# Stardom Doesn’t Change Where You’re From

- Link: https://exclusiveaccess.net/stardom-doesnt-change-where-youre-from/
- Published: 2014-04-03T14:55:35-04:00
- Author: EAN

I’m not going to tell you that DeSean Jackson isn’t in a gang, because I can’t say
unequivocally that he isn’t. I can’t tell you whether his friends have done the 
things police have accused them of doing, because I wasn’t there. I can’t tell you
what DeSean does with his time, because we play football on opposite ends of the
country. I can only tell you that I believe him to be a good person, and if you 
think, say or write otherwise without knowing the man, you’re in the wrong.

And if it’s true the Eagles terminated his contract in part because they grew afraid
of his alleged “gang ties,” then they did something worse. [_Editor’s note: Jackson
has agreed to terms with the Redskins._]

I look at those words—_gang ties_—and I think about all the players I’ve met in 
the NFL and all of us who come from inner-city neighborhoods like mine in Los Angeles,
and I wonder how many of us could honestly say we’re not friends with guys doing
the wrong things.

I can’t.

I grew up in Watts, and I played baseball with DeSean in elementary school on a 
team coached by his father near Inglewood. His father, Bill, picked me up from elementary
school 30 minutes away from his home for practice and games because my parents both
worked and didn’t finish until later, and I wanted to play baseball with some childhood
friends. Bill was a great coach, and a great man. He died of pancreatic cancer in
2009, the summer after his son’s rookie season. DeSean and I didn’t hang out then
like we did as kids.

Those men with DeSean in the social pictures and the police reports weren’t his 
closest friends in childhood, but when his father died and few people were there
for him, they were there. When a tragic event like that happens, the people who 
are around are the people who are around, and they were there for him.

> I can’t change who I grew up with. What I can do is try to educate them, help 
> them and keep them out of trouble.

Was DeSean supposed to then say, “Thanks guys, but now that I’m a millionaire, please
leave me alone”? Even if he wanted to, he wouldn’t have. In desperate times for 
people who come from desperate communities, your friends become your family. I wouldn’t
expect DeSean to “distance himself” from anybody, as so many people suggest pro 
athletes ought to do despite having no understanding of what that means. Going to
college and playing in the NFL creates a natural distance, but we can’t push people
away just because they’re not as successful as us. I can’t change who I grew up 
with, but what I can do is try to educate them on the right way of doing things,
help them when they need it, and try to keep them out of trouble.

There is, of course, a tipping point. There have been times when I realized that
someone can’t be helped, because they continue doing the wrong things. Typically,
the only time I cut someone off is when they’re in jail, because I can’t help them
there.

And if they’re accused of a crime, as DeSean’s friends have been, should that reflect
poorly on me? Consider that for every several guys I try to help who end up dead
or in jail, there’s another person I was able to rescue from a similar end. Should
I give up on everybody out of fear of being dirtied by the media?

Sorry, but I was born in this dirt.

NFL teams understand that. The Seattle Seahawks get it. The Philadelphia Eagles 
apparently do not.

This offseason they re-signed a player who was caught on video screaming, “I will
fight every n—– here.” He was representing the Philadelphia Eagles when he said 
it, because, of course, everything we do is reflective of the organization. But 
what did they do to Riley Cooper, who, if he’s not a racist, at least has “ties”
to racist activity? They fined him and sent him to counseling. No suspension necessary
for Cooper and no punishment from the NFL, despite its new interest in policing 
our use of the N-word on the field. Riley instead got a few days off from training
camp and a nice contract in the offseason, too.

Commit certain crimes in this league and be a certain color, and you get help, not
scorn. Look at the way many in the media wrote about Jim Irsay after his DUI arrest.
Nobody suggested the Colts owner had “ties” to drug trafficking, even though he 
was caught driving with controlled substances (prescription pills) and $29,000 in
cash to do who-knows-what with. Instead, poor millionaire Mr. Irsay needs help, 
some wrote.

But DeSean Jackson is the menace, right? He’s just as bad as those guys he parties
with because he threw up a Crip sign in a picture and he owns a gangsta rap record
label. If only all record label owners were held to this standard, somebody might
realize that Dr. Dre and [Snoop Dogg](https://ticketmaster.evyy.net/c/4256257/264167/4272?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ticketmaster.com%2Fsnoop-dogg-tickets%2Fartist%2F763942)
weren’t the bosses behind NWA. Jim Irsay lookalikes in suits were.

But go ahead and judge DeSean for the company he keeps. While you’re at it, judge
me, too, because I still live in Los Angeles, and my family does, too. We didn’t
run from where we grew up. We aren’t afraid to be associated with the people who
came up with us. We brought some of our money back and started charities and tried
to help out a few guys who were with us when we were nobodies.

I won’t apologize for that, and I suspect neither will DeSean when he’s back on 
the field doing what he’s always done: grinding through adversity.

[_Richard Sherman_](https://twitter.com/RSherman_25)