Tyler, a 306-pound Chiefs defensive tackle, is punching letters into his BlackBerry, writing lyrics...

Tyler, a 306-pound Chiefs defensive tackle, is punching letters into his BlackBerry, writing lyrics to a rap song he’d like to one day marry with music. Football is his job, but music is his passion.

"I still find myself going to the studio after practice," Tyler says. "Once that studio door closes, it’s like freedom again. I can lock myself in my own world."

Kansas City Star

about 1 year ago Joel Thorman 4 comments 0 recs |

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I'm glad...

… that someone else posted this and that it’s now open for discussion.

My heart sunk a little when I read the piece.

Here we go again… another young football player channeling his extra energy and effort into music.

I just fail to understand it.

I just wish someone, anyone would grab these young men and shake them and knock some sense into them.

They are in a league with the best of the best. They have (if they’re lucky) about 10 years to make all the money they can make in football. Just ask Shaun Alexander.

They squeeze an average person’s 40 year career into under 10.

That our beloved Tank rushes home to spend time in the studio away from football- is positive in that he’s not headed to the Power and Light District or Bazooka’s, but it also highlights the possible reason for his quick decline as the season wore on last year.

The good players, not just the great ones, head home and study playbooks, review film, work out even more… do you remember (although I’m picking a great player) the footage of Tony G from Hard Knocks- going home and reviewing plays and footage on his big screen???

That is the sort of effort and discipline that it takes to excel in the NFL.

That is why I was so disheartened by the article about Tank.

I truly wish him the best in his rap career.

I just hope he comes to the realization that his ability to fund his passion relies upon his performance on the field- and he takes every opportunity to excel there first… even if it means waiting a couple or ten years to put out the CD.

My 2 cents…

by mikvogel on Aug 14, 2008 1:10 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Balance

Good points regarding the compressed career timetable. And the benefits of putting in extra time. Hopefully he’s doing everything he can. Bowe’s got his video games. Including Madden, I presume. Is that considered work or play???

A player needs a life, too, though. My heart didn’t sink when I read it. I was glad to see a productive get-away activity for him. But you raise a good point, Mike. Hopefully he finds a balance. Just as we fans are balancing our work demands with a little time for the relaxation of the blogoshere. Overall, it makes us all better, more productive workers, right? (I’m self-employed, so my boss tends to be pretty lenient.)

by sunny D on Aug 14, 2008 1:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Doesn't Bother Me That He's Got Something He Loves Doing Besides Football

It’s not a requirement that every successful football player must be consumed by the game, and it’s generally a good thing for them when they have a life outside of the sport. Football careers end early in these guys’ lives and the players who don’t find something else to occupy their time and engage their interest generally struggle a lot after they’ve hung up the cleats. As long as he stays a productive player, as far as I’m concerned what he does with his life off the field should be completely his own business.

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Aug 15, 2008 12:37 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

And His Decline Last Season

Probably had more to do with all the extra weight he was carrying and the fact that he was a rookie. Plenty of rookies hit a wall towards the end of the year…that’s part of the adjustment from college to the pros.

Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.

by UCrawford on Aug 15, 2008 12:39 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs