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ESPN revealing write up on Thomas Johnson
Posted on 9/22/16 at 9:53 am
Posted on 9/22/16 at 9:53 am
LINK
Very sad to see the long standing issues he faced and the help that was turned away by his mother.
Very sad to see the long standing issues he faced and the help that was turned away by his mother.
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Posted on 9/22/16 at 10:24 am to rugbyag
Sad to see more "hit" pieces on A&M. Simple web search shows that LSU has a guy serving a life sentence and another was sentenced to 50 years. I believe they have currently 7 players in prison.
What about all of the tragic stories related to Urbam Meyer and Nick Saban's former players?
What about all of the tragic stories related to Urbam Meyer and Nick Saban's former players?
Posted on 9/22/16 at 10:29 am to Chill98
I didn't take it as a hit piece but more a piece on mental illness.
I don't see how anyone reading would see blame in A&M. Article states he didn't start showing major problems till after he left.
I don't see how anyone reading would see blame in A&M. Article states he didn't start showing major problems till after he left.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 10:38 am to Chill98
Mental health is a serious issue in this country that needs to be discussed. The fact that you took it as a hit piece on A&M shows how out of whack your priorities are. The story doesn't even come off negative about A&M
Posted on 9/22/16 at 10:47 am to ShaneTheLegLechler
This isn't a scholarly mental health article, this is ESPN. It could have been written about multiple NCAA players and/or institutions. It could have been written on TBI in the NFL, but it wasn't....
I've focused millions of dollars on both TBI and mental health issues so I'm aware of the problems facing Americans (in particular members of the Armed Forces), but I was also part of a task force for counter propaganda and information operations. There are positive messages and negative messages. This will be interpreted by most of the public as another negative message with its association being A&M. They have easily written this article without the association to A&M.
I've focused millions of dollars on both TBI and mental health issues so I'm aware of the problems facing Americans (in particular members of the Armed Forces), but I was also part of a task force for counter propaganda and information operations. There are positive messages and negative messages. This will be interpreted by most of the public as another negative message with its association being A&M. They have easily written this article without the association to A&M.
This post was edited on 9/22/16 at 10:51 am
Posted on 9/22/16 at 10:53 am to Chill98
quote:
This isn't a scholarly mental health article, this is ESPN
Nobody reads scholarly mental health articles. Lots of people read ESPN. Especially when you consider what his mom did, it's not hard to figure out the importance of reaching people who would never set eyes on mental health research.
ESPN puts out an insane amount of material related to head injuries and the NFL, I'm not sure why you're even bringing that up re: this article
This post was edited on 9/22/16 at 10:54 am
Posted on 9/22/16 at 10:56 am to ShaneTheLegLechler
quote:
Especially when you consider what his mom did
Back on topic. Was it widely known all the stuff about his mom undermining any help he might have gotten? That quote about black magic is insane.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 10:57 am to Chill98
Goodness gracious man. I understand that y'all aren't the media's darling right now, but this is in no way, shape, or form a slam piece on your University. It's a really tragic story that is informative about mental illness.
If someone writes on Aaron Hernandez it usually isn't anyone trying to take a shot at UF.
If someone writes on Aaron Hernandez it usually isn't anyone trying to take a shot at UF.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:02 am to rugbyag
Believe me, I am a believer in the burnt orange media conspiracy, especially as it usually relates to ESPN. But this isn't an A&M hit piece, it's just not.
As to the actual article, it's not a lot I haven't read from various other sources, but this kind of wraps it up and summarized the whole timeline in one place. Tragic that he's essentially responsible for two deaths and destroying a family. He didn't have a lot of help at times early on, and then in times when he had it offered, he refused it. I don't know if anything short of locking him in a mental hospital would have prevented this. So damn sad....
As to the actual article, it's not a lot I haven't read from various other sources, but this kind of wraps it up and summarized the whole timeline in one place. Tragic that he's essentially responsible for two deaths and destroying a family. He didn't have a lot of help at times early on, and then in times when he had it offered, he refused it. I don't know if anything short of locking him in a mental hospital would have prevented this. So damn sad....
