at the NFL Combine.
That is, almost everybody at the Combine.
J.J. Nelson is a wide receiver from the now defunct University of Alabama Birmingham football program. He came in to this year’s event as the lightest participant in 13 years at 156 pounds. His lack of size proved to be a plus on the turf as he ran a 4.28 40. The fastest in Indianapolis.
Adidas however said Nelson didn’t sign an endorsement deal, so he didn’t get the bonus. Nelson said he was never offered a deal.
“I guess [Adidas] picked people who were high-profile-people who had a great chance of going out there and running a fast time,” Nelson said.
The three Adidas winners are all projected first and second round draft picks.
It’s not bad enough that shoe companies exploit children at a young age through AAU tournaments and select showcases, hoping to score relationships as they get older and their talent and name recognition grows. Now, the shoe company is subjectively picking and choosing who they award money to in a supposed contest. Next year, Adidas should just give the money to who they want endorsing the product and save us all the charade of pretending to heighten the excitement of the 40-yard dash.
As for Nelson, he has his pro day coming up and he’ll be wearing Nikes.
♦◊♦
While Nelson looks to latch on to an NFL team, Tight End Brian Bostick still replays his moment from last year’s NFL Playoffs. If you don’t remember, Bostick, playing for Green Bay, was the one who bobbled the Seattle onside kick leading ultimately to a Seahawks victory in overtime.
In a great first person recount of that fateful game on The Monday Morning Quarterback, he said, “I jumped up, reached for the ball, and my life changed forever.”
Soon after the game, the Packers released the former undrafted tight end out of Newberry College. The pain of his mistake still lingers today.
“I became the singular scapegoat. Social media didn’t help, either. I don’t know how many death threats I received, but there have been a lot. I still haven’t read most of the messages that people sent me, but I want to so I can deal with the consequences and use it as motivation. But it is physically impossible for me to read every troll’s comment; the volume is simply too much. So their comments sit there, untouched, maybe forever.”
Through it all, Bostick has found a unique partner to cope with his misery. Former NFL running back Ernest Byner is probably best known for The Fumble. His own life changing moment occurred when he fumbled a seemingly routine run into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown while playing for the Cleveland Browns.
His advice: Face your mistake, don’t run from it.
Bostick will have a chance to do both this season as he straps it up for Packers archrival Minnesota Vikings.
♦◊♦
Sports Dump 2:
College is supposed to be a place for cultivating moments. Unfortunately, too many times it can be the place where moments change you in a negative fashion. According to Break the Cycle, as many as a quarter of female students experience sexual assault over the course of their college career. According to the US Department of Justice, women aged 16-24 experience the highest per capita rate of intimate partner violence.
Yesterday, Former Louisville Men’s Basketball Player Chris Jones pled not guilty on charges of raping one woman and sodomizing another.
USA Today reports:
The warrant, signed Wednesday by Jefferson District Judge Katie King, says that one of the women was hospitalized Sunday and able to identify Jones as her assailant. One of the women is 19 and the other 20, according to the warrant.
A second warrant says Jones, along with two other people, forced a woman to have intercourse and oral sex. She also identified Jones as a Louisville player, according to the warrant. She was taken to University of Louisville Hospital, where she was treated.
There are way too many cases of sexual assault in general, let alone in college. More must be done to educate and help abolish such horrific acts. If Jones is found guilty, it is another example of privileged athletes trying to bend the ethics of humanity for their own personal thirst.
Three people’s lives changed by moments that could have been prevented.
♦◊♦
Florida State Freshman Xavier Rathan-Mayes will not want to forget his moment from Wednesday’s game. Somehow, the Ontario native tallied 30! points in 4:39. While the Seminoles could not pull out the victory, it’s safe to say the young man from the great white north won’t forget his moment in the sunshine state anytime soon.
Vine of the Week: No Flopping For You
https://vine.co/v/O2qrMg1ZOa9
—
Photo Credit: Brian Spurlock/AP
—