See, the problem with a straight comparison is that a Black guy could never go through life that careless and free, so the types of brothas who do party hardy are the brothas who just have to in their mind say, "fukk Whitey and his hypocritical bullshyt", like say . . Pacman Jones, Ocho Cinco, T.O., Moss, and dudes like that and America has a big problem with brothas who refuse to know their place and live in fear of the media and the police.
So, if Gronk was Black, this country would've found a way to criminalize his good time. Meaning the media would've found a way to connect him to gangbangers, drug dealers, prostitutes, pimps, etc. . .all in an attempt to make him look bad. God forbid he's at a party where some shyt jumps off, you'd better believe he'd be the one getting blamed for it.
"Black Gronk" would have a few arrests, because society wouldn't let a Black man walk around that free without finding some bullshyt to get him on.
If he was hanging out with pornstars with NO attempts to cover it up at all and her taking pictures in his jersey, you would've seen Stephen A., Wilbon, Terence Moore, and all the old Black "responsibility" police calling him a "bad" role model for kids and saying that the Patriots should discipline and fine him and that he should be suspended.
If he was bragging about not reading books, they would've castigated him for again being a bad role model for "inner city" kids
All this would add up to what we see everyday in supremely talented, but maligned Black athletes.
Hell, they probably would've tried to connect him to Aaron Hernandez in someway if he was Black or at least implied that he should "tone it down" in the post-Hernandez era.
It's a sports board issue. . . . This is a sports board, right?
No, he wasn't Barkley was hated in the mid '90s for the most part. Remember when he said he "hated White people"? Remember when he spit on the little girl? Remember when he threw the guy through the plate glass window?
Charles Barkley was definitely not "beloved" in the '90s.
Marshawn doesn't win? Last time I checked, Marshawn Lynch won the Super Bowl last year, plays on a perennial Super Bowl contender. Richard Sherman too. These dudes are just as successful as Gronk are. Hell, Sherman's an even better example than Lynch is. All Sherman did was run his mouth a little after a football game and everybody called him a "thug" and made him out to be the worst dude of all-times, even though he's never been in any trouble with the law or done anything but be a level headed cool ass cat.
Sherman after that Erin Andrews interview was more maligned and slandered in spite of his talent and character, than Gronk has in all the years that he's been a "lovable" buffoon.
Exactly, these same White people let their kids play on baseball fields named after the fattest, most degenerative, woman abusing drunk who ever played the sport, but then wanna whine about fukking Richard Sherman and T.O. and Barry Bonds and shyt.
Now, imagine of Babe Ruth was Black, now THAT would be some real shyt.
Disagree. His pass started AFTER he came out as a Republican, and started hanging out with Clarence Thomas and shyt. Barkley was hated throughout the early and mid '90s. He was the guy who spit on a girl, thew a guy out a window, and forced Philly to trade him.
He was the embodiment of the "whiny, self-entitled, ungrateful" athlete in the early mid '90s.
Shaq and Dwight are nowhere near that
When have you ever seen Shaq or Dwight drunk and hanging out with pornstars?
They're both goofballs, but they're mostly PG-13 goofballs. Hell, Dwight was presented as super religious for the first half of his career, remember? When did they get to get away with the crazy partying, drunken bufoonery, and promiscuity with pornstars and shyt?
And the thing is Gronk doesn't APOLOGIZE for any of that. Gronk is who he is, which is cool with me. I like that, but if he was Black and that defiant inspite of what he's doing, he'd be vilified.
I think it's you who needs to ask yourself that question. The media has vilified Black athletes for all kinds of shyt that has nothing to do with what is criminal or against the rules of the game under the idea that they are "role models"
EXACTLY!!!!
They hated Ocho for DANCING. . . . That's it.
Ocho was never in any real trouble back when he was in Cincinatti. His career didn't fall apart until New England ruined him, but they made him out to be the worst guy ever because he celebrated on the field and changed his name to "Ocho Cinco".
No he wasn't. The media was all up his ass in the early-mid '90s when he was young.
When he got caught with the gun, when he married himself, when he started coloring his hair, when he started getting tattoos.
Hell, he played on the "Bad Boys" in Detroit. They were ALL considered thugs, even the White dude Laimbeer. How old are you dude?
When he got ran out of San Antonio by David Robinson and Avery Johnson for not being a Christian good boy, who do you think they blamed for that?
When he kicked the camera man and headbutted the referee when he was in Chicago, how do you think the media treated him?
Dennis Rodman was the most hated dude in sports UNTIL guys like Allen Iverson, Randy Moss, and T.O. came out.
A drunken, porn star fukking, drunk wouldn't be ABLE to be "buddy-buddy" with the media. THAT's the point.
If Gronk was Black, he would've spent the last 7 years being slandered by media types examining every part of his life, looking to vilify him and criminalize him, so he wouldn't WANT to have a good relationship with the press.
Yeah, of course he can be nice to them, they're relatively nice to him and even when they do criticize him, they don't turn him into a "thug" or a criminal. They don't slander his family members or friends or constantly ask him to be a "role model" for everybody's children.
