Kevin Fitzhugh got a phone call that most kids dream about.
The Jets lost safety Jim Leonhard to a freak injury last Friday in practice. They need a third safety, and they called Fitzhugh, who had been in their camps each of the past two seasons.
No brainer, right? Undrafted free agent now working a civilian job, so you'd figure that he'd jump at the chance to join a team that, despite Monday night's disaster, is primed for the playoffs and beyond.
If you figured that, you'd be wrong.
Fitzhugh turned the Jets down.
His parents need his support, he has a steady job with Norfolk & Southern Railroad, and, believe it or not the Jets and the NFL cannot offer him the job security that his current job does. Fitzhugh, you see, needs the steady paycheck.
The proverbial they talk about how football makes men. I haven't seen any empirical evidence that football does that, and I've seen more anecdotal evidence that football lets boys perpetuate a boyhood that doesn't always have the right consequences (see, among others, Ben Roethlisberger). But in this case, one thing is for sure -- Kevin Fitzhugh is a man.
A very good and responsible man.
How many people would have turned down this opportunity? Even for Fitzhugh's reasons?
When the Sports Illustrateds of the world think of whom to award for making the right decisions, they should look no further than Kevin Fitzhugh. It must have been very hard for him to say no, but he did the right thing.
The Jets lost safety Jim Leonhard to a freak injury last Friday in practice. They need a third safety, and they called Fitzhugh, who had been in their camps each of the past two seasons.
No brainer, right? Undrafted free agent now working a civilian job, so you'd figure that he'd jump at the chance to join a team that, despite Monday night's disaster, is primed for the playoffs and beyond.
If you figured that, you'd be wrong.
Fitzhugh turned the Jets down.
His parents need his support, he has a steady job with Norfolk & Southern Railroad, and, believe it or not the Jets and the NFL cannot offer him the job security that his current job does. Fitzhugh, you see, needs the steady paycheck.
The proverbial they talk about how football makes men. I haven't seen any empirical evidence that football does that, and I've seen more anecdotal evidence that football lets boys perpetuate a boyhood that doesn't always have the right consequences (see, among others, Ben Roethlisberger). But in this case, one thing is for sure -- Kevin Fitzhugh is a man.
A very good and responsible man.
How many people would have turned down this opportunity? Even for Fitzhugh's reasons?
When the Sports Illustrateds of the world think of whom to award for making the right decisions, they should look no further than Kevin Fitzhugh. It must have been very hard for him to say no, but he did the right thing.
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