04/19/24
January 29, 2003
The sad, sad saga : of Barret Robbins is coming to light as more info becomes available. The All-Pro center was booted off the Raiders team less than 24 hours before kickoff of the Super Bowl. The intial reason? He had missed a team meeting due to drinking in a bar in Tijuana before the game. But this story seems more Alonzo Spellman than Eugene Robinson. Hopefully Robbins will get the help he needs, although it probably won't come from his teammates.
Actually, when those comments were made, the teammates apparently weren't aware of the condition Robbins was in. They likely just figured he ventured off to get boozed up before the biggest game of his life... In hindsight, what was said seems pretty heartless, but at the time, before all the facts came out, they were made of frustration and anger.
posted by bcb2k2 at 10:12 AM on January 29, 2003
Sounds like the guy’s got a history of depression and bad decision-making. I don’t want to downplay his personal pain, but it sounds like he just cracked under pressure, and anyone who gets that drunk the day before the biggest game of his life isn’t the kind of guy you want on your team. I’d feel a lot worse for him if he wasn’t a professional athlete. They’ve got all sorts of programs in place to help athletes with “personal issues”. Maybe it’s a heartless attitude, but as it is, I’m having a hard time feeling bad for him. Off-topic: I love that Cartier Dise is a San Leandro businessman who owns and operates a vehicle-customizing business, Down Low Customs, that sells chrome accessories for cars and SUVs. I especially like that he also goes by the name "Network." You can’t make this stuff up.
posted by Samsonov14 at 10:25 AM on January 29, 2003
From the first article: "Repeated calls to Robbins' home were not returned." Oh, fuck off already! Leave the dude alone. Thanks for the post, vito. You did well.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:46 AM on January 29, 2003
samsonov: If this stuff is true, then I do feel sorry for him. Even with support programs in place, there's a stigma in professional sports regarding depression. I'm thinking Leon Smith in the NBA or even Ricky Williams in the NFL. I'm not sure the machismo and we're-going-to-war mentality of the NFL is that accommodating if you deviate from being one of the guys. Most of the guys on the Raiders, from their comments, would probably characterize his actions, like you, as 'cracking under pressure' when it's at least partially chemical.
posted by waterbedk at 11:32 AM on January 29, 2003
Mental illness is not a moral failing, but it is frequently viewed that way, particularly in Sportsworld. Robbins sounds like a mess, but he must be a remarkable individual to be able to perform at that level notwithstanding his inner demons. It also seems to me that if the Raiders knew about his problem, they were obliged to provide him with more help than they did. This man needed something more than a bedcheck-- if his problem had been something physical, they would have provided the necessary medical attention.
posted by outside counsel at 11:52 AM on January 29, 2003
Okay, maybe someone should have stepped in to help him out, but ultimately he is the one responsible for finding help and cleaning up his life. I used to work with dually-diagnosed mentally ill people in Boston (mostly schizophrenics, but also two bipolars), and one of the central tenets of the program I was in was that even the mentally ill (who in this case were coming out of a state hospital and into temporary group housing) are the authors of their own fate. It’s often very hard for regular people to find help, but professional sports leagues have programs in place to deal with drug addiction, depression, etc. He’s got to have the balls to get himself some help. Mental illnesses are terrible, but you can’t blame everything on them. Let’s put it this way: If you get shitfaced on a Wednesday night and skip work on Thursday as a result, you can’t just tell your boss “Oh, my bad – Alcoholism, you know”. It might be the truth, and may have been a factor in what happened, but it doesn’t mean that you’re not a dick for missing work, especially if you have some sort of support program set up at your firm.
posted by Samsonov14 at 12:25 PM on January 29, 2003
Also, I do not think it helped having his team mates making some rather questionable statements when it seemed like they knew his condition didn't help.