Defensive Trauma

A key to overcoming trauma is allowing the story to be retold with new feelings. Let the story melt away from the event and emotion. The negative memory loses its power while the visceral response pattern and dissonant thought processes fade away. We can control our own story.

 

Let’s talk about the feelings stirred up by drafting players in the defensive front. Rashan Gary arrived with the 12^th overall pick last year, a high pick thanks to the final fart of the Ted Thompson-Mike McCarthy era. He didn’t do much tackling at Michigan, but had a torn labrum and played a key role in a dominant unit. He did a few nice things for us last year… when he saw the field. I am choosing Gary’s story to have a bright and victorious future. I am disconnecting Gary’s potential from the negative soothsayer screaming inside my critical head. Za’Darius Smith, Mike Pettine, and other smart people have encouraged us to hold onto our dicks for his second season.

 

Rashan Gary is not Jamal Reynolds, Datone Jones, Nick Perry, or Justin Harrell. The fear and dread I project onto Gary has more to do with them than him.  

 

We haven’t been blessed with phenomenal talent up front the past 20 years, minus 2009 and 2010 when Clay Matthews and B.J. Raji were joined by Charles Woodson (a beautiful, beautiful hybrid weapon all over the field, and very much part of the down-and-dirty ranks), Cullen Jenkins, and Ryan Pickett. Rarely have we seen a front that can both rush the passer by winning one-on-one battles and also stop the run.

 

I can easily envision a future where a healthy Kevin King plays reliably while Jaire Alexander and Darnell Savage create massive problems for passing attacks on the back end. Jaire Alexander is my favorite player on the roster, honestly. He is so good when he’s mouthy and attacking the ball.

 

We had a pass rush in 2019 with the Smith brothers and Kenny Clark collapsing the pocket. These are great things.

 

But we could not stop the run. The 69ers embarrassed us twice. I have to ask - is our defense good? It wasn't good enough for a Super Bowl.

 

Letting Blake Martinez go could be addition by subtraction, but the inside linebacker situation has me unsettled. Brian Gutekunst signed 14-inch tall Christian Kirksey (of Madden fame, please watch this) from the Browns. Dude isn’t even a midget; he’s an action figure. We bring back super-fast Oren Burks who has done jack shit in two seasons. And we drafted a dude from Minnesota in the fifth round who may know his way around a canoe, but will be moved by the pile in the pro game.

 

Things might be fine. I’m sure Pettine will think really hard and scheme up a way to stop teams from running at will on us. No need to let past trauma inform our present feelings.

 

Like why would a rope tied as a noose bother people in a NASCAR garage? It’s not like everyone in the South, or anywhere else in the country, knows what a noose signifies. It would be odd if the only black driver on the circuit just happened to wind up in that garage. Why would anyone be upset by that? Clearly this was left as a killer joke, not done intentionally, so our race relations challenge in the United States is just a simple misunderstanding.

 

The misunderstanding is that the problem is not the noose or the downed statues or the use of force by the police. The problem is not who is in office. The problem is not proper decorum during the national anthem or who commits crime on who. The problem is when someone looks at an entire race of people as less-than-human and deserving of subjectification. If someone does not like my politics, it doesn’t threaten my right to exist or raise a family. If someone sees their neighbor as subhuman, that threatens their ability to access opportunity, education, HOPE, and their safety. White supremecy is the problem.

 

The voices who said Bubba Wallace deserved the noose in his garage because he had spoken up about his rights, to keep him in place, are the problem. The voices that feel Bubba and Colin Kaepernick should remain silent and do not deserve a seat in our discourse are the problem. The bullshit that went down in Madison two nights ago – perpetrators of violence are the problem. Would you open a business on State Street right now? What is going on? 

 

We can reshape our American story. The dialogue that is happening, while uncomfortable, is progress. Drew Brees missing the mark, learning why, and understanding why, was a good thing. Many of us, myself included, need to listen. There is hope. The protests forced the conversation. As a country, we can retell our story moving forward. Our history cannot be denied. America is the greatest experiment in democracy to this day. Are we riding the wings of victory? Not in the present moment, but our pain can become our power.

 

Break bread with someone new. Learn their story. Share yours. We don’t have to have the answers. We can figure this out. We have to. Our republic will not last otherwise. Christ’s only commandment to us was to love one another. Red or blue, white or brown, even the goddamn bears fans.

When will the protests end? What are the demands? The healing for me begins with Rashan Gary becoming the light and the truth up front, disrupting whatever Minnesota, Chicago, or Detroit attempts to do. I'll stop after Gary's 10th sack in 2020. I'll stop once the defense keeps San Francisco under 100 rushing yards. That's the America I want to live in.