Players who have won you over
 

Kobe Bryant. I hate to say it, but I think I might actually be starting to like the guy. As a Bulls fan, I used to hate him because I wanted everyone to realize he wasn't Jordan. But you know what? He really plays hard and really wants to win. And even though he isn't Jordan, he really cares and is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure his team wins.

So who is a player that has won you over? Try to stay away from guys who joined your favorite team because thats too easy since many of us just root for laundry anyways :)

Durant-Despite going to Texas(yuck) and playing in basketball hell I've come around on the guy I think.

I'd say Derek Jeter and Chad JohnsonOchoCinco

I'll tell you who hasn't. Rod Barajas. He can go fuck himself. He is, without a doubt, my least favorite player, as well as most hated, I've ever had.

Good idea for a thread.

Carson Palmer and Mark Sanchez, as two former U$C Trojans, are two immediate examples in my mind.

I like Youklis in spite of my disgust for all things Red Sock. And although I don't know that I would say I have been "won over" by them, I have a growing respect for Jeter and Mo Rivera (just don't ask me about Jeter's BS Gold Gloves).

In basketball, it used to be Gilbert Arenas, former hated AZ Wildcat turned Agent Zero, but my once enthusiasm for him has waned considerably because of his stupid gun antics. Charles Barkley's a great example--couldn't stand him as a player, and still think he is at times a very questionable individual still (witness recent events in AZ), but it's impossible not to have a natural liking for the guy if you listen to him enough.

There are no examples in hockey because in that sport, hate is forever. :)

Wow, Barajas? Really? Is this Mets fan hate or another team?

I'm with molson. Jeter, like Ripken before him, strikes me as the kind of guy that could have played in any era of baseball and been successful. He gets my official stamp of approval.

My mind went straight to Chad Johnson/Ochocinco.

Chief Rum, aren't almost all gold gloves BS? I mean so rarely do a player's defensive skills line up with their popularity.

T.O.

OchoCinco is definitely one for me. I thought he was a poor-man's T.O. for the first couple years of seeing his antics before starting to realize he is just a big kid having fun, whereas T.O. is a big kid with a crummy attitude that thinks he's more important than everyone else.

Ya, as a Red Sox fan, I'm supposed to buy into the whole "Captain Intangibles" ridicule, but I can't. I don't care what the stats say, I'd want the guy on my team.

I like Chad Johnson's work ethic, and you can tell that he loves the game. Watched part of Hard Knocks yesterday on NFL Network, and he was begging to get in the game as the backup kicker when the real kicker was injured.

Still not entirely sold on him, but like a lot of things about him.

Tiger Woods, I don't know how he could balance that many women and play golf at that level. I think he's a piece of shit, but it was impressive. Made me think maybe he is better than Jack if he was doing that on the side, just think if Jack got caught with that many women how bad his golf game would have been later on.

Joe Montana with the Chiefs. Watched about every game as a chief while before I didn't, he really impressed me what he could still do at the age and obviously wasn't just a product of the system.

Oh and I'd say Randy Moss is on the fast track to making this list for me as well. He's really redeemed himself with the Pats.

Moss will never be any less of a punkshit than Owens IMO. At least Owens always gave it 100% on the field.

If you presume every Gold Glove goes to the most popular player, I suppose, although I don't think that's always the case. I think the two tendencies that makes GG's a joke comes when someone earns a GG or two early on legitimately and, because of laziness on the part of those voting, he continues to get those GGs on the assumption he's just as strong defensively as before; and because a guy hits great and isn't a zero in the field, the assumption is he must be great out there, too.

The first is how Palmeiro got his last GG while playing 21 games at 1B or whatever, or Pudge continued to get the AL GG at C, despite the fact that Molina had passed him as a quality catcher (this is when Molina's younger, Giants fans; he's the turd you think he is behind the plate now).

