Like the article says, "That's not really the issue. The issue is decision making. Players are coached up on every aspect of the combine, from how to run the 40 to how to answer every team's goofy questions. And one of the most basic things about the combine is that you're going to take a drug test. The combine is basically the most important job interview of these players' lives. It's an understatement to say it's a poor decision to do anything in the weeks leading up to the combine that would lead to a positive test. If you can't be trusted to handle something that basic, how are you going to deal with the NFL life?"
It's unfathomable, right up until the point where I look at everyday life in a job with an active union. With unions, you can be the biggest fukk up but as long as you're the right type of member you will not get fired. Embezzlement? Kill someone? no problem. The union will fix it, and you'll get paid for all that time you weren't at work while the mess you got yourself into was resolved.
These kids don't have a union, but it appears they have had access to a similar 'someone else will fix it for you' set up for most of their lives.
Or maybe they just don't care, and this is their way of rebelling against a life where every decision has been made for them by someone else.
APATHY is the DEVIL...
When you know the benefits of success and the consequences of failure, but still you are not motivated to make the most beneficial decision...And you have ABSOLUTELY no fear of the consequences of failure...
I am a physiotherapist only because I suffer from apathy...Somewhere in my brain, I wish I was a medical doctor in Sports Medicine...I know I have the brain and the ability to become a great doctor...
But I have an apathetic personality...I have spent weeks before exams watching TV Shows, posting on The Coli and making my beats of Fl Studio, instead of preparing for mid-terms and exams, and I felt ABSOLUTELY zero fear or urgency...I was NUMB and nonchalant...
If you don't have this problem, thank your lucky star...Because it is something that will hold you back for the rest of your life...
I have always been interested in this area because I work in a hospital and see it all the time...People come in the hospital and the healthcare team tells them "if you continue in this life style, you will die" and they yet they still wont change...
One client I have dealt with, was a diabetic who needed insulin, but he refused to inject insulin because of the needles, even though, he was not afraid of needles...he had blood drawn every morning and 80% of his body was covered in tattoos, and yet he couldn't be bothered to inject his insulin at the right the time...
Dude knew that without his insulin he would die, but he didn't want to die, and yet he would not follow the treatment...
It is fascinating...We tend to think that people will change when the stakes are high and/or their lives are on the line, but in my experience working in the hospital, I doubt that it is true...
People change when they are uncomfortable and are in real trouble, but when the trouble is over, slowly but surely they return to the same old behaviours, if left to their own devices...
