The CheckerBoard

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Some people just have a self destruct button that they can't stay away from. I have been thinking about this since the news on DaRick came out yesterday. The similarities between DaRick and one of my former clients is dramatic in the impact it had and will have on their lives. I had a young client who was tremendously talented in his field and his father hired me to help develop him and take his talents to market. He had a very large ego and his parents warned me going in that it could be a problem. It ultimately destroyed everything he had worked for. His father, who was extremely wealthy, poured over a million dollars into this endeavor and in all that the kid acted as though it was no big deal. Dad's got plenty of money so we will just buy this success. As we got closer to his goals his behavior became more and more self destructive. He started pushing the self destruct button. You may be asking what a young man with wealth has in common with a kid like DaRick. The answer is that I believe DaRick has thought all along he was already rich because he was going to become rich playing football and it ultimately did not matter how he acted. Being wealthy already in his own mind was tantamount to it being a fact as it relates to his behavior. My clients father finally came to me and asked what we could do and I had to tell him that some people just have a self destruct button and no amount of money can fix that. I resigned, the father cut his financial pipeline and he now makes a fraction of what he was making and would have made. DaRick is going to experience the same thing I am afraid. It is sad but his grasp of reality has been affected by his ability which drives his ego and he does not have the maturity or experience to overcome this problem. I have a degree in Psychology, which is close to useless, unless you can apply it to the marketplace. I say that to say that I have had clients who were bi-polar and what little training I have had helps me recognize the traits in my clients. Quite frankly, DaRick manifests a great deal of bi-polar behavior if what I have read is true. Some of his friends on the team say he is very moody, gets depressed when his behavior gets him in trouble, volatile and when you combine those traits with a large ego and lack of maturity you get DaRick. JMO

Is he stilled enrolled @UT?They are still calling it a suspension.So is there any chance he sits out year,then gets another chance?Im not saying that's what should happen mind you,but it seems like in a way Coach has not completely slammed the door shut.Didn't he say yesterday that he didn't think Rodgers would be back,as opposed to saying positively he was kicked off team for good.Just something to think about.

Without Da'Rick, we go 4-8 last year and Dooley loses his job. I think Dooley handled the Da'Rick situation as well as he could have.

That's Nu'Keese Richardson who was committed to Urban Meyer at Florida Gators for almost the whole year, until Lane Kiffin showed up. He not only flipped Nu'Keese from UF on NSD but also falsely accused Urban of NCAA recruiting violations for calling Nu'Keese on the cell while he was on an official visit to Tennessee.

Good summation, good reading of Ryan's article as well as the effects of losing Da'Rick. UT could have had the best receiving corps its had since Alvin Harper and the Three Amigos days (1989 and a couple of years after), so it HAS to hurt the team significantly to lose someone of Rogers's skills. I don't second-guess the decision to suspend him at all. I think Coach Dooley did the best thing for his team and his program. It may cost a game or two, which in turn might cost CDD his job, but that doesn't mean it wasn't the right thing to do. I sure hope Cordarelle and the other WR's really step up and help the head coach keep his job and the Vols be a winning team that wins with integrity.

On the surface Ryan, with Rogers on the field or not on the field, I'd agree with you, but what kind of effect does a "special handling" of Rogers have on others, kids who haven't made their bones yet but will help down the road. How many Dale Jones or Larry Sievers or JJ McClesky's are there as freshmen or sophs who's names we don't even know yet that will develop into bona fide SEC performers because they see the value of staying the course, working hard, doing what the coaches tell them? Or how many of those will see an uneven handling of a Rogers and not develop that work ethic, that attitude that makes them into a better player than they are now. I think you have to look beyond a single x or o and look at the team. I recall a pretty good coach down at Alabama throwing a kid off the team and starting his understudy and winning a bowl game with four field goals. That kid came back a different guy. You might remember him. name was Namath. I agree with others that say when you are the leader and you have different sets of rules for prima donnas, you send a wrong message the the rest of the organization and if you're making a run for a game or two, it might work, but not over the long haul, not after the other shenanigans DR has pulled. Good riddance. Next man up. Go Vols.

I would say that any concerns about the "special handling" of Rogers ended when he was kicked off the team.

My comments were addressing him two days ago, before he was kicked off the team.