Jeter's a special case-- he was considered a solid SS at best when he was younger, but not great, especially at a position where ranging deep into the hole or robbing hits are so prized. He wasn't winning GGs early because of his greatness at fielding and then carrying it over to now, when he no longer deserves it. No, instead, he is winning GGs now, again, because of laziness on the part of the voters (most recognizable name) and because his many supporters want to make sure he's not regarded as a poor defensive SS--even though ARod should have taken over at the position the moment he was traded to the Yanks.

But I digress. Back to the discussion at hand... ;)

Andy Roddick. He completely won me over at Wimbledon last year.

Moss is a good human being. Owens is not. I've felt that way since well before Moss joined the Pats, never bought into his rap. Owens on the other hand....

Man I honestly can't think of someone, I was going to say Moss, but I never really had strong feeling against him.

I'd say Revis, but he only had to win me over due to the asshat loaded team he's a part of. Never disliked him personally.

I can't sit by here and see someone call Moss a good human being without getting clarification on my part. I swear I've read multiple reports over the years of violence and crap like that. Am I confusing him with someone else?

Easily Chad Ochocinco, to the point where he is now one of my favorite players. All the goofiness aside, the man does a ton for the community, works his ass off and is great with his fans.

+1, first player that comes to mind for me.



I do have to say that the more NBA I watch/follow, the less I hate JJ Redick. But there's a lot more work to be done there before I could be completely won over.

Name them. He beat someone up in high school that had it coming. He bumped a cop with his car a few years back. He's a media made bad boy. That's about the extent of it. Hating the media and refusing to talk to them hasn't made him many friends in those circles either.

Argument for on the field behavior is something else. The guy doesn't stay motivated in hopeless situations and he's just not capable of being the primary #1 leader. I don't think it's laziness. But those are his flaws.

Other than that, all you see is him going overboard and doing things for kids and charity and not even attempting to get any press for it.

I'd have to say Kobe. He went from a whiny brat who acted like he was entitled to be the next great player after Jordan to actually becoming that great player and showing consistently that he's earned the right to be in the conversation with the top 25 of all time and one of the best to close out a game ever.

Everything people are starting to dislike about Lebron, Kobe is not. Kobe should send Lebron a thank you card for his recent converts.

I don't want to throw gas on the fire, but hitting another human being with your car on purpose pretty much eliminates you from being called a good human being in my book.

LeBron James

As much as I don't like the move by LeBron this off-season, I'm more disappointed by his performance in the playoffs this year.

Yeah, even saying "hit" is a bit overstating what actually happened. But whatever, there are very few players I see that actually genuinely enjoy what they do for the community more than him.

Apparently hitting a cop with your car makes you a good human being.

That situation as it happened? Doesn't make you bad. Anyways, I already referenced that incident, then someone else did, then you did. If you aren't going to say anything new or actually read what's been said, stick to the topic.

Truth be told, I think they're saying it bears repeating because they think you're giving it short shrift.

Now, I don't think Moss is a bad person. I would lean, like you, toward thinking he's mostly a good person. That said, he's more complex than "good or bad", and I don't think you can accurately describe him as simply one or the other. The "traffic cop bump" incident is a notable one when thinking about this, and shouldn't be ignored.

Also, behavior on the field counts, too, in this thread, where people are talking about players as a whole (regardless of where they are), and Moss definitely has a checkered past there.

I agree with this, which is why I made sure to reference it. Also agree with Owens on the field being a much more consistent worker. But despite that Owens has all by himself destroyed good teams. While Moss has failed to single handily make bad teams better.

They are really the opposite, when the spotlight is on Moss(not talking the highlight reel) he struggles. Owens struggles when it's not.

I like this thread. I'm going to steal it for another site, but not before I add,

J.J. Redick. He seemed like such an over-confident ass in college. Maybe the NBA has humbled him a bit, to the point where he is out there working his butt off when he plays.

Shaq. He struck me as a bit of a tool early in his career, but the more I hear about the charity work that he does (without turning any of it into publicity stunts) and the more I see him in interviews and such, the more he strikes me as just a very cool guy. Plus he was in Shazam! so he can't be all bad. :rolleyes:

I agree. The dude is hella funny too.:D

Randy Moss - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia <--scroll down to the "Controversy" section for a very, very quick recap on just a few of the Moss issues that have gone on (and continue to go on thru 2008).

