Newmann: Character(istics)
The fall of Shedeur Sanders’ stock in last week’s NFL Draft rivaled the recent plunge in the actual stock market.
The former University of Colorado quarterback, originally touted to be a high pick in the first round, fell to the 144th selection in the fifth round.
Of course, lots of speculation ensued on the hows and whys of his plummet. Commentators on ESPN, which treated the draft — and a week’s worth of speculation leading up to the event —like a mid-term election, seemed to spend almost more time focusing on Sanders’ slide down the ranks than they did on highlighting many of the players who were selected before him. Numerous media outlets also published articles on his remarkable tumble. And also speculated that his downward spiral in the draft was, in part, due to issues teams may have had with his personality.
The end result: Sanders will be battling three other quarterbacks for a roster spot on the woeful Cleveland Browns. His skill sets and, perhaps to a lesser extent, his character will be scrutinized by the coaches as he attempts to make the team.
When describing the attributes of many of the players in the draft, one of the most commonly used words by the commentators seemed to be “character.”
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“This kid’s got great character.”
“He’s got the type of character that can galvanize a locker room.”
“His character makes him a great teammate.”
Character can have many different meanings, depending on how it’s applied — and who it’s applied to. It can mean a solid and highly-regarded personality. It can refer to one or more aspects of one’s persona. It can be a personality trait, as in “He’s really a character.” And it can even be a character portrayed by an actor.
The effusive remarks by the critics and pundits on the character of many players certainly seemed to be more in line with solid and highly regarded — and less on the player being a character. No doubt that quite a few of the draftees have outstanding personal attributes.
But, at the end of the day, their overall goal is to survive all the preseason culling to make it onto the roster of an NFL team. If they do make the team, they’ll probably be judged more on the basis of their on-field performance than on their character.
The irony is that, with all the talk of a football player’s character, we don’t seem to pay much attention to character in many other realms.
We have almost come to expect a dearth of character from some sectors where we used to expect integrity … and often only take real notice when someone actually gets caught out doing something exceptionally shady. Only then do the character bells start to chime.
Ironically, if many politicians were judged by the same standards of character as the NFL draftees … well, it could make for some pretty big holes in some government starting lineups.
But, for now, Sanders — and all the new NFL draftees — will be competing to find permanent landing spots on their respective teams.
It’ll be a test of their skills. And, perhaps, the character behind those skills.
Tom Newmann splits his time between Edwards and Queenstown, New Zealand. He has been going winter-to-winter since 1986. He was also a journalist in Missoula, Montana, at the Missoulian for quite a few years. Email him at tsnnz12@gmail.com.
