fleet wrote:If he finds another excuse here to take off until next year, he is truly done as a major force. He cannot be away from the game any more time, nor can he allow for more fear than he already has.
I get where you're coming from, I truly do because in some part of me feels the same way, but I have to ultimately respectfully disagree.
You don't go from being truly great at your craft, mostly due to all the hard work you've put into it, while heavily relying on your body to have it let you down, not once, not twice, but three times for it to affect you mentally. He is only human. Some of us are treating him as some sort of machine, who should have no sort of emotions or feelings towards his body, or to have no signs of fear or doubt, that's crazy talk.
He has already proven to me at least how mentally and even physically tough he is. You don't go through all that tedious and grueling rehab process for as long as Derrick has and not be tough as nails, and come out of it almost being as physically dominate (though not as consistent) as he had shown prior to the most recent injury.
To me at least, this cheap shot jabs at Derrick's toughness is selfish talk and people who just want to see Derrick go out there regardless of how he feels or what his injury situation just for their own selfish reasons and that's just not right. The guy may be getting paid millions, but he is a freaking human being, he should have every right to make the best decision for himself, even if it means backlash from fans. Heck, opinions from fans in these situations should have ZERO affect on his decision making, just as it would or any other person in the same boat regardless of their employment status.
Quite honestly, he doesn't owe the fans anything. Sure, we buy his jerseys, buy his shoes, and even buy tickets to the games to support him, but he is the one that put in all the work to put himself in that position to succeed and be one of the best players in the world to warrant that big contract he received. This feeling of entitlement from fans to accuse Derrick of being weak, or too mentally soft is just ludicrous. But hey, this is just my opinion. I'd love for him to just be reckless with his body and just be like those heroes we see in films that just put their body on the line for that glory, but this is real life.
