Proudiddy

Same, bro. Yeah, it just feels it has run its course and I don’t know that we’ll ever get more value. Plus, with the new ownership, this draft has been super encouraging, so dare I believe maybe this FO can get something to really put us over the top in return for Melo. I’ll still be a fan of his game and try to keep up with him if we move on, but yeah, I feel it’s time to turn the page. (and side note: I felt so happy after their rookie years because I told everybody I wanted Melo and didn’t trust Ant. And Melo clearly looked like the better player early… I thought Ant would bust because all that stuff he said about not loving the game and just his resume to that point… but damn, if we could go back in time.. I love Ant’s game and at times, when he gets in the zone, he is THE BEST player in the league in my opinion.)

Appreciate that, bro! And I could definitely see that with Cam. Even though he’s a little younger than me, he is also someone I admire and feel a kinship with for a lot of various reasons. Funny enough, a few years after that encounter with Steve, I went to Charlotte with one of my friends whose brothers owned a moving company at the time. He dropped me off uptown and went to work the day with them where I would wait until he got done and then we were gonna go to the Bobcats game that night. So I walk all through that area for hours. After awhile, I walk back towards the arena and sit in a bench on the backside of the arena, where the practice court and player’s entrance was. As I’m sitting there, I look up and almost think I’m seeing things - I squint and blink my eyes a couple times just to be sure, and yes… it’s one of my childhood heroes, Muggsy Bogues walking across the crosswalk and into the arena. I think he was coaching the Sting then, iirc. Part of me wanted to just say, “Hey! Muggsy! Thank you for the inspiration and memories! You were one of my favorite players as a kid!” But, I just watched him walk by and into the arena and thought, “that was cool!” I also so Miguel Cotto a couple years back while in Orlando and told my kids who it was but didn’t say anything to him. I think somewhere in my subconscious, that encounter with Steve really made me feel like the gamble on finding out if they’re receptive to interaction just isn’t worth finding out. At the end of the day, no matter if they’re receptive inspired us or were a hero, unless they initiate it, I likely never will… because again, they’re humans just like us. Not anymore unique or special, they just have a highly visible and very public job that we get to watch and in some ways participate. So, I just appreciate it for what it is.

Appreciate you, brother! I know it was lengthy, but I felt whoever actually read it would appreciate it.

Damn good take, brother. I think I take that poo personally because (sidebar: I don’t like to use narcissist often because social media has made it a buzzword and diluted the meaning, so when I use it, I don’t take it lightly) I grew up in a home with a raging narcissist, then married a narcissist and just came out of a divorce after a 20 year marriage with her, where afterwards she met and married another narcissist. And in my dealings with them, over my 41 years on this earth, at times I took great delight in breaking down their arguments point by point and forcing them to either acknowledge their wrongs and take ownership of them or watch them yammer and stammer away when they ran out of lies and excuses. At various points, that was extremely satisfying, but ultimately, which I’ve realized especially after the last 3 years and going through the divorce and everything, it does NOTHING to them. It doesn’t affect them one way or another. For a logical, reasonable, grounded person, you would think calling them on their poo will bring it to their attention when they’re faced with nothing but facts and truth and it would force them to change, but nope. Not in the slightest. They just disassociate from the ones who do that and find more people who will validate their behaviors and thinking. poo pisses me off because they’re so destructive and couldn’t care less so long as their needs are met.

No, I definitely consider all of what you’re saying. But that final drive they had, we KNEW they were passing. And I believe we kept Cherelus and Rozeboom out there. I agree, once Wallace is back healthy, I would love to see him and Ransom out there as the subs in a big nickel, but I know with the injuries we were a little hamstrung. But yeah, if we KNOW they have to pass, I see no reason Cherelus should be out there.

Injuries don’t matter when it comes to the Niners. They are coached and built so damn well. I will say this to some of the other points made in this thread - I do NOT understand why we continue to play the LBs so much. I noticed it as we got later in the Atlanta game when ATL had to pass, I even asked in the game day thread, if you’re 99% sure they’re passing, especially several plays in a row, why tf do we still have Cherelus out there? At the very least put an extra safety out there - someone with better movement and fluidity in space. I understand Ransom was injured and out last week, but I would really like to see us put some packages out there with 4 rushers and Ransom and Richardson as sub LBs. Rozeboom is really just a hustle guy and Cherelus is a hole stomping thumper who is a complete liability in coverage. But, NGL, once Kittle catches it, we’re gonna have hell bringing him down, especially if we go smaller.

