Scarlett Fluff Piece via The Herald (by Marcel Loius-Jacques)

[top dawg]

Jordan Scarlett has said and done all the right things to get himself an opportunity to play pro football after messing up in college. Being "the one guy" out of several that actually went through the struggle to earn his way back on the filed at Florida speaks volumes. The fact that a couple of coaches and others in the Florida program even thought enough of him to let him stick around and work things out may say even more. But Scarlett is going to have to speak even louder now that he's in Charlotte. 

 

"Scarlett added $1,940 to his girlfriend’s UF bookstore account in 2017, using stolen credit card information. Per the Gainesville Sun, he admitted to investigators that he used the information to buy computer equipment 'because he thought he could get away with it.'

"He didn’t. McElwain, then the Florida coach, suspended Scarlett, along with eight other players, for what amounted to the entire 2017 season. Rather than remove him from the team outright, McElwain gave the running back an opportunity to earn his redemption.

“'He just wanted to see if I was going to be one of those guys that quit or if I was going to continue to work,' Scarlett said. 'I always stayed working out and kept my head in that gameplan.

“'I stuck around because I felt like I had something to prove. I had to clean up my name, for one, and two, I had to prove to Gator fans that I really cared about the program. It was more of a thing for me to show everybody and show myself.'"

https://www.heraldonline.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article230805544.html

 

Everyone loves a good redemption story, fortunately for Jordan Scarlett. I hope that he has internalized the fact that his is not over and is still being written. He has surely proven a lot to the Gator program and fans, and now is his chance to finish it off with a satisfying ending, as a little thunder to McCaffrey's lightning. 

[rayzor]

Quote

“It’s not the note you play that’s the wrong note – it’s the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong.” 
—Miles Davis

“There’s no such thing as a wrong note.”
–Art Tatum

These two quotes above have a lot of truth about life, imo. There are times that we all do really dumb things. We should face the consequences for those actions, but we shouldn't let our growth as humans stop there. Sometimes those moments become starting points and we choose a road to go down. One road says that moment defines who I am and I'm going to just keep following it because the world around me tells me that's just who I am.

The other road knows that the world around them telling them that that's just the way I am is a bunch of liars and I'm not going to let that moment define who I am. You take a different path towards becoming better than that.

The sucky thing about the world now is that because of social media and the permanancy of the internet, people won't let the past stay in the past if you've left that bad moment behind you and you've evolved into something better than that. The world doesn't believe it can happen. 

It makes it an almost impossible road to take. But it can be taken and I like stories like Scarlett who takes  better road and keeps fighting to prove to himself and the world that the person who did that dumb thing isn't there anymore, he got left behind at the fork in the road.

I'm glad he's got this chance and I hope he excels.

[mc52beast]

Hope it works out for him. Would be nice to have a second back who can produce when it counts and not just the preseason

[top dawg]

1 hour ago, rayzor said:

These two quotes above have a lot of truth about life, imo. There are times that we all do really dumb things. We should face the consequences for those actions, but we shouldn't let our growth as humans stop there. Sometimes those moments become starting points and we choose a road to go down. One road says that moment defines who I am and I'm going to just keep following it because the world around me tells me that's just who I am.

The other road knows that the world around them telling them that that's just the way I am is a bunch of liars and I'm not going to let that moment define who I am. You take a different path towards becoming better than that.

The sucky thing about the world now is that because of social media and the permanancy of the internet, people won't let the past stay in the past if you've left that bad moment behind you and you've evolved into something better than that. The world doesn't believe it can happen. 

It makes it an almost impossible road to take. But it can be taken and I like stories like Scarlett who takes  better road and keeps fighting to prove to himself and the world that the person who did that dumb thing isn't there anymore, he got left behind at the fork in the road.

I'm glad he's got this chance and I hope he excels.

I'll drink to that!

I think that it's a good point about the Internet and social media. I have somewhat mixed feelings about it though. I basically see the digital world as a tool for good and bad. It's interesting though. Like a lot of "news," it seems like the bad sometimes far outweighs the good (because that's what media focuses on, maybe because that's what captivates people's attention the most, I don't know). But I would like to think that stories like Scarlett's are indicative of the belief that there are still plenty of thoughtful, understanding and forgiving people in the world, willing to genuinely give others---especially the young and dumb (yes, we've all been even there)---a second chance. 

One person I thought of when reading the article was Cam. Though some may say that knowingly being in possession of a stolen PC is not as bad, I certainly think that there are some similar facets between that and using a stolen credit card. Fundamentally good kids (or even mature adults) do stupid things sometimes. I think that the wisest people take each situation on a case by case basis, without painting every kid with a broad brush. Hurney obviously feels the same way. Scarlett has the perfect role model in Cam.

[Lumps]

7 hours ago, rayzor said:

These two quotes above have a lot of truth about life, imo. There are times that we all do really dumb things. We should face the consequences for those actions, but we shouldn't let our growth as humans stop there. Sometimes those moments become starting points and we choose a road to go down. One road says that moment defines who I am and I'm going to just keep following it because the world around me tells me that's just who I am.

The other road knows that the world around them telling them that that's just the way I am is a bunch of liars and I'm not going to let that moment define who I am. You take a different path towards becoming better than that.

The sucky thing about the world now is that because of social media and the permanancy of the internet, people won't let the past stay in the past if you've left that bad moment behind you and you've evolved into something better than that. The world doesn't believe it can happen. 

It makes it an almost impossible road to take. But it can be taken and I like stories like Scarlett who takes  better road and keeps fighting to prove to himself and the world that the person who did that dumb thing isn't there anymore, he got left behind at the fork in the road.

I'm glad he's got this chance and I hope he excels.

I agree and I am in no way downplaying what he did. Seems to me there’s a big difference in individuals who could say yea but it was for this or that reason. It was for good motives. And other who’d say, I did it, it was wrong and I understand now why. Understand, as a domino effect, it caused more damage that I may know and it wasn’t the right choice and I plan to prove I’ve learned from it and do better going forward.

A change in the pattern of thinking is most important. And it seems he’s at least saying the right things.

[ladypanther]

Very good article and very good posts so far here.  I do not think the article deserved to be called a  fluff piece.

[top dawg]

19 minutes ago, ladypanther said:

Very good article and very good posts so far here.  I do not think the article deserved to be called a  fluff piece.

Point taken. But you know, I'm kind of an old school taskmaster regarding certain things. With all due respect to him (and you), I'll just say that for me, what Scarlett does in the future---perhaps off the field, more than on---will determine whether this article is more about cotton candy, or fully about meat. 

[Black&BlueBubba]

 I’m glad that we are loosening the standards a little bit.  This kid would have never been drafted under JR.  don’t get me wrong, I don’t want any wife beaters.  But a young kid who makes a stupid mistake and then puts his time in to make up for it is fine by me.  It’s football. Not a Nobel peace prize.  

I hope he has learned from his mistakes as a young youth and can bring some juice to our backfield to spell CMC a bit.

I do love how hard he runs.  

[MHS831]

This is pretty close to Cam II.  Apparently, UF and computer technology are lethal mixes.

[Pejorative Miscreant]

On 5/26/2019 at 10:22 PM, Black&BlueBubba said:

 But a young kid who makes a stupid mistake and then puts his time in to make up for it is fine by me.

 

Totally agree with this.  Lots of kids do really stupid stuff and while it’s serious and they should face consequences, I don’t believe things like this should end a career before it begins.  

He’s got an opportunity here.  Hope it works out for the young man.