Staff Blog
On Shawn Andrews: The Big Kid
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| Shawn Andrews (left) |
| nytimes |
Over at Deadspin AJ Daulerio, has a smart and interesting take on Shawn Andrews. I’ll respond to a couple of his key points, but the entire thing is worth a few minutes of your time.
Daulerio’s thesis is, more or less, that until we have some type of tangible proof that Andrews is in fact clinically depressed, it isn’t cold-hearted, mean-spirited, or dumb to have a bit of skepticism about the entire matter. Andrews has always had his quirks and that “Big Kid” moniker is at least as much embedded in truth as it is ironic. The point that has been coming up in discussions around the city, but this is the first time it has been articulated in print.
From AJ:
So far most of his teammates have publicly supported him, as has the press, because when someone goes public with depression, it’s almost inhumane to be skeptical. But in Shawn Andrews’ case, it shouldn’t be. Andrews, right now, is still in Arkansas seeing his own doctor, but has yet to come back to Philadelphia to be diagnosed by the Eagles physicians. The lovable wackiness and emotional highs and lows in his personality may make this a plausible story - he could very well be clinically depressed - but he also could be a man discontent with his contract (which he supposedly is) whose maturity level hasn’t quite caught up to his ballooning weight.
There are examples that SA may be kookier than we know, and AJ hits some of the big ones: last year’s minor ankle injury that reportedly brought Andrews to tears; the fact the Jon Runyan, a respected vet and a man who spends his seasons playing directly next to Andrews had to tell him to get into camp; Sal Paolantonio’s assessment that the Birds ‘have the right to be skeptical until he comes in and gets diagnosed by their doctors” . AJ writes,
And the origins of his depression also appear to be all over the map: from his weight, to his friend’s death, to having guns pulled on him.
The story of him having guns pulled on him seems odd and out of place. I am not saying that it is a lie, just that it is an odd story to come up now and not before. Andrews is a star athlete in a big city and more often than not when something notable happens to a star athlete in a big city it is duly noted. If the story is true it may speak volumes to how basically isolated Andrews keeps himself.
I’m not suggesting that Andrews is faking depression - in the uber-macho world of the NFL I’d guess faking mental illness would probably be comparable to faking, say, homosexuality, i.e. not something done without awareness of its unfortunate but real cost - but rather that I think it is possible that Andrews has fallen for the idea that he’s depressed. He’s not lying, and I think AJ may go a step too far in insinuating that he might be, but maybe Andrews is just wrong and is buying into a label that doesn’t fit him.
The Eagles are literally a billion dollar franchise with a vested interest in keeping their investments happy. If the Big Kid needed help wouldn’t he have gone to them and ensured himself the best coverage? If the answer to that question is ‘no’ due to fear that he didn’t want the team to know or fear of embarrassment within the locker room, why has he talked to Mike Missanelli, Howard Eskin, Les Bowen and DNL but not the team Doctors? I wish Andrews the best with whatever he is going through, but at the same time believe it fair for everyone - the franchise, the fans, and the man himself - to question just what that is.