I’ve been anti-trade when it comes to Melo, but the way this season has started, it may be time. I love his game and he’s a cool dude, but I’m starting to think, if he’s your best player, you’re never going to win anything of significance. Too many brain farts, too many injuries, and ultimately for as fun and entertaining as he is to watch - his game is indeed a thing of beauty - it just doesn’t translate to wins. And that’s IF he even plays. I think it’s time to cash out and maximize the return. I love Melo, but I think it’s pretty clear what the ceiling is for a team where he is the best player.

I loved those late 90s-early 2000s Miami teams. If McGahee hadn’t had that injury, he would probably have been a Top 10 all-time rusher, no doubt in my mind. The fact he didn’t lose his leg below the knee is still a miracle. And the fact he came back from that, made it in the NFL, and still carved out a career that included over 8k yards rushing and two pro bowls is damn impressive. It just demonstrates how good he would have been had he never had the injury. Prior to that, he was like nothing I had ever seen. Like a bigger, more physical and elusive Reggie Bush.

Yeah, if Brooks becomes anything more than a guy released before the end of his rookie contract and you never hear from them again, that’s found money. I don’t see him coming back from both injuries. Even in his brief time back before the injury last year, he did not look impressive. He looked slow and had no explosion. Now he’s been out 2 years? I doubt he does anything in the league, but who knows? Again, if he does, that’s would be awesome for us. But if he doesn’t, I’m excited about what we have and/or retain out of Chuba, Rico, and Etienne. Etienne is gonna be NICE.

Yeah, Chuba looked better against ATL. He had some more burst. He looked slow and heavy the weeks prior. And interestingly enough, Rico didn’t look quite as sturdy or explosive against ATL, as he came into it banged up. I hope they both feel better going into the San Fran game, as they’ll have an extra day of prep, and then I hope they both get back to as close to in-season 100% as possible after the bye week. We need them.

Also, wanted to point out, all 3 of the Pivot guys I respect and appreciate tremendously. I know RC only had 1 pro bowl, but I loved his game. He was tough as nails and played with a ton of heart and grit. He was trying to knock people out, but was also super cerebral. Fred is obviously a hall of famer and just as tough. Channing made the most of what he had and was hard-nosed as well. And yet, all three of them let Steve slide on a ton of poo in this interview. They actually cowered in several moments and I don’t like that at all. Because for all the things I mentioned in my initial post in this thread, them not trying to reel him back in or hold his feet to the fire on certain bullshit feels gross. Yall were all on the same competitive level as athletes, and yet, yall just let him skate on poo like talking about invoking using a gun on someone, laughing off how he essentially ended two teammates’ careers by BULLYING them and then co-signing it, and letting him completely sidestep accountability about his affair. I get it, because apparently he invited you to his home to do the interview, but either talk some real poo or don’t do the interview at all. This was some real softball poo.

JR loved him and from what I’ve read, Steve viewed him as a father figure. Again, there was talk of him being released after the Bright and Lucas situations from what I recall. I think the only way he survived those was JR. and to further your point he even said in this interview that he skipped offseason workouts his whole career here and told Marty to keep that money from his next deal but he wasn’t coming because he had his own trainer. We NEVER heard any of that during his career. And tbh, Steve always struck me as a guy that picked on people he knew he could take advantage of. Which is another thing I always viewed as a trait most closely associated with sociopaths. And if he thought he couldn’t take someone, he would catch them when they didn’t expect it, like with Lucas. He’s a bully. Period.

