OT- Larry Foote criticized Marshawn Lynch for resisting authority

Submitted by EGD on

Larry Foote has apparently criticized Marshawn Lynch for supposedly sending the wrong message to children by displaying a lack of respect for authority:

"The biggest message he's giving these kids, he might not want to admit it, is 'The hell with authority. I don't care, fine me. I'm gonna grab my crotch. I'm gonna do it my way.'"

Foote's point is kids will believe they can act the same as Lynch does.

"In the real world, it doesn't work that way," Foote said. "It just doesn't. How can you keep a job? I mean, you got these inner-city kids. They don't listen to teachers. They don't listen to police officers, principals. And these guys can't even keep a job because they say 'F' authority."

LINK to full article.

Have to say I disagree with Foote on this one.  He makes a fair point, but to paraphrase MLK, an unjust law is no law at all.

SWPro

February 3rd, 2015 at 6:06 PM ^

Exactly, he is playing the old "no press is bad press" angle. If he just talked to the media as requested no one would talk about his interview. If he refuses to talk he gets big time press because of it.

 

This Connan thing was pretty funny to me because it was in the middle of all the Lynch defenders screaming about how he might have a social anxiety disorder.

 

Doesn't really seem that way to me.

lunchboxthegoat

February 3rd, 2015 at 3:53 PM ^

I know he's an alum and I should love him but I think Larry Foote needs to stop talking publicly indefinitely. This isn't the best example but he seems to constantly say cringe worthy things

ClassOf14

February 3rd, 2015 at 4:15 PM ^

I agree with this completely. Wasn't Foote the one who recently said that UM wasn't doing well because we had too many trust fund kids and needed to recruit the ghetto more?

Regarding Marshawn Lynch, of course I'm not a fan of his crotch grabbing antics but I think he has the right to not talk to the media if he doesn't wish to. Belichick basically does the same thing by not giving a proper answer to perfectly normal questions every week, yet no one criticizes him. Foote could learn a thing or two from Marshawn and stop talking to the media, you have very little to gain from it and a fair bit to lose. 

Schembo

February 3rd, 2015 at 5:34 PM ^

Foote try to make comment about how he thought inner city kids were more hungry and play with a chip on their shoulder more than the kids from the burbs do.  Whether he was wrong or right I don't know, but I don't understand why some people are so exasperated by that point of view.  Maybe it's because he said "ghetto", I don't know.

Chitown Kev

February 3rd, 2015 at 3:55 PM ^

is the best...and I mean THE BEST at what he does.

For example, most employers do allow their best employees to get away with things here and there...certainly moreso than a "mediocre" employee.

 

It's not Lynch's job to raise people's kids.

superstringer

February 3rd, 2015 at 4:19 PM ^

And Charles Barkley isn't a role model.

While Marshawn is not raising anyone's kids, he IS getting paid MILLIONS OF DOLLARS -- which he willingly takes -- because he is in the entertainment industry.  He has a job only because people like to watch.  With the big money comes responsibility -- he is a public figure, what he does will influence people's behavior, esp. kids.  Period.

If he doesn't like that responsibility, he can get one of the zillons of much-less-paying jobs that don't come with any public-figure responsibilties.

"Gimme the cash from all the fans who adore me and watch me play and buy products I endorse or with my name on them, but... wait, there are fans who care about me?"

Muttley

February 3rd, 2015 at 5:40 PM ^

Beast Mode RB that won't talk to the media.

I think Marshawn not talking to the media generates more interesting coverage than any "we play 'em one game at a time" coming from him.

If this spread to other players, the NFL would have a business problem.  Now all they have is an interesting story.  Most guys LIKE talking to the press...so I think the risk that this hits the bottom line is pretty darned low.

charblue.

February 3rd, 2015 at 6:20 PM ^

for any public response that goes against authority. But how is Roger Goodell, who earns $44 million annually, less exempt as a role model than Marshawn Lynch who is simply part of the league process and not the process arbiter when it comes to dictating authority and adhering to it?

