With the recent signing of Ty Law to a very nice contract and with the rampant, almost breathless, anticipation from Chiefs fans, I got to wondering about players in various sports in the same situation.
Ty Law, a VERY good player, is almost being made out to be a savior for our defense. As I read the various message boards there was such hostility directed towards Carl Peterson from the very beginning to sign this guy or else. I lost count of the number of comments from fans basically saying that if we don’t sign Law then there is basically no hope for our defense. This is a tremendous amount of pressure to put on ONE player and, to me, it comes close to bordering on being unrealistic.
Just think of other players who have been hailed as a savior and a resurrecting agent for various teams. The main one that comes to mind is Alex Rodriguez, now playing for that New York American League team (I would say the Yankees, but to me a Yankee is someone who lives there, not the team). The guy has a $200 million plus contract and he leads the league in errors. When he first went to the Texas Rangers from Seattle he didn’t do much there either. Sure, he collected large paychecks but he proved that one player cannot play all positions.
My neighbor is a Ranger fan and he was ecstatic when A-Rod left, for the team could now afford to get good players for the other positions. Now the Rangers are competing.
Michael Jordan didn’t save the Chicago Bulls all by himself, although he was expected to for a couple of years. It took the addition of Scottie Pippen and others to win those championships.
Was it Mike Ditka, while with the Saints, who gave up all of those draft picks for Ricky Williams? Where is Williams now? He has a lot of time to smoke pot while recovering from a broken arm in the Canadian League.
Randy Moss was to restore the Raiders to prominence. Sure. Moss is good, but he first must have a quarterback to get him the ball.
The list could go on and on. Each Heisman winner, when drafted, is projected to be the key, the final element, the last peg, to bring a championship to a team. Saviors all, or at least that is the expectation.
One player does not make a team. Even Carmelo Anthony and all of the other young hotshots in the NBA can’t do it all themselves. To expect one player to do so is unfair and unrealistic.
Remember the adage about putting all your eggs in one basket.