I think your blue and red tinted sunglasses are preventing you from seeing the real personality of your wideout. People who don't have major character issues flat out don't do this kind of shit...ever. I mean, I can understand if a guy who doesn't do this shit but plays for your rival wins you over, but when someone who has major issues both on and off the field wins you over simply because he plays well for your team, that's just lame.

Great story about that. This was like...maybe...weeks after he'd joined the Pats. The local cops play a charity basketball game against former Patriots. Guess who showed up at the charity game at our HS gym?

Randy Moss. Totally "under the radar" (well as much as you can be when you're that size. Just showed up.

Props to the guy. I don't care if he beat up someone in HS that had it coming (hell, who among us didn't? Or didn't get into a fight in HS). And oooh....he bumped a meter-maid (because that's what it was right?) with his sports car. Not even ran her over...like...nudged her.

Big deal.

Shaq apparently does a huge amount of donating while trying/requesting to keep it out of the press. I've seen some of it first hand.

Seriously?

It isn't OK on any level to have another human being standing in front of your car and intentionally put your foot on the gas. There is no circumstance short of that person being a threat to your well being that this is acceptable behavior.

Okay - let's go through this then

Charity

Randy Moss has participated in, founded, and financed many charitable endeavors since joining the NFL, particularly aimed at helping children. Many times when talking about his charity work, he has said he just looks forward to "seeing smiles."^[44] He has donated clothing and food to needy families, given away free backpacks to Boston area school-children, hosted autograph signings, He has also bussed children to amusement parks, NBA games, and even NFL games in which he has played in.^[45]
On June 29, 2005, he launched the Randy Moss Celebrity Charity Invitational Bass Tournament. The tournament was a one day event that paired celebrities and corporate sponsors with pro fishermen to raise money for the Smile Network, which is a foundation that provides financial assistance to children with treatable mouth problems, such as cleft palate. The tournaments motto is "fish for a smile."^[46]
In 2008, Moss formed the Links for Learning foundation, which was established to help children in his home state of West Virginia, and to build learning centers for the most needy student populations.^[47] In June, he and his former high school teammate Jason Williams hosted the foundations first annual charity golf tournament at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Hurricane, West Virginia.^[45]
In March 2009, Moss' foundation made a donation that enabled the Women and Children’s Hospital of Charleston, West Virginia to purchase a 'Fun Center' for their patients. The 'Fun Center' is a portable bedside entertainment system equipped with a TV, DVD player, and 22 Nintendo Wii games.^[47]
On the morning of November 24, 2009, Moss flew home to West Virginia to personally hand out Thanksgiving dinners to families in the Charleston area. He stayed only a few hours before having to head back to Massachusetts for a Patriots practice later in the day.^[44]

Controversy

Marshall plane crash -- Big deal - I have no doubt it was taken out of context by a reporter eager to make a name for themselves.

In a 1997 Sports Illustrated article, when discussing the 1970 Marshall plane crash, Randy Moss was quoted as saying the "The plane crash was before my time. I don't try to go back in the past and say this football game is for the people in the plane crash. I've seen the burial ground. I went up there and looked at the names. It was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big."^[5][48] Moss claimed that the quote was taken out of context.


Traffic incident -- Eyewitness accounts differ. That's a key. He nudged her with his car and she fell over. It's not even like he ran her over. And she was a fucking meter-maid. Not a cop. And I've got no problems with the pot.

On September 24, 2002 in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, Moss was driving and was preparing to make an illegal turn. A traffic control officer, noticing what he was about to do, stood in front of his car, ordering him to stop. Eyewitness accounts of the event differ at this point, but Moss did not comply with the officer's order, and she was bumped by his vehicle and fell to the ground. Moss was arrested, and a search of his vehicle revealed a small amount of marijuana.^[49] Initially charged with felony Suspicion of Assault with a Deadly Weapon and a misdemeanor marijuana possession, Moss pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor traffic violation and was ordered to pay a $1,200 fine and perform 40 hours of community service.^[50]

Leaving the field during a game -- Yeah...not so good.