By his own admission Goodell has had a bad year, one that almost makes the NCAA look good by comparison, and that's really stretching it.

Goodell managed the last NFL-player union deal by insisting on authority to personally dictate player violations of NFL conduct rules, and he has seemingly hidden behind shield authority to be the last word on do what we say not what we do.

The owners didn't have the balls to come down on Goodell, why should anyone have a problem with Lynch's minor protest with authority.

white_pony_rocks

February 3rd, 2015 at 7:12 PM ^

and he gives some of those millions back when he refuses to speak to the press.  If the rule says he will get fined if he doesn't speak to the media, he has the option of not speaking and paying the fine.  If they changed the rule that if you didnt speak you would be suspended, he would have a choice there too, but then his teammates and coach might get pissed at him.  The point is, he can do what he wants if he deals with the consequences, and thats the way it should be.

SalvatoreQuattro

February 3rd, 2015 at 4:18 PM ^

Picking and choosing what laws to obey is a slippery slop.Different segments of society will embrace one law and disparage another based on how it impacts their own life. 

 

MLK was basically paraphrasing Thoreau who wrote in "On Civil Disobediance" that a person has an obligation to challenge unjust laws even to the point of putting themselves in physical danger. MLK was influenced by this pamphlet.

That's all well and good, but do remember the South chose to go the same route when they fought to separate from the North and later, to preserve segregation.Hitler saw the Treaty of Versailles as unjust and subsequently ignored it when he remilitarized the Rhineland and took back the Saarland.  The dangers of disavowing laws are there for all to see.

It's a tricky situation. I appreciate your point and agree with it to an extent. But the is a significant downside to doing that as I pointed out.There is a reason we have a process of amending laws and not arbitraily ignoring laws as we see fit.

EGD

February 3rd, 2015 at 4:20 PM ^

This is actually why I thought this article was interesting and thought it would make for a good discussion thread.  While I obviously believe that there is an appropriate role for civil disobedience, we obviously can't have people just picking and choosing which laws to follow according to their own persoanal preferences.  The things have never been easy to reconcile--I think you could go further back than Thoreau, even--say to the Greek tragedy Antigone--and undoubtedly never will be.

Tater

February 3rd, 2015 at 3:57 PM ^

I always root against the Seahawks, but I am really starting to like Lynch.  Sadly, I think the only thing Foote should be saying to Lynch at this time is, "If you keep taking all those head shots, you're going to end up like me."

jhackney

February 3rd, 2015 at 4:10 PM ^

Isn't that what he is doing? By the NFL threatening stiffer penalties for not talking while domestic violence and concussions not nearly pulling the same attention deserved, isn't he merely pointing out the absurd? I thought people wanted to watch players play not talk?

BigBlue02

February 3rd, 2015 at 4:52 PM ^

I'm sorry, but lynch isn't doing this to point out the absurd or bring up more important issues. He's doing it because he's an asshole. He doesn't have social anxiety disorder and he doesn't hate the media, he's just doing it because he is a good player and wants to be an ass. Talking to the media is part of his job and he has decided that part of his contract he shouldn't have to follow. He isn't a dick to the media because he really cares about concussions and domestic violence

DutchWolverine

February 3rd, 2015 at 4:09 PM ^

Questioning authority is one thing, especially if it is an issue that is serious.  But refusing to follow the rules of a job that you signed up for is completely different.  Let's not make his actions out to be something bigger than they are.  This isn't some sort of social justice that he is fighting for.

EGD

February 3rd, 2015 at 4:24 PM ^

In most private places of employment, I would agree with this.  But the NFL has a state-sanctioned monopoly over American professional football.  The NFL policy essentially forces him to choose between exercising his right to free expression (or not exercising it, I suppose) or practicing his profession.

SalvatoreQuattro

February 3rd, 2015 at 4:21 PM ^

step that terrorists and other take. That doesn't mean "questioning authority" is a bad thing. We need to question authority to preserve our rights and to make democracy safe.  it's essential in a free country for people to question.

However, questioning authority can and often is, taken to extremes and is used to justify terrible acts.