It might be (is) hilarious that an NFL veteran, who finished putting himself through the rigors of the most physically and mentally taxing of training camps no more than a couple weeks ago, belatedly saw the bleakness of the light and decided to prioritize his health ahead of the feelings of a woefully bad Bills' team. That said, I think I would have to agree that it's also pretty disrespectful to quit mid-game. In fact, considering the unrelenting physicality of a sport in which teams so often suck, it being blatantly disrespect is probably the only thing that's stopped a similar scenario from playing out previously. You just can't convince me that there haven't been plenty of times in which peer pressure, in conjunction with the financial incentive of a contract, weighed heavily into a player's decision to return to the most thankless of fields after halftime. Every job becomes an insufferable one after awhile, and that doesn't exclude the act of abusing your body against the biggest, fastest, and strongest athletes on the planet. Unfortunately, it's not him leaving his teammates out to dry on the field that has shaking my damn head in the direction of Vontae Davis, as even if he were in his prime he wasn't making a difference in another disastrous performance. Rather, it's him hanging his teammates out to dry off the field, by basically holding their hands behind their back to let them become the most pummeled of punchline. The Buffalo Bills were already enough of a joke as is without having to answer to being the first franchise to completely exasperate the will to compete out of one of their own veteran players in two quarters time. I mean, all Vontae Davis had to do was fake a limp for an hour and half and he could've at least saved his NFL team the embarrassment of getting kicked cold turkey like a bad habit. Any midseason retirement would have served as a rough reflection of what it's currently like to be a Buffalo Bill, but a halftime hanging of the cleats really puts the casual fan in them by highlighting the hopelessness. Also, while I both appreciate and respect someone turning the tables on the NFL by leveraging his employment for all it was worth, I can't imagine this story works in favor of his peers during the next CBA negotiation. The players are probably a lot closer to getting treated like human beings by their fantasy owners than they are to getting guaranteed contracts. However, one of the few that did walking away from the game while it was still going on once there was nothing but pride left to play for doesn't exactly speak glowingly of the concept. It makes a hell of a lot of sense that the love of said game only lasts but for so long when it constantly has you in need of repair, but Vontae Davis could have at least waited until the pity party was close to over before leaving, as the whole point of an Irish goodbye is to avoid having your exit publicized. Unexpectedly enhancing his co-workers' workloads was a light slap in face, but unintentionally handcuffing them in an eventual argument for more money upfront was more of a disrespectful kick in the dick. Albeit, one that is funnier in theory than any groin shot that's graced the screen during 'America's Funniest Home Videos' was in execution.
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