So this week in sports, the NBA playoffs dominate the headlines.
No doubt the quest for a repeat by the Miami Heat is being closely watched as
they are led by their polarizing leader and sheer dominant force of basketball
nature, a.k.a. LeBron James. After destroying the Milwaukee Bucks in
the first round, the Heat took on their eastern-conference rival, the
Chicago Bulls. The Bulls are led by, uh, by, well a cast of players I would
say. Typically, their leader would be Derrick Rose, but he's out right now
after suffering a torn ACL last year during the playoffs. That's where I segue
into Adrian Peterson...
In December 2011,
Peterson, an all-pro running back for the Minnesota Vikings tore his anterior
cruciate ligament (acl) during a game against the Washington Redskins. Now, in
human terms an acl tear/injury will have you rehabbing and out of action for at
least 7-12 months. Closer to 11 or 12 is typical. An athlete in supreme condition
usually does it in 9-10 months, but will still be tentative playing,
landing, cutting or accelerating on that knee. Peterson not only rehabbed his
knee in 8 months, but he was back for week 1 of the NFL and fell just short of
breaking the single-season record for rushing by 9 yards! Peterson rushed for
2,097 yards! This is an amazing feat, to say the least. Most mere mortals are
lucky to have full range again after such a devastating injury, and Peterson
displayed other-worldly healing status in his triumphant return to the
gridiron. Now herein lies the rub for Derrick Rose...
Peterson has now
set the bar for his fellow star athletes. That bar is not just to return in a
shorter than expected time frame, but to return and
be absolutely phenomenal. This is where we find Derrick Rose being
unfairly targeted and described in more colorful terms as a "chicken"
for not playing yet. Though Rose has been cleared by physicians for close to
two months now, he has stated in numerous ways that he doesn't feel ready to
play in a game just yet. At 24, no one in their right mind would rush Rose back
if he doesn't feel as if he's ready-but that's just it, these fans couldn't be
in their right minds to have such high expectations. Especially for someone
with this kind of injury, with that kind of expectation-or pedigree
of athleticism. Many memes have been floated around the twittersphere
mocking Rose's decision to wait.
Rose finds himself
as a victim of the "Adrian Peterson Expectation". Majority of the
fans berating Rose for not playing yet are way out of line. The Bulls played
well enough in his absence to make the second-round of the playoffs to face the
Miami Heat, but apparently that's not enough. People don't see the silver
lining in this loss of Rose this season. Not only have the Bulls played well in
his absence, but they have been riddled with injuries to their other top
players besides Rose and still beat Miami, in Miami in game 1!
Rose states: "There's no pressure at all. I haven't
had any pressure from anyone – not in the organization, not from my
teammates," he said. "They know I'm put everything I have into trying
to come back as fast as possible. But just trying to be smart with the whole situation
and just take my time. “It’s definitely hard. I know this will be over with
pretty soon. Who knows when it's going to stop? I can't get down on myself."
I'm glad Rose has teammates that don't question his decision or
relative indecision at this point. That would serve no point and not further
their cause. What if Rose comes back against his better judgment and hurts
himself or plays horribly and disrupts team chemistry? Those very same people
challenging or questioning his tenacity will be shouting that he
shouldn't have returned.
The whole point is, those couch-potatoes or "arm-chair
quarterbacks" should trust that this young man who's been nothing but
humble and a beacon of hope for the city he grew up in is doing what he feels
is best. No two people react to the same situation exactly alike. Our
expectations of others can sometimes be other-worldly, or ones that we would
never hold or want ourselves held up to. So take a step back before you
criticize Rose's decision to not play this year, his future could have possibly
been on the line. The one thing that Derrick needs to listen to right now is
his knee.
I for one, am glad he's deciding to tune everyone else's opinion
out.
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