All That Glitters Is Not Gold

A former colleague, a very successful one at that, once bragged to me that he was doing business with this guy. I suppose that you have to consider the source, because the boaster was a name dropper who, while successful, was so driven that it was hard for his colleagues to warm up to him. He was also the type that the football players with whom he went to college might have tied to a locker with the same tape used on one's ankles before a game. But I digress. . .

If you read the link, you'll wonder what the former colleague thought he was gaining by bragging.

I don't know whether this former NFL quarterback is a good guy or a bad guy, and I generally subscribe to the notion that we should focus upon whether people's deeds are good or bad. In this case, the guy in question has been around some bad stuff. No, he's not a violent felon, but he's had enough legal problems to make you wonder whether he had a slump or had some serious problems that led him to flee. Right now, he's a fugitive.

This story gets attention from time to time, but the guy has been a fugitive for almost a year. Not as notorious a fugitive as Ira Einhorn, the one-time Philadelphia-area earthie Earth Day darling who a) proved to be one of the all-time B.S. artists and b) murdered his girlfriend in the early 1970's, stuffed her body in a trunk and then fled to parts unknown, was found in France, extradited an sentenced to life in prison. This guy, thankfully, is no Einhorn.

But a fugitive he is, and a former NFL quarterback at that. Which is why, probably, America's Most Wanted picked up the story. It's intriguing and a bit bizarre. Americans can tend to revel in the fall of their golden children and, yet, they revel in their resurgences years latter. Somehow, the "made it, lost it, got it back" story is a compelling theme for many people. I really don't share that interest. This is a sad story for everyone and one unlikely to have resolution any time soon.

But it does go to show you that being the star quarterback in college, making the pros and getting a lot of attention throughout your life because you could throw a football isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

Especially if you don't know how to handle it.