Phil lets loose some opinions about John Gill's arrest, as well as his opinion on how various parties reacted. We'll start with who he ripped:
"So I couldn't help but comment after reading how so many knee-jerk reactionaries went off on reserve Colts defensive tackle John Gill for his second public intoxication arrest in less than a year. Everybody is entitled to an opinion, but people going for the easy kill and saying how stupid he was, well, why don't we really reach and suggest that as long as Peyton Manning is quarterback, the Colts will probably be good?
Gill has a problem. Who among you doesn't?"
And now, who Phil's impressed with:
"Seriously, folks, I was actually impressed today by Colts president Bill Polian making the public statement that one of his players has a problem and they want to get him help. Many might have thought Gill would be emailed a pink slip after being found drunk and passed out in a ditch on the Westside at 4 a.m. Sunday morning. Sure, that's the immediate reaction.
But the Colts decided to try to help the guy. It's an investment, not in a superstar but in a free agent they thought enough of to bring into the fold last year. It's an investment in a guy they stuck by despite a previous arrest and dismissed charge...
... hats off to the Colts for seeing the big picture instead of just shipping the guy out and saying, "He's not our problem.""
It's a pretty heart-on-his-sleeve column. Some may wonder why he seems to be taking things so personally; he comes out and states that he "... lived in fear of an alcoholic as a young child", but that must only be part of it. If I may apply my interpretation: I think he realizes that all too often, we're excessively disconnected from the human side of the sports figures we watch and he reports on. Gill getting arrested for an alcohol problem is just the tipping point for his feelings. There may be such a thing as excess clinical detachment, and when a serious matter suddenly becomes fodder for glib opinions, someone in closer proximity to the subject may feel that detachment has gotten out of hand. That seems to be the case here. Phil felt the need to remind people that Gill may have made a boneheaded move, but he's also a person with a problem, and a person who the Colts see as worth investing an IR spot plus some effort in. It's definitely something to keep in mind.
