Would you guys/gals make the same decision?

[lawrocket 3]

Kellen Winslow, Jr. is an American football player. In March he got a 4.4 million dollar signing bonus with the Cleveland Browns. It looks like he spent at least some of it on sport motorcycle.

Most of these NFL contracts have clauses that prevent the player from engaging in dangerous activities. Well, Winslow, Jr. crashed the motorcycle and screwed himself up, thus probably costing him $4.4 million that he'll have to pay back.

So, if told, "You may have to pay back that $4.4 million dollars if you tweak yourself on landing" would you put off skydiving for the time being?

I guess I'm asking whether this guy would be considered dumb for even riding a motorcycle with that much to lose (more info - he was a novice rider popping wheelies when he planted)

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[ChrisL 2]

OK, a good comparison then would be a 100 jump wonder that wants to downsize to a teeny cross braced canopy and start swooping.

Seems this guy was riding well outside his experience/skill level.

Even so, assuming I was NOT flying like an ass,
if I took on a contract job that had pay and clause like
that, I would still halt my jumping until the contract had expired.

__

My mighty steed

[cocheese 0]

If i signed a contract saying i wouldn't jump, then i would not jump.

[PrairieDoug 0]

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So, if told, "You may have to pay back that $4.4 million dollars if you tweak yourself on landing" would you put off skydiving for the time being?

Of course, especially if the downtime is only temporary. Skydiving just isn't that important.

[gmittar 0]

For 4.4 mil, I could wait a year.

|>.<|
Seriously, W.T.F. mate?

[DeepThought 0]

$4.4million to him is not that much.

It's more like 1 months salery to the average person.

Would I give up skydivng if I had to give back 1 months salery. Hell NO

Do I take big risks like front riser deep carving swoops with my number of jumps, Hell NO

--------------------------------------------------
You only have one life, make the most of it.

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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Most of these NFL contracts have clauses that prevent the player from engaging in dangerous activities. Well, Winslow, Jr. crashed the motorcycle and screwed himself up, thus probably costing him $4.4 million that he'll have to pay back.

So, if told, "You may have to pay back that $4.4 million dollars if you tweak yourself on landing" would you put off skydiving for the time being?

Isn't that just the bonus on a six-year, $40 million contract?

I'd say, "Big shit," if I lost $4.4 million on $40 million. I ain't that kind of greedy.

And you can bet your ass I'd tell them to take a hike if they said, "No skydiving."

WTF would I be earning all that money for just to limit my life to playing football. "And IDIOTS, this game I play for you risks my health and safety far more than skydiving does!"

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I guess I'm asking whether this guy would be considered dumb for even riding a motorcycle with that much to lose (more info - he was a novice rider popping wheelies when he planted)

He's not dumb for riding the motorcycle, but he is dumb for popping wheelies as a novice. What a schmuck. That's be like graduating from AFF and celebrating by swooping the pond and splatting.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[Zenister 0]

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"And IDIOTS, this game I play for you risks my health and safety far more than skydiving does!

not even close....

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[livendive 8]

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"And IDIOTS, this game I play for you risks my health and safety far more than skydiving does!

not even close....

I imagine the risk of injury is far higher in professional football than it is in skydiving. However the risk of death is much higher jumping out of airplanes.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[kelpdiver 2]

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Isn't that just the bonus on a six-year, $40 million contract?

I'd say, "Big shit," if I lost $4.4 million on $40 million. I ain't that kind of greedy.

But...it's about the only guaranteed money. 11mil were incentives for high numbers, and the team can cut him any year and not pay the salary. This isn't baseball - football contracts are pretty one way. If he doesn't recover, he won't be earning most of this 40mil. Paying back 4 may represent more than half the money he's taken to date. (which might still be pretty sweet)

[SkydivingNurse 0]

Apparently he was also riding a very high performance motorcycle. This was about as smart as it would be for me to try and jump a 97 and hook it in.
If I signed a contract saying no jumps, I wouldn't jump. Your word should mean something.

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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"And IDIOTS, this game I play for you risks my health and safety far more than skydiving does!

not even close....

This is gonna be one of those "We have to agree to disagree" things.

When skydiving goes right, we don't impact anything very hard. And despite the fact that we know that unforeseen, unaffectable variables can throw things into chaos, it is generally not that hard to see to it that skydives go right.

On the other hand, if you play professional football, you KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO GET HIT, AND HARD, EVERY TIME YOU PLAY. That's a given, and it is very very hard to make sure that every hit you take happens in such a way as to not damage, injure, maim, or kill you.

I am still going to go with my statement, that playing football for the same people who say he may not skydive, is more of a danger to his well-being than skydiving would be.

Obviously, we are talking of the difference between POTENTIAL and LIKELIHOOD.

Skydiving has the potential to make us hit the ground at high speed, killing us. It does not have the likelihood of doing so.

Football has both the potential AND the likelihood of having 300 lb. muscular men run into you at full speed, with the direct intention of knocking you down (and often the intention to hurt you).

I don't know about you, but I don't go to the DZ thinking that I am going to not be coming home. That goes to the perception of the likelihood of my having an injury or fatality. I simply would not do it if I didn't think I could do it safely, or at the very least, with reasonable expectation of success. It's not a death wish, for me; it's a life wish. I live when I skydive.

I would not be so reckless with my body, however, as to put it on a field with professional football players.

More kids are severely injured or killed each year from football injuries than from gunshots.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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Isn't that just the bonus on a six-year, $40 million contract?

I'd say, "Big shit," if I lost $4.4 million on $40 million. I ain't that kind of greedy.

