Former Players: Valued mentors or unhealthy distractions?

[Stymietee]

I recently found myself in a rather involved discussion on this topic and whether NFL teams should seek counsel for their current players from former citizen/standouts. There typically was no consensus reached but I thought that it might be interesting to gauge how others felt about this.

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Are you talking about advice and mentoring to the Team as a whole (like what direction a franchise should move towards, who they should draft, etc) or are you talking about for one particular player?

Here's my take

For a player:
Depends greatly on WHO the former player is, that's doing the mentoring.

As long as the former player was a stand up guy, team player, classy act, hard worker with proven football skills and had decent tenure in the NFL, I'm all for it.

Teams pair up rookies with current seasoned players all the time. Same benefit with a former player.

For a franchise:
Advice is fine from former players, but it's the front office who needs to be in charge and handle day to day business and future franchise direction.

 

[j_y19]

Absolutely. Someone that has lived in the trenches has much more credibility and understanding of what a current player is going through.

 

[Stymietee]

Absolutely. Someone that has lived in the trenches has much more credibility and understanding of what a current player is going through.

Let's say that things don't go particularly well for the team, isn't it typical for others to rail about unnecessary distractions and interference?

 

[j_y19]

Very typical. We all look for excuses when things aren't going well. I guess I'm not sure what you are referring to when you ask about prior players acting as mentors. I can't see how that hurts or would every be credibly questioned in times of trouble.

 

[skinsdad62]

i dont see how a true mentor is a distraction

 

[Stymietee]

i dont see how a true mentor is a distraction

WOW!! how soon we forget.......does anyone here remember the sound and fury surrounding RGIII's father and mentor when he visited his son after the SF game? Imagine that same crowd railing against former players/mentors if the season implodes again. Sort of a too many cooks type thing. This media is constantly looking for stories, especially ones that blame the owner for allowing such things during a losing streak.

To be fair the same media and fandom will call Mr. Allen a genius for the same idea if the team jells and goes on a winning streak.

 

[SoCalWizFan]

WOW!! how soon we forget.......does anyone here remember the sound and fury surrounding RGIII's father and mentor when he visited his son after the SF game? Imagine that same crowd railing against former players/mentors if the season implodes again. Sort of a too many cooks type thing. This media is constantly looking for stories, especially ones that blame the owner for allowing such things during a losing streak.

To be fair the same media and fandom will call Mr. Allen a genius for the same idea if the team jells and goes on a winning streak.

You are comparing apples to oranges. Perhaps we are missing your point. Please provide a specific example of how a player (not someone's relative or other non-player) would mentor the team or provide some advice (directly) & how that would be viewed as a negative.

Also - can't speak for anyone else, but I had no issue with RG3's dad or any of the other BS that the lame media threw out last season. The bottom line was the poor play on the field which was primarily the product of a lack of talent, RG3's health (which also somewhat prevented him from offseason work which would strengthen his game) & a poor coaching staff that basically mailed it in during the 2nd half of the season. All other factors are basically just drivel used by the media to fill air time.

Media distractions are a way of life & players & coaches just need to toughen up & ignore them as much as possible. I think that the Redskins are on their way to operating in this fashion & getting past their problems from last season. HTTR

 

[Kevin12773]

Are you talking about advice and mentoring to the Team as a whole (like what direction a franchise should move towards, who they should draft, etc) or are you talking about for one particular player?

Here's my take

For a player:
Depends greatly on WHO the former player is, that's doing the mentoring.

As long as the former player was a stand up guy, team player, classy act, hard worker with proven football skills and had decent tenure in the NFL, I'm all for it.

Teams pair up rookies with current seasoned players all the time. Same benefit with a former player.

For a franchise:
Advice is fine from former players, but it's the front office who needs to be in charge and handle day to day business and future franchise direction.

Art Monk/Darrell Green YES!!!!
Albert Hayneaworth not so much

 

[Caliskinsfan]

Art Monk/Darrell Green YES!!!!
Albert Hayneaworth not so much

Kevin

 

[skinsdad62]

WOW!! how soon we forget.......does anyone here remember the sound and fury surrounding RGIII's father and mentor when he visited his son after the SF game? Imagine that same crowd railing against former players/mentors if the season implodes again. Sort of a too many cooks type thing. This media is constantly looking for stories, especially ones that blame the owner for allowing such things during a losing streak.

To be fair the same media and fandom will call Mr. Allen a genius for the same idea if the team jells and goes on a winning streak.

i dont buy media driven BS . plus werent we talking about players ?