Prepare yourselves for a mid-week novel: I’ve shared before, Steve was my favorite player and I met him at the caravan tour at Ft. Bragg in 05, I believe it was… I had got off work, got dressed and drove on to the base (I’m originally from Fayetteville, born and raised and lived right outside of the city then), waited in a long line out in the sun while the players were under the tent. No lie, the line was probably a solid 100 ft from the tent, and the signings weren’t necessarily quick. It was Rod Smart, Colin Branch, and Steve. There was a 4th player, but I can’t really remember who it was now. Anyway, Rod and Steve were the only ones I really cared about getting autographs from. I was about 21, so still a little green in some ways, but as I said, being from Fayetteville, I was naturally street smart and observant, which in hindsight was part of what made me love Steve as a player - he was an underdog, a guy from a rough environment with a ton of heart and he wore it on his sleeve - I saw him as the NFL version of guys like me in everyday life… guys who had to scrape and scrap just to get considered even with people who had poo given to them. And not to go Al Bundy, but when I played sports, I played the same way. Like a Steve Smith, an Allen Iverson… 100 miles an hour every play. I surprised people with my quickness, my violence, my physicality. I played angry and with reckless abandon. But, I also related because I was never given anything. I always had to fight, and my upbringing was also rough. So, meeting him was more than just a fan interaction for me, it was like a genuine putting a real face to a hero. But, as the old saying goes, never meet your heroes… So, back to it… I get off work, middle of summer, I’m waiting in the hot sun, I finally get right up to the tent and some PR person comes up as I’m the next person up to walk to the table and they ask Steve to come over and do something with some kids for a minute. I step out of the line. I can’t remember if they also asked one of the other guys to do something, so there was only like two players out of the four, so I figured I’d wait. I think he tossed a ball around with the kids for a minute or something, but again, you could tell it was very structured to look a certain way. I’m paying attention to it because I kind of feel like if Steve isn’t at the tent, I don’t even know if I feel like getting in the line again. So after probably like 15-30 more minutes of waiting in the heat, it looks like the PR/media people are telling him he has to go back to the tent. I think he had walked in like a camper or something, comes back out and a security guy is escorting him over to the signing table. And again, at 21, I’m not familiar with how these events work. I assume you can interact or talk with them at anytime your paths may cross, because that’s why they’re here, right? So, I’m like, man, I already waited all this time, and I sat in the line the first go round and they had him leave right as I was coming up, so I’ll just see if I can get him to sign it before he sits down at the table. Mind you, I didn’t bring anything like a scalper or memorabilia guy… I just showed up for the experience. They handed us like a team photo and if you didn’t bring your own stuff, that’s what they signed. So, the security guy is escorting him over to the table, I walk up, and mind you, again, as a street smart kid, I am mindful of my approach. I don’t present myself as a threat, I am very laid back, not pressed at all, and I project myself as a well-meaning, good-intentioned 21 year old kid. I walk up in a way that they see me approaching from diagonally in front of them - no weird, creepy poo… and I say, “hey Steve! I just waited in the line before you had to go off and just missed you. Do I have to wait in line again to have you sign this [the team photo]?” I look him in the eyes. And at this point, I have also observed, Steve is about an inch or two shorter than me, but his forearms are the size of most people’s calves, and his calves the size of most people’s quads. Dude is stocky as hell. At that time, I was sub-10% body fat, about 155 lbs, at 5’10”. I wasn’t into weights then, so again, non-threatening. Steve looks me in my face. I continue to walk alongside of him. We continue to occasionally make eye contact as we’re walking and I’m waiting for an answer. I don’t recall asking again, but am still waiting. His whole body language shifts. He looks up and looks straight through me. If you’ve ever seen someone look at you with ZERO humanity or respect for your life (usually if you were in a dangerous situation), that was exactly how Steve looked at me. I felt I was a threat to him and he was on the defensive. I continued to walk beside them for what was a just a few steps and seconds, again, nothing weird like I didn’t catch a hint or anything, but it felt like an eternity of awkward silence and uncomfortability. It became so unnerving in just that few short seconds, while me and Steve were essentially sizing each other up, the security guy I could tell started feeling the tension. He kept looking at Steve. Then me. Then Steve. Then me again. Then Steve, with a “damn, aren’t you gonna