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The Tufts Daily
Where you read it first | Thursday, March 28, 2024

Gideon Jacobs | The Pooch Punter

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They run routes with Sharpies in their socks, "Cheddar Bob" themselves in nightclubs and overdose on sleeping pills. They are the instigators of the most NFL scandals, are the biggest trash talkers in the league, and rarely survive more than a few years with a franchise before getting the boot. They are the modern-day NFL wide receivers -- a position unlike any other in the sports world.

Sure, not all wideouts are emotionally unstable, loudmouth children, but it's hard not to notice that the position often draws some of the game's biggest personalities. From Michael Irvin to Chad Johnson to Terrell Owens to Randy Moss, the NFL wide receiver has become a stereotype -- the butt of a silly joke.

The question I find myself asking is, how and why has this happened? What is it about this single position on the football field that attracts personalities like this? Or, the better question: What is it about the nature of the position that turns these men into troublemaking children?

Wide receiver is the most volatile and vulnerable position on the gridiron. The other two skill positions are pretty much guaranteed some productivity every game. No matter how good a defense is or how bad the weather is at game time, a quarterback gets to touch the ball every down. Every week, he knows he is going to at least have the opportunity to put up big numbers because he relies on no one for his touches.

The starting running back is in a similar boat. Sure, he relies heavily on his offensive line, but his destiny and, more important for the football ego, his numbers are in his own hands. If he makes a play, his numbers will reflect that.

But this isn't the case for the wide receiver, and that's what makes the position unique. The league's top receivers enter every game with people expecting big numbers out of them, but their production is completely reliant on other factors. Their numbers are in the hands of the guy throwing them the ball and the nature of the coverage. They can blow by a cornerback five times in a game and never see a touch. They can run a perfect route and be the victim of a terrible throw. They can see double coverage all day.

The wide receiver exists as a benefactor and rarely as the creator.

It's this lack of self-reliance that turns grown men into insane clubhouse cancers. Deep down, these players know that their numbers -- the thing that validates their abilities to the world and to themselves -- are extremely fragile. They know that their livelihoods -- the million-dollar mansions and luxury cars that they've become so accustomed to -- are a result of not just their athletic abilities but also sheer good fortune. And this creates a 14-year-old girl level of insecurity among them that manifests itself in total insanity. It manifests itself in the over-the-top end zone celebrations and all the rest of the charades.

These star NFL wideouts seem like subjects of a ridiculous psych study: Place a group of young men who often come from impoverished backgrounds into a situation where they can make millions of dollars depending on the level of their success. Now, let these men, who generally possess laughably large egos, quickly realize that the success they achieve is mostly out of their control. It's a recipe for disaster.

And disaster is oftentimes exactly what we see. I truly feel bad for Owens, Johnson and the rest. It must be terrifying to feel so much pressure to live up to the personas they've created for themselves and have so little control over their own success.

See, I don't judge the NFL wide receiver. I pity him.