Jake Plummer Nfl

Poor Jake Plummer, living in the fishbowl that is Denver, where local newspapers once reported on the candy that John Elway gave out for Halloween. Plummer had the misfortune of being involved in a ROAD RAGE incident (caps provided by your local media outlets) last month that is just now coming to light. Apparently Plummer either tailgated or cut off or did something to another driver. There was honking (and honkees, because this is Denver) and then the stories diverge. Either Plummer did nothing wrong (Jake’s side) or he got out and kicked the other guy’s guys car, shouted something and drove off. OH MY GOD! HE KICKED HIS CAR!! ROAD RAGE! DANGER! DANGER! DANGER! This story led every local newscast that night and took up muchas column inches in the papers. Let’s see there’s an immigration debate, the Enron trial, the war in which all combat operations have ceased in Iraq, the looting of our government and erosion of our civil liberties by the most gratuitously corrupt administration ever and Jake Plummer’s ROAD RAGE leads the news. And the MSM wonders why no one under the age of forty with a brain buys the shit they sell.

This is not a defense of the Snake who should have probably known better since regardless of who is telling the truth, something did happen. But is this really ROAD RAGE? I mean, I like my ROAD RAGE stories to have more meat to them (sorry vegans, but meat is good!) You know, the one where some 70 year old guy tailgates someone half their age and runs them down at the side of the road. Or when two guys go Ali â€" Fraizer in the middle of the highway because one was talking on his cell phone and not driving fast enough. Jake Plummer kicking some guy’s care ain’t shit.

Besides, if we want to demonize the Snake for this little peccadillo, there are a host of others in the League that have done far worse lately…

You’re Ricky Manning and you’ve just signed a big free agent deal with the Bears. How do you celebrate? By rolling to a SoCal Denny’s late at night with your crew (which includes UCLA running back Maurice Drew) and doing some Paki-bashing. Allegedly (and thanks to profootballtalk for this and all its other great reporting) Manning & Co. saw some guy sitting working on his laptop there while he ate. Apparently, they began to clown him, calling him a “nerd� and other things and when he complained to Denny’s employees, they beat him down and then fled, later to be apprehended by the police. The fact that he is Arab-American may or may not have something to do with it. Too bad that Dateline wasn’t there.

Rueben Droughns, who reputedly is one of the good guys in the NFL, beats a DWI rap thanks to a jock-sniffing jury and celebrates by getting arrested for domestic violence. And yes, I know his wife’s complaining about how hard it was to take a limo everywhere since Rube couldn’t drive was asinine, but no, she doesn’t deserve to be hit for that. Of course, she could have vandalized three of his luxury cars and burned down his mansion like the late, great Left-Eye Lopez did to Andre Rison…

Sean Taylor continues to face serious gun-related charges and an upcoming trial, but will probably walk thanks to the incompetence of the Dade County prosecutor.

Willis McGahee spent some time with a reporter rapping about the facts of life. Apparently, McGahee prefers ex-wives to baby-mommas, because while an ex just goes away, a baby momma wants to be around for the next 18 years and get money for extravagances like child support. All together now, you can take the Cane out of Miami, but you can take the Miami out of the Cane…

Chad Johnson grew a Mohawk --- I don’t mean to tar CJ as a guy with a rap sheet, I just include it because it’s damn funny. Check it out on deadspin from Thursday the 25th.

Johnson’s team, however, continues to collect guys with questionable character. The stink has gotten so bad that even a MSM guy like Dan Pompei (Mr. “The Lions will win the Super Bowl�) wrote about it in last week’s Sporting News. A good point is that the Bengals aren’t turd collecting (as PFT calls it) because they want bad guys, but because they are cheap. So guys with bad character fall in the draft and cost less to sign than guys with similar talent and good character. Of course, there is a cost to the inmates running the asylum and the people of Cincinnati need to stay inside and invest in security systems.

Yes, the NFL is full of assorted deviants, miscreants and villains from the alcoholics and exploiters at the executive level down through the hired hands. Perhaps it simply mirrors society in general; perhaps it doubles or triples it. The Snake didn’t really do much to show up on the police blotter and I think there needs to be a bit of perspective here.
I realize that if it bleeds, it leads, but this has less blood than your average classic Disney flick, yet it was covered like the invasion of Iraq. It’s #25 on the list of Reasons Why the Republic Fell.

Dr. Bob Mantooth is a Denver based free lance writer/security consultant who kindly offers his wisdom on sports and society to Station Charon on a weekly basis.