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:05 am to rugbyag
I think they said the same thing in the DMN piece as well
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:05 am to Chill98
It's a horribly tragic story, I do see a slight tint in it though as well. If we weren't texass's nemesis and in the sec this probably would never have been written. But it is a story that needs to be told and I'm glad they told it, whatever their motivation was.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:06 am to Dawgsontop34
We will just agree to disagree. I'll just say this isn't positive and I wouldn't be surprised to see it pop up in other message boards soon.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:08 am to Chill98
Of course it will cause internet posters know they will get a rise out of folks like you. If they choose this as a topic for trolling says more about them than it does A&M.
This post was edited on 9/22/16 at 11:13 am
Posted on 9/22/16 at 11:16 am to rugbyag
Of course people will try to rub this in our face, just ignore it when it goes away in a couple of days, nothing you can do about that. This is 100% about how shitty we are at treating people with mental illness as if it's their fault. It would be a far better world if we treated mental health like we do cancer.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 12:26 pm to rugbyag
Great, another hit piece about A&M.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 12:27 pm to Chill98
quote:
This isn't a scholarly mental health article, this is ESPN. It could have been written about multiple NCAA players and/or institutions. It could have been written on TBI in the NFL, but it wasn't....
I've focused millions of dollars on both TBI and mental health issues so I'm aware of the problems facing Americans (in particular members of the Armed Forces), but I was also part of a task force for counter propaganda and information operations. There are positive messages and negative messages. This will be interpreted by most of the public as another negative message with its association being A&M. They have easily written this article without the association to A&M.
Every school has a promising freshman player who suddenly vanishes from campus, quits school, descends into major mental health issues, and then murders a completely random person b/c of voices in their head?
You don't see how the extreme nature of what happened makes this a legitimate story to use to cover mental health issues?
Also, just how in the hell would you do a story about TJ without mentioning what school he went to?
Posted on 9/22/16 at 12:29 pm to Old Sarge
quote:
It's a horribly tragic story, I do see a slight tint in it though as well. If we weren't texass's nemesis and in the sec this probably would never have been written. But it is a story that needs to be told and I'm glad they told it, whatever their motivation was.
If this went down w/a player from ANY FBS school it would be written about.
Posted on 9/22/16 at 12:36 pm to Dr RC
Written about by ESPN? When it happened three years after leaving the school? I really disagree with that
Posted on 9/22/16 at 12:51 pm to Old Sarge
ESPN is a sports based network. TJ was an athlete at an FBS school. He murdered a person b/c he was mentally ill. One more time, HE MURDERED A PERSON.
Thinking a media source wouldn't eventually do a big write up about it is just plain dumb. Thinking that they only wrote it b/c it's A&M? Holy frick that's some ridiculously insecure paranoia.
It's a story about an athlete who from the outside looking in seemed to be on his way to success and threw it all away in a horrifying manner b/c his own family wouldn't/couldn't face reality that he was sick. That hits damn near every single box that a journalist looks for in a story. Since he was just found incompetent for trial in April this is still an ongoing story. It's not like ESPN's news division was holding a meeting last week and the bossman said, "Hey guys Texas lost last week, time to run that TJ story to knock Aggy down a peg." That's not how things work.
Thinking a media source wouldn't eventually do a big write up about it is just plain dumb. Thinking that they only wrote it b/c it's A&M? Holy frick that's some ridiculously insecure paranoia.
It's a story about an athlete who from the outside looking in seemed to be on his way to success and threw it all away in a horrifying manner b/c his own family wouldn't/couldn't face reality that he was sick. That hits damn near every single box that a journalist looks for in a story. Since he was just found incompetent for trial in April this is still an ongoing story. It's not like ESPN's news division was holding a meeting last week and the bossman said, "Hey guys Texas lost last week, time to run that TJ story to knock Aggy down a peg." That's not how things work.
This post was edited on 9/22/16 at 12:55 pm
Posted on 9/22/16 at 12:55 pm to Dr RC
quote:
Thinking a media source wouldn't eventually do a big write up about it is just plain dumb
I didn't say that though
quote:
t's a story about an athlete who from the outside looking in seemed to be on his way to success and threw it all away in a horrifying manner b/c his own family wouldn't/couldn't face reality that he was sick. That hits damn near every single box that a journalist looks for in a story. Since he was just found incompetent for trial in April this is still an ongoing story. It's not like ESPN's news division was holding a meeting last week and the bossman said, "Hey guys Texas lost last week, time to run that TJ story to knock Aggy down a peg." That's not how things work.
You really are putting a lot of words in my mouth and thoughts in my head RC
This post was edited on 9/22/16 at 12:57 pm
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