fuging answer him or at least acknowledge him?” kind of look. And that was the thing that was so disrespectful, is Steve besides looking like he wanted to murder me, he never said a fuging word. I think after shooting me that look, he essentially just looked away and kept walking. Didn’t say a word. The security guy felt super uncomfortable and kind of stepped between us and was hurriedly and nervously stammering, “uhhh…. Uhhh…. Ye- yea- Uhhh, yeah, man! You got to get in line. Go back and get in line.” I was just like, “Ahh, okay, cool.” Went back in line. At this point, I’m replaying the whole interaction. I almost wanted to leave without even getting anything signed. I was bothered, disappointed, irritated, in a bit of disbelief, and honestly, pissed off. Like, bro, I look up to you. You’re a couple years older than me. I didn’t do anything weird or creepy. I’m a real dude. I just came out of appreciation and support and you treated me like absolute poo on the bottom of your shoe. So then, all my thoughts are like, “fug him. Who the fug does he think he is?” And I don’t have any illusions, especially at that place in my life physically, he would’ve absolutely whooped my ass. But I ain’t no bitch and never have been. If it came down to it, imma get my shots in even if I get my ass whooped. That was always my mentality. If I’m gonna go out, I’m gonna go out fighting. So I’m thinking through all of this… like I was just trying to be nice and you just disrespected me, and because of the structure of things, I had to let it slide. And to be honest, I stand on business when needed, but I’m also not a confrontational guy. I prefer the path of least resistance, but I don’t tolerate disrespect. So again, processing all of this, I’m just ping-ponging my own thoughts like, “I should just leave, fug him. He ain’t nobody. Who tf does he think he is?” versus, “Well, maybe did I approach wrong? How would I feel if I was him? Let me remove emotion from this and what does it look like. Actually, you know what? Be the bigger person and go through the line again and show him you meant no harm and you’re a good dude. You can redeem this interaction.” So, ultimately I went with the latter. I saw Steve interact with all of the people ahead of me, and I will say, he was fantastic with all of the kids. And I saw even a few of the men, he laughed with and had some seemingly genuine exchanges, so I’m thinking it was just that he didn’t want to be approached outside of that setting… okay, cool. So, I’ll just put my best foot forward and we’ll salvage this day. I finally get up to him at the tent and I ask, “how’s the leg Steve? [this was before the 2005 season, after he had broke his leg/ankle against the packers the year before]”. He signs the photo and without even looking up is just like, “Yeah it’s good.” Short as hell. I was like, “Great to hear, man! I appreciate you and hope you have a great season!” He just says thanks, again, without ever looking and onto the next person. Every response was short as hell and cold as ice. Dude was a certified dickhead. After the whole thing, ultimately, I felt bad for going. I really wished I hadn’t. I now had a completely different image of Steve, and not that he cared, but him at the time being a hero of mine, it shattered all of that. I probably thought about that interaction the whole drive home and actually regretted not only going, but that I even went back in the line and waited to still have the brief interaction and signing - because again, growing up in the environment I did, if it’s fug me then it’s fug you. Hero or not, you ain’t poo to me either once I know what the energy is. But I have always tried to default on being the bigger person, but that poo doesn’t always feel good. So, really I was just kind of like, “damn, that poo sucked.” That was the overall feeling I had. He just seemed unjustifiably unhinged and on some real psycho poo. So, after that point, I still was a fan of the player and the way he played the game, and always found him entertaining, but thought he was just a real shitty human being. Sometimes, because of what he projected with certain things, like I remember E60 did some piece on his faith and him washing the feet of the homeless and they interviewed his wife and tried to frame it as some redemptive thing… I would always look at it as fluff. Because I could still see who he was. I would think to myself, “ain’t no way he’s this stand-up, faithful guy, family man.” Because just like he says he is, I also come from a rough background, and as a result, I study people. I observe them. I watch behaviors and patterns. Irregularities. Ticks. Their approaches and reactions. And some poo is embedded at a core level for people. I’m not God, so at the end of the day, who he is or isn’t is between him and God. But, I just knew he was a selfish, asshole of a person - that was embedded in his core. I saw it that day. But to be fair, also as I’ve gotten older, I realize people are a product of their environment and experiences. So, some people develop certain behaviors and mechanisms out of survival, be it physical or mental. And he, like I have, did just that, and it’s shaped much of