Willie Anderson speaks about Plaxico and role models

All to often we hear about the athletes in bad way.  We hear about despicable actions like dog fighting (Michael Vick), poor judgment like DUI manslaughter (Donte' Stallworth), and just plain old stupidity like shooting yourself in a nightclub with an illegal gun that was tucked away in the waistline of your sweat pants. (Plaxico Burress)  But thankfully, every once in a while we do get a reminder that not all of these people take their position and money for granted.

When the news broke about Plaxico's sentence earlier today, twitter once again exploded with emotion, comments, and questions.  (Tweet roundup coming soon) Among the very first athletes to comment was 13 year NFL veteran Willie Anderson.  Out of all of the folks I follow he was actually the first to report the news.

Plaxico Burress gets 2 years in prison! Damn!

He reports the facts as he understands them in his next series of tweets.  You can almost feel him building momentum as he starts to break it all down for us.

Wow! Report just came out that his lawyers had it down to 3 months jail time, but he didn't wanna go to jail. Wanted to talk to Grand Jury! Wow!

That's crazy! Their saying he though he could talk to Grand Jury himself! With no Lawyer! That's crazy as hell! Why? He was guilty. Is that his lawyer's fault?

Is that his lawyers fault? He wanted to go talk to Grand Jury by himself! That's a tragic mistake!

I'm not exactly sure he has all of the facts straight but that's not the issue here.  What it boils down to is that Plaxico Burress pled guilty (surprising a few) to a weapons charge and received a two year prison sentence for it.  (Then he gets another two years of supervised release)

What it boils down to though, is a simple thought process that many people can learn to follow.  It really isn't that difficult as Willie explains.

That's why I aways tell kids. If you just think and ask yourself b4 a decison "Is this right?" You'll have a better chance to stay out of trouble

Some people may need to have it drilled into them.

Tell your kids to THINK THINK THINK! Show them that it takes one bad move to kill a lifetime of work!

Whether it be parents, teachers, or athletes Willie begs for people to step up, lead by example, and take control of our youth.  He asks people to not blame those in the spotlight for all of the problems.  It's everyone's responsibility.

I agree with everybody on some comments about us athletes and entertainers but a lot more regular young men need our help

Don't just focus your time on Athletes and Entertainers. What are you doing to save or impact some kid that you know life?

You don't have to famous or have money to be a role model! Look at yourself and ask what have I done to help a kid's life.

Even though I'm an athlete I ask you " not to focus your time on athletes, singers, rappers etc" help some kids. Focus on them.

All great messages that everyone needs to think about.  We need to remember that as many athletes do bad things, there are just as many doing good.  We only hear about the bad, the sensationalized, the ones that are easy to pick on and we can call failures quickly.  Athletes, actors, entertainers, people in the spotlight are just a cross section of our society.  Yeah, they have more money so we expect them to behave better/smarter than everyone else, but they are human.  Look around you and see who you can help.

I'm out heading to my 1st workout. I'm serious about our youth. That's my heart man! Some of them have no chance!

Thank you Willie!  Keep putting a positive message out there and don't make me regret not being sarcastic for once.

Share This