But...it's about the only guaranteed money. 11mil were incentives for high numbers, and the team can cut him any year and not pay the salary. This isn't baseball - football contracts are pretty one way. If he doesn't recover, he won't be earning most of this 40mil. Paying back 4 may represent more than half the money he's taken to date. (which might still be pretty sweet)

This is where his guidance counselor would say, "You should have stayed in school, gone on to college, got your degree, and not counted on professional sports to make you a living."

Of course, I don't know that he didn't.

I'm just saying that it's folly to EVER expect that you can make it long enough in pro ball to set yourself up for life. It'd be like a stripper who is hot now spending all the money she makes now, and expecting that when she's 48 she can still be making it. Bad planning.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[lawrocket 3]

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Isn't that just the bonus on a six-year, $40 million contract?

Yep. Guess who doesn't get paid if he doesn't play a down because he jacked himself up? Yep, that's him.

If someone told me, "Here's 40 million dollars for you to do a job for six months, nine month per year. The problem is you have to be available, which meansyou can't hurt yourself. If you hurt yourself off the job and can't perform, you don't get the dough."

So, he's messed up, gotta return a decent-sized lump of cash, and is missing out on his chance to make good money.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[kelpdiver 2]

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Apparently he was also riding a very high performance motorcycle. This was about as smart as it would be for me to try and jump a 97 and hook it in.

Uh, no, not even close. Anyone with discipline (and perhaps a flexible back) can safely ride a GSXR-750. All it requires is the ability to control that right wrist on the throttle. Whereas if you put me on a 150 to do a straight in landing, odds are against me.

One report has him learning to ride in a parking lot when he hit a curb, as opposed to trying wheelies. Not smart, but not as egregious if true.

[Kris 0]

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Uh, no, not even close. Anyone with discipline (and perhaps a flexible back) can safely ride a GSXR-750. All it requires is the ability to control that right wrist on the throttle. Whereas if you put me on a 150 to do a straight in landing, odds are against me.

Please tell me you're kidding. It takes a little more than discipline. Sorry to burst your bubble.

A GSX-R of any size can easily get away from an inexperienced rider. As can any SuperSport class bike, whether it's a ZX-6R, R6, etc... There's a guy at my office, 48, who decided to get a Hyabusa for his first bike. No tickets or accidents on his driving record and a *very* responsible guy. And, yes, he ended up high-siding it 6 days after he got it.

Then again, what do I know. I only used to own a fuel-injected GSXR-600, a ZX-6R (after learning for years on smaller bikes), and I only have about a 1000 miles at various track days.

Sky, Muff Bro, Rodriguez Bro, and
Bastion of Purity and Innocence!™

[kelpdiver 2]

thousands of squids used to buy Goofs (now R6s) as their first bike and quite a few of them turned out just fine. Not enough that I would recommend it, but far more readily than I would suggest hooking a sub 100ft canopy.

So no, I'm not buying it. It's riding a bike.

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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thousands of squids used to buy Goofs (now R6s) as their first bike and quite a few of them turned out just fine. Not enough that I would recommend it, but far more readily than I would suggest hooking a sub 100ft canopy.

So no, I'm not buying it. It's riding a bike.

I don't own a bike, never have, but I have ridden a few times and know that I can ride a motorcycle (and want to).

I agree with kelp here; I think that anyone can handle a vehicle of any power amount -- you just need the freakin' discipline to not go crazy with it. It's a matter of "you don't have to use all the power the bike has." Stupid people would hurt themselves on a 250 just as easily. Can't a 250 go more than 70mph? Can't you kill yourself on a motorcycle at 30mph? I mean come on, sooner or later we have to realize you blame the rider for his conduct, not the bike for being too tempting.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[Zenister 0]

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"And IDIOTS, this game I play for you risks my health and safety far more than skydiving does!

not even close....

This is gonna be one of those "We have to agree to disagree" things.

your view has the same problem as those who use the 'safer than driving' fallacy.. perhaps you'd should look at it on a per min of exposure basis.. because you are simply mistaken...

professional football players are rarely trying to hurt each other... sure there are alot of impacts, but they are very controlled, highly trained impacts with the intent of doing as little actual damage as possible...its not 'very very hard' its very very easy and very well practiced in comarison to ANYTHING you do while skydiving... contact that has the potential to harm is penalized on a team level and so is culturally discouraged.. no one wants to endanger each others million dollar pension... if you were talking about rugby you MIGHT have a case, but even then, on a per min of exposure basis the numbers dont support your perception of relative safety..

even a junior league foot ball player spends more time in practice and training per day than the average skydiver does per year...

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[Squeak 17]

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If i signed a contract saying i wouldn't jump, then i would not jump.

I'm in complete agreement with the Gay SADE loving guy

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[kelpdiver 2]

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your view has the same problem as those who use the 'safer than driving' fallacy.. perhaps you'd should look at it on a per min of exposure basis.. because you are simply mistaken...

You can look at it many ways. The life expectancy of a football player is rather low. Compares with Russian alcoholics.

The career expectancy is but 3 years. And you might be overstated the culture - it's a dirty game in the trenches.

[brierebecca 0]

I actually did make the same decision, but on a much less grand scale. I did about 40 jumps, and realized that jumping wasn't worth my track and academic scholarship. So I quit for a year, got my free degree, and now I'm back jumping.

It wasn't 4.4 million, but 30 grand a year is still a lot of money, and the education was really worth it. If only I was that smart now that I'm in law school...

"Ive seen you hump air, hump the floor of the plane, and hump legs. You now have a new nickname: "Black Humper of Death"--yardhippie