his life, good and bad. So, on one hand, I get it. But, outside of someone posing a threat to me, I could never see myself treating people that way. I also could never see myself having my fragile feelings so hurt that I punch a teammate and break his eye socket for asking to see a play I failed on. I also couldn’t see myself punching a man from behind him while he is unaware and on a knee. I also couldn’t see myself cheating on my wife (and kids) for a cum dumpster and then acting with zero remorse after. Even as protective as he acted of his wife and her reputation throughout his career, I saw through that poo. He almost fought Michael Irvin on a NFL Network broadcast for insulting the suit his wife picked out for him. If she mattered that much to you, you wouldn’t have been rawdogging a skeezer that apparently most of Baltimore had had before you. So, if you ask me - and who tf am I? Steve is a dick. Straight up. He’s not a good dude. He might have some good moments, but you can tell a lot by someone’s actions, not their words. Even in that interview, Chan calls Jake trash and all Steve said was, “He got me paid.” He didn’t honor him, appreciate him, take up for him, even with a guy that he admitted he had bad blood with for almost a decade. You just let them poo on the QB that got you the triple crown and most of your hall of fame stats. And then laughed about it. By the way, he still works with Jake when he does Panthers preseason. He has to look at that guy and be around him. He just illustrated that Jake, and everyone else, is a means to an end. What can he get out of people? What can people do for him? That’s the point for Steve. And for all the talk about therapy, he still says stuff like that bullshit about if you beat someone up, just because they lost, they say it’s unfair afterwards and he cheap shotted them. That’s some sweet revisionist history because we know for a fact that he cheapshotted Lucas. It was reported on and even photographed. And by all reports of the Anthony Bright attack, he also cheapshotted him. There was even talk that the Panthers might release him for his actions. And iirc, didn’t he settle a suit with Bright? He also said something to the effect of how the 4 of them (him plus the pivot guys) made it to the level they did, and anyone’s criticism of him that hasn’t made it to that point or done what he’s done didn’t matter, because basically non-athletes are less than. All of that paints a very full picture. And even them joking at the end where he says he might get Chan and say he was in his house and it was self-defense - which also came off a little clunky and unsettling, because he also said he’s familiar with his house, and Chan isn’t… I got the feeling that also alluded to guns. And Chan, like I did when meeting Steve, laughs it off and plays the bigger person role… Steve laughed, but he ain’t joking. He also made an allusion earlier in the interview that “you might be my neighbor, but if you come knocking and asking ‘what’s going on?’ You ain’t gonna like the person that’s answering the door and what they have in their hand,” which I’m assuming he means a gun. You’re 46 years old and alluding to pulling a gun on someone who presents as a concerned, even if nosy, individual. You can handle that without a gun and eliminate it being a problem moving forward, so why reference that? I also am old school and default to “mind your business.” But that’s unsettling. I’m not gonna lie, Steve does not seem happy like he says. He does not seem matured or healed. He does not seem changed. He still comes off as narcissistic, selfish, and at times, unhinged. He has brief moments of humanity. But again, even in describing his interactions with teammates he fought, there is ZERO accountability. In talking about his affair, he takes zero accountability in facing what he did - he won’t talk about it or explain it because he says he doesn’t owe it to anyone. He says, “I was wrong,” and that’s it. That’s not taking ownership or accountability, it’s lip service. He goes onto say the only thing he regrets about it is how it affected his kids. The same wife he cared for all those years publicly, now doesn’t mean poo? You don’t care how it hurt her or affected her or turned her life upside down or humiliated her? That’s some sociopathic poo. Again, Steve is entertaining, and I pray he finds peace and healing, but after watching that whole interview, I am concerned his story will not have a happy ending. He is not well.

I love Ocho. Seems like a genuinely good dude and loved what he brought to the game. FWIW, I asked him if he thought Bryce Young was the real deal during a instagram live during Bryce’s rookie year (because obviously Bryce was not looking very good), and he said he believed in Bryce and he was gonna be great, to give it time.

It’s interesting bc I had started getting these videos popping up on my Facebook feed like Saturday from these guys, I think they’re with nbc sports, but they’re supposed to be knowledgeable guys who break down film and the first video I saw was them pretty much trashing our receiving corps and one of the things they said about TMac was that he only lines up at X. Welp…