May 11, 20197 yr I don't disagree that there's a difference in a helping hand and a bail-out. The issue is, Zeke has yet to prove that he is able to break his cycle of relapse. Even after Zeke beginning his stint as a motivational speaker and seemingly putting his ways behind him with steps into a football coaching career, we see that it was only 2-1/2 years from his DUI arrest while attending Murray State and his latest arrest for DUI and possession in 2018. As someone who has seen multiple friends, acquaintances, and even a very close family member struggle with very acute substance issues, I can tell you that even offering a "helping hand" to an addict who is yet to completely free themself of their cycle of addiction & relapse can have a crippling effect on the addict's recovery. I have personally been directly involved first-hand in getting two of those individuals into rehab and subsequently helping motivate them to remain involved in twelve-step programs. With that said, you can trust me that my comments were not made with any attempt at flippancy. As I said, I'm all for Zeke successfully recovering. However, I don't see Mark Pike calling in a favor from Frank Reich to give Zeke yet another shot at a NFL career as an immediate positive thing. With the stress put on professional football players, along with the extreme money-making potential and the idol status held by many NFL players, there is an obvious recipe for disaster there. How many drug and alcohol incidents do we see in the NFL on an annual basis already? Can't argue with your observations. Having known several addicts I do know it is one day at a time. Could see the tryout as the possible future sun rising that got him through many dark days. Now that it is here the risk of perceived failure is possibly the added challenge of getting through today; but, the many daily victories of getting this far might have created momentum to get through one more day.
May 11, 20197 yr I don't disagree that there's a difference in a helping hand and a bail-out. The issue is, Zeke has yet to prove that he is able to break his cycle of relapse. Even after Zeke beginning his stint as a motivational speaker and seemingly putting his ways behind him with steps into a football coaching career, we see that it was only 2-1/2 years from his DUI arrest while attending Murray State and his latest arrest for DUI and possession in 2018. As someone who has seen multiple friends, acquaintances, and even a very close family member struggle with very acute substance issues, I can tell you that even offering a "helping hand" to an addict who is yet to completely free themself of their cycle of addiction & relapse can have a crippling effect on the addict's recovery. I have personally been directly involved first-hand in getting two of those individuals into rehab and subsequently helping motivate them to remain involved in twelve-step programs. With that said, you can trust me that my comments were not made with any attempt at flippancy. As I said, I'm all for Zeke successfully recovering. However, I don't see Mark Pike calling in a favor from Frank Reich to give Zeke yet another shot at a NFL career as an immediate positive thing. With the stress put on professional football players, along with the extreme money-making potential and the idol status held by many NFL players, there is an obvious recipe for disaster there. How many drug and alcohol incidents do we see in the NFL on an annual basis already? Is the rate of alcohol issues worse in the NFL than it is in everyday walks of life. Addiction affects all walks of life....it's just that the NFL is a very public walk of life. If Zeke's dad was a plumber and made a call to get him a job in the plumbing industry, I'm guessing it wouldn't even warrant a mention.
May 12, 20197 yr Simple question that needs just a yes or no answer... Are you genuinely happy for Zeke and this opportunity, and want him to succeed?
May 12, 20197 yr Simple question that needs just a yes or no answer... Are you genuinely happy for Zeke and this opportunity, and want him to succeed? I'd love to see Pike succeed.
May 13, 20197 yr Is the rate of alcohol issues worse in the NFL than it is in everyday walks of life. Addiction affects all walks of life....it's just that the NFL is a very public walk of life. If Zeke's dad was a plumber and made a call to get him a job in the plumbing industry, I'm guessing it wouldn't even warrant a mention. The bolded made me pause and consider some of my preconceived notions and comments about an opportunity a young man has to improve his situation in life. Kind of ashamed of it when thought about it this way. It was the perfect analogy to this situation. Thank you for sharing.
May 14, 20197 yr Simple question that needs just a yes or no answer... Are you genuinely happy for Zeke and this opportunity, and want him to succeed? I'd say at this point we all want him to succeed at getting himself healthy before anything else. His health is far more important than any potential NFL opportunities.
May 15, 20197 yr Did I hear he had a tryout with the Bills also? Looks like he did. Zeke Pike, Derek Kief, James Gardner invited to Buffalo Bills tryout
May 15, 20197 yr I'd love to see Pike succeed. I'd like to see him succeed at life. Be able to keep the deamons at a far far distance. The kid had a lot of promise and talent.
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