Why Braylon Edwards is an Idiot

I'm sure most of us in the football-following world are aware by this point that NY Jets wide receiver, and former Cleveland Browns wide receiver, Braylon Edwards was arrested in the wee hours of the morning yesterday for driving while intoxicated. The breathalyzer he was administered showed that his blood alcohol content was approximately twice the legal limit.

As a Browns fan I can attest to the fact that Edwards is indeed an idiot. He had a physical altercation with a member of LeBron James' (incidentally, another idiot, but that warrants its own post) posse last season, which resulted in a lot of negative legal and media attention. He's prone to making sweepingly grand comments about his abilities as a wide receiver, and is notoriously unable to deliver on said promises on the field. He made some exceedingly ignorant comments to the press regarding his trade to the Jets about how his "New York essence" made Cleveland fans resent him. Just for your information, Cleveland fans resent Braylon Edwards because he dropped easy passes and never lived up to his potential or his obnoxious mouth when he played for the Browns. I'd like to know exactly how one develops a "New York essence" growing up in Detroit and playing for that dreaded school up north, aka the University of Michigan. Also, Abe Lincoln called, and he wants his beard back. But, I digress.

My main issue with Edwards' arrest this week is that I think everyone should be smart enough to not drink and drive. When you choose to drink and drive, you not only take your life into your own hands, but you put everyone else on the road at risk. It's pure idiocy. Ask Donte Stallworth how it worked out for him. It is totally unacceptable when an NFL player drinks and drives, because they have resources available to them that the rest of us simply do not have. To wit, the league provides players the opportunity to call for a ride anywhere, any time. They can choose from a variety of luxury cars with amenities from satellite television to an armed guard, and here's the kicker--despite their obnoxiously generous salaries, it costs them NOTHING. It's charged as a club expense. I'm sure the Jets would have gladly paid for Braylon and his teammates who were passengers at the time of his arrest, Vernon Gholston and D'Brickashaw Ferguson, to be transported in style to avoid the scrutiny they are under because of this issue.

I'm not even going to start on whether I agree with Rex Ryan's decision to play (but not start) Braylon Edwards this Sunday against the Dolphins. I'm not going to analyze the fact that once the Jets stopped talking as if they'd already won this year's SuperBowl they started playing like a team that might be able to get there. I'm just going to say that Braylon Edwards made a very poor and inexcusable choice this week when he got behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated. No amount of media spinning or legal wrangling will change my mind about that. I think that playing professional football is a privilege, and the league gives players every opportunity and tons of support to stay out of trouble, and when a player willfully rejects that and makes a choice that endangers himself and others, it can't go unpunished. Grow up, Braylon.