Tim Graham article on Aaron Maybin

[bbb]

I'll say, as one who has made some negative comments - and really hated him with the Bills, that I am really glad that he's not another story of the athlete who blows all his money. I'm glad he's doing well.

I just don't like the guy, though.

[Doc]

I'm a little surprised at the AM hateration. It was interesting to see initial responses in favor of the article and with folks happy for where he is now. Then, as the thread went along, the negative comments started to predominate. I'm not sure if they were reactionary but it was an interesting observation.

 

I remember when AM lost his child and I was shocked at how negative fans were at the time but I now realize they probably didn't know. The media didn't give it much coverage and we were in a nascent (or pre) twitter era back then.

 

For you AM haters, no need for such myopic binary judgments against the man. Sure, he didn't live up to his potential and he may have impregnated two women at the same time (dumb), but he was also treated terribly/cheaply by the organization during his signing. Getting him signed wasn't rocket science and the subsequent Spiller holdout only reinforces how inept Bills management was (and to use his career productivity after the fact to support the organization's tactics is disingenuous).

 

As for the 40 million dollar slave painting, my God people, open your minds. He didn't call it the "slave painting." It has the words 40 and million in the title. He says the painting will provoke conversation so win for him. The title is ironic in that you can be given money but be enslaved in different ways to corporate interests, societal expectations, what you do on the field, privacy, to the money itself, or other such things. It can be a mental enslavement, an emotional enslavement, or a physical enslavement. The word has much larger meanings when viewed in greater contexts.

 

And can we please stop with the "I work hard and don't make millions so he shouldn't complain" argument? Very few people on planet earth can do what professional athletes do. I really wish I could but my talents are not as relatively elite within the world population as a pro athlete's are. As such, my compensation will reflect that. I'm more easily replaceable than an NFL linebacker. It's supply and demand folks. Unless you want to impart some form of engineered socialism where society compensates on a value added basis, don't complain.

 

If someone is worth, say 100 million, on an open market, he'd be a fool to settle for 50 million simply because his hard working neighbor makes 50k.

 

That said, I don't condone the pot and wasn't overly impressed with the technical part or his work (I'm no expert). The real meaning behind the art is what's important.

 

The "slavery" thing is what got me. So did all the excuse-making instead of admitting that he just wasn't good enough to make it in the NFL, not just with the Bills who allegedly treated him so poorly, but the Jets who apparently treated him great...until they also cut him. I don't blame him for duping the Bills into over-drafting him because that's on them.

[billsfan89]

Maybin was just not an NFL talent. Knew he was going to be a bust right away. Good to hear he is doing well.