During the last game of the 2004 regular season against the Washington Redskins and with two seconds remaining on the game clock, Moss walked off the field and into the locker room; critics criticized Moss for quitting on his team.^[51] Moss stated afterward that he didn’t think Minnesota, who ended up losing 21-18 to Washington, would recover the onside kick.^[52]

Playoff mooning incident -- Seeing as how Tony Dungy pointed out what Moss was going for I'm just going to say "competitive fire run wild. Bad choice."

On January 9, 2005, the Minnesota Vikings traveled to division rival Green Bay to take on the heavily favored Packers in an NFC wildcard playoff game. Moss finished the game with 4 catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns in the 31-17 win. After the second score, Moss trotted to the end zone goalpost and, facing away from the crowd, feigned pulling down his pants to moon the Green Bay fans. TV announcer Joe Buck, calling the game, was incensed, calling it "a disgusting act" on-air. Days later, the NFL fined him $10,000, finding it "unsportsmanlike" and "offensive" during the playoffs. However, then-Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, the former Vikings defensive coordinator, explained Moss' action by pointing out that Packers fans are infamous for actually mooning the buses of departing opponents after a loss,^[53] unlike Moss' fully-clothed imitation.

Marijuana use -- Don't care.

Lack of effort -- Alright...an actual knock on him.


Dating violence allegations -- Nothing to see here. Chick was trying to extort money from him.

On January 15, 2008, Orlando-based radio station WDBO reported that Moss "ha[d] been hit with a temporary injunction for protection against dating violence. According to the affidavit Moss committed a battery upon Rachelle Washington,^[60] causing serious injury, and then refused to allow her to seek medical attention. The affidavit out of Broward County reveals Moss cannot come within 500 feet of the victim and cannot use or possess firearms."^[61]
The next day, in a locker room press conference, Moss claimed the woman was simply looking for money "over an accident,"^[62] because her lawyer came to his lawyer, threatening a lawsuit, and asking for money to settle before she went public to the media. Moss stated he had known Washington for about eleven years. He also stated in his defense that he has never assaulted a woman in his entire life, and asked that the media and fans "find out the facts" before "rush[ing] to judgment."^[63] Moreover, Moss' lawyer, in an e-mail to the Boston Globe accused the woman's lawyer of "blatant threats and attempts to extort money" from Moss.^[64] On March 3, 2008, Rachelle Washington filed papers with the Broward County Circuit Court clerk's office requesting that the restraining order be dissolved and the case closed.^[65] No criminal charges were ever filed in the incident.

We don't know that he put his foot on the gas. Maybe the car was in neutral, or was on a slight incline. Eyewitness accounts differ. Maybe she jumped in front of the car while it was in motion? I don't know.

He was in the process of making an illegal turn and didn't want to stop.

A cop can jump in front of your car to stop you from making an illegal turn? that just seems REALLY stupid of her to do and would scare the hell out of me if I was driving.

the definition of "in the process of" is pretty vague.

there are far bigger athlete scumbags out there than Moss with far less vague offenses.

Wasn't even a cop. It was a fucking meter maid. :D

Brian Cushing

First I just thought he was a punk who took some 'roids or HGH.

But it turns out that Cushing has some super work-ethic and has just been over training.

Wow, and people think I'm a homer.

Good call. I can't say I ever truly disliked him (well, until I read his poetry pre-draft, anyway), but I was 100% convinced he'd be a terrible pro. He proved me right for a few seasons, but his hard work has paid off.

One guy that springs to mind for me is Yao Ming. Again, I was certain he was going to be a massive, massive bust. Turns out, injuries aside, he's a damn good basketball player, and on top of that is arguably the nicest guy on the face of the planet.