Sam Hurd, a bears wide receiver guaranteed 3.97 million over the next three years, was arrested for conspiracy and possession of Marijuana and Cocaine. Initially, I was in disbelief that someone could be so greedy and so selfish to disgrace the team and himself by involving himself in the drug trade. It just didn't make sense to me, or anyone for that matter. Why risk throwing away a promising and stable NFL career in order to make some corrupt money on the side? In a way, this scandal reminded me o the scandals taking place in NCAA sports. This past year, NCAA officials have uncovered multiple attempts by colleges to bribe players into coming to their school with gifts and money. Seeing as paying collegiate players is against everything the NCAA represents, teams, like my brother's USC Trojans, have faced penalties and fines that have made it more difficult to compete. The most famous of the NCAA scandals belongs to the University of Miami. During the late 1990's and early 2000's, Miami had an
unstoppable team, stacked with great professional talent at every position. However, this past year they discovered that a man named Nevin Shapiro had been offering gifts and access to his fortune to much of the
Miami team. It was scandals like Sam Hurd's and that of the NCAA that perplexed the sporting community and had many asking "How could someone be so greedy to completely disregard the law/rules and risk ruining their career?" It just doesn't add up.
Over the break, I read the book, We Beat the Streets. Besides being a great read, the book allowed me to see the extreme troubles outside suburban life but more importantly, allowed me to see from the perspective of a Sam Hurd. For those of you that haven't read it, the book is an autobiography of the lives of Sampson, George, and Rameck in Newark, New Jersey. Growing up, these three friends faced many difficult obstacles due to the environment that surrounded them. Because of their location and race, all three characters had to survive, enduring the threats of law and crime, with little support and money. Through friendship and determination, each author tells their account of how they we're able to escape the meek future of the streets and achieve success by becoming doctors. What the book did was give me an idea on how difficult it was to not become swallowed by city's vice. After reading the book, I begin to do some
research and discovered that Sam's childhood wasn't the easiest either. Growing up, Hurd lived in a similar situation as the authors, having a low income and having to deal with the street's obstacles. Growing up, he watched his uncle battle with his drug addiction only to die when Hurd was 19. Understanding this, it's possible that Hurd had become involved in drug trafficking to get by before reaching fame, and, as I discovered from reading the book, was unable to "simply" drop out of the business. It's important to realize that this case, and perhaps many of the NCAA cases too, are much more than a selfish individual being greedy. Hurd was in fact admired by many and was extremely giving to his community. Instead, seeing such a moral individual throw away his professional career for crime, let us understand the difficulty of living in "the streets" and attempt to change it for others.
