Commentary: More Hurdles For L.J.
What happened on Friday with the announcement of a one-game NFL suspension for Larry Johnson did not bring an end to his situation or clarity to his immediate future.
It’s just the first of a 100 yards worth of hurdles in front of the Chiefs running back.
I’m sure L.J. himself wishes he could put all this behind him, but the penance and possible punishment he faces for his actions are all parts of the penalty for putting himself in those situations.
He has court dates in December for the two charges filed against him in Kansas City, Missouri. The league has left open the door for further sanctions against him depending on the outcome of those legal proceedings.
That’s a hurdle he’ll have to deal with next month. In the more immediate future is November 10. That’s the day he will return to the team. That’s the day he has to start changing the way the Chiefs feel about him.
From the Hunts, to Carl Peterson, to Herm Edwards, Johnson has fences to mend. He’s got a lot of fence line to ride to get them all buttoned up again, if that’s even possible.
When he signed the biggest contract in Chiefs history in August of 2007, with over $19 million in guaranteed money, he made promises to the owners, the general manager and the head coach. Those promises were not only the unspoken ones that come from signing a deal that big. He told all those parties and stated publicly that he understood the responsibilities that went with the contract and his position with the team.
He said he was up to handling those. He wasn’t. He should get one more chance to prove he can be the type of person the Chiefs want on their roster.
L.J.’s personal problems are not going to be solved in the next 10 days. He could sit in therapy for eight hours a day and those answers would still be months, maybe years away.
Right now, the best thing Johnson has going for himself is that he knows there’s a problem. He knows he needs help in figuring the whole thing out. He will be impatient to get something done, which is one of his problems right there. L.J. is going to have to learn how to be patient.
More than anything, Larry Johnson needs to get himself to a point where football is fun again. I don’t think he’s had fun playing football since he signed that big contract. All sorts of amateur Freuds believe that by getting the big money, Johnson lost his drive and desire.
Well this amateur Freud says hogwash to that. I think the big contract only increased the pressure Johnson felt. It was pressure placed on him by himself, by his family and yes by the Chiefs. I think he was more intent than ever to show he was worth the money and I think that’s where he started going off the track. This man’s opinion is it was more pressure than he could handle.
Somehow, some way, Johnson needs to find out whether football is still fun for him. He needs to cut away the clutter, the glamour and the pressures as best he can. Starting on Nov. 10, he just needs to find a way to enjoy being on the field, with his teammates and being part of a team again.
When that Monday rolls around, it will be well over a month since he’s had that feeling. He will have either missed it terribly, or found himself ambivalent about being part of the scene. Either reaction is fine; he just needs to pay heed to what his heart is telling him.
If the feeling is not there, then he needs to tell the Hunts, Peterson and Edwards that he needs more time away, that he’s not ready. They should at least have the opportunity to move the team and franchise beyond this situation. I’m not sure anyone has gone on the injured reserve list for a torn personality, but there are other options for the team to move him off the roster and allow him to continue to receive help from their sources and others inside the NFL.
But if he does feel the excitement again, then he needs to revel in that emotion and just enjoy the game of football and everything that comes with it. That means not just game day, but Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday as well. It means doing all those little things every day that make a player a professional. Just because you get paid, that doesn’t make you a pro.
Johnson forgot about that and making amends on that score is his next hurdle.
Look at the picture at the top of this story. Johnson has one of the great smiles in the NFL. When he lets go and shows it, his whole face lights up. He needs to show it more often.
He needs to find out if football can still make him smile. If it does, then he needs to show the Chiefs that he wants to be part of their football team again.
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Great article Bob!
Thanks!
Hey, Bob
This website rocks. I read it daily, and by the looks of it, many others do as well. Thanks and keep up the good work.
You need to have more advertising on here. I know it bugs some people, but the material here is good enough that most of us would forgive it. Nothing wrong with you making some more $$ from it.
You said it all last week, Bob in that LJ needs to go Rocky. Based on his past, I don’t think he has it in him to go that route and will continue to be in denial about his shortcomings.
The Chiefs have one big festering wound on the team that needs surgical removal. The sooner, the better.
Bob,
Love your website. However, I’m getting sick and tired of hearing people say LJ is just “putting himself in the wrong situations”. The man is abusive to women. That’s an internal character problem he carries with him wherever he goes, and if I were to rank character flaws this one would definitely be one of the worst and most offensive. LJ himself said “I and I alone put myself in these critical situations and environments to where things don’t come out favorably to me”. While he did apologize, that part of his statement reveals the wrong perspective. It’s as if he’s the victim of his surroundings, and to that I’ll steal your term and say hogwash. Also to say “don’t come out favorably” removes his direct responsibility in what took place. Could it be that he just can’t say as much as he would like to for legal reasons? Perhaps, but I wonder if there isn’t more to it than that. The title of your article also bothers me – “more hurdles for LJ” as if this is all about poor little Larry. The victims here are the women this punk has abused, not Larry. Does LJ deserve the opportunity to change and improve as a person? Of course he does – as a human being he deserves that. However does that mean he should continue wearing the red and gold I’ve taught my 14 year old son to love? That’s another question all together, and one that I hope the Chiefs answer in the negative, regardless of his on the field producion.
LJ DESERVES A CHANCE lj can be a great back in this league if he steps up to his responsibility and make amends for what he has done to women other plyayers on the feild such as marshall with the donkeys domestic abuse yet hes toughted as a great receiver and is allowed to play this one among many cases lets let lj play and help him get better on the field as well as off if he doesnt produce as he promises trade him to the lions or bengals for there first draft pic in next years draft even though it looks as if our draft pic will be in the top 3 this year any way
Bob,
Great perspective and thanks for sharing your thoughts on LJ. Just like Jarrod, alcohol is the root of his troubles. I don’t believe like Ray does, that LJ is a lost abuser. I believe that the pressures (as Bob said) mixed with alcohol put him in situations where he just couldn’t handle himself. I have been there. Anyone can change, by just grasping who you want to be, and staying away from alcohol. I hope that he finds himself, comes back to the Chiefs a new man, and returns as the Pro Bowl caliber RB he is. I also hope that the people and fans in KC can accept him and help him on this road to recovery.
I hope he stays deactivated ALL SEASON…this guy brings down the attitudes of everyone around him, he complains if he doesnt get the ball, and he STILL shows ZERO effort in pass blocking, and in running routes, catching screens…
He has Lost a step, easily, and quite frankly, I hope the team uses the money left 39 mil or so, use 20 of it if thats what it takes to get rid of this cancer…
I hated that we didnt deal him to green bay last year, and I hated paying a guy that an un named source on the team called ” a cancer who if given a contract, will turn into a monster” Something close to that quote-
Alcohol is a CHOICE, Period…I dont feel a bit sorry for the guy, not one bit…hes plenty old enough to have changed from his early years…He better get cut this offseason.period.
Disagree with your opinion that he “deserves” a second chance Bob. For one it isn’t really a “second” chance. He has been a constant source of discontent and turmoil since his first year. Unfortunately, he WILL get a “second” chance just because he has a huge guaranteed contract. A trade would be nice, but who is going to give a decent draft pick for a trouble maker AND pick up his salary. Even Jerry Jones would steer away from that one.