tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

Why Trash Sweetness??

All over the internet today there are reports about the release of a book by Jeff Pearlman called: "Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton." An excerpt of the book will appear in the October 3rd edition of Sports Illustrated. I have not received my October 3rd edition of SI. All I have read are excerpts of the book that have appeared on the internet. The excerpts deal with Payton's drug use, suicidal tendencies and cheating on his wife. Twelve years since the man has died this book will be released and I ask the question, WHY???

I'm not sure what the purpose of the book is other than to try to make Pearlman some money. Do those who are Bears fans and fans of this great running back need to know all the gory details reportedly in the book?? Does the Payton family need to have all of this out there for the world to see??? In this day and age, I think we have all come to understand that our heroes may have feet of clay. With that being said I ask once again, what is the purpose of this book???

Based upon the excerpts I read, this book tells me that Walter Payton was a human being. It also tells me that the world of professional football is a violent and dangerous one. A world that drives players to play with pain for fear of being called a wuss and if that means shooting yourself up with drugs so be it. It's also a world that once you are no longer playing, you are cast aside to deal with the pain, the drugs and the realization that the dream is over.

My understanding of Payton was that he was guy who was a great teammate, great with the fans and did a lot of charity work. What demons he had inside he dealt with while he was alive. But the man is no longer with us and those demons died with him. If there is anything good that is to come out of this book its that the NFL needs to examine how they treat their players both when active and when they retire. Last January you had players calling out Jay Cutler for leaving the NFC Championship due to injury. His manhood was being questioned. Two weeks ago you had Tony Romo going out and playing with broken ribs and a punctured lung and he was called a warrior. Maybe he should have been called stupid and the Dallas Cowboys should have been called out for endangering Romo's career and more importantly his health. Somehow though I think it is highly unlikely that the NFL will take this as a call for greater player safety. Instead Pearlman will make some money, the NFL will applaud its "warriors" who play with pain and Sweetness gets trashed. Welcome to America 2011.