Life Of An Undrafted Free Agent
December 20th, 2016
Work comes first for parents.
The common idea of an NFL player is a guy living in a gated community with women throwing themselves at his feet and him bankrolling his family from game to game to watch him play.
That cannot be further from the truth for Bucs undrafted rookie free agent Leonard Wester.
Sunday night, after right tackle Gosder Cherilus nearly got the entire offense hospitalized with his swinging saloon door pass blocking, Wester replaced Cherilus. The pride of Division-II Missouri Western made his NFL debut.
So Joe asked him about his parents being at the game and Wester quickly chuckled and said his parents were not at the game in Dallas. “They have to work,” he said.
Fair point. The game didn’t end until roughly 10:30 p.m. central time in Dallas. Wester is from Mount Pleasant, Iowa, (sounds like a town from “The Andy Griffith Show”) in near Illinois and the Mississippi River.
To drive from Mount Pleasant to Arlington, Tex. would take 12 hours. The closest airport to Wester’s parents would be in Des Moines, Iowa, some two hours away. Lambert Field in St. Louis and O’Hare Airport in Chicago are two- and three-hours away, respectively.
So Joe can understand how getting to a Sunday night game would be a prohibitive obstacle for Wester’s parents.
So even though Wester is in the NFL, it’s not like he and his family have loads of cash to travel to every road game. Life comes first and in Wester’s family that includes gainful employment.
December 20th, 2016 at 2:05 pm
Maybe he can help block. After watching the Dallas game very closely our blockers DO NOT BLOCK and Martin and co. Don’t have have help. Watch Sean lee highlights. He made it look too easy.
December 20th, 2016 at 2:07 pm
Maybe one of his parents can play tackle over Cherilus
December 20th, 2016 at 2:37 pm
Where’s Benenoch?
December 20th, 2016 at 2:44 pm
Practicing right now.
December 20th, 2016 at 3:17 pm
Benenoch has been practicing mostly at guard, not tackle, right? Or both?
December 20th, 2016 at 4:33 pm
i’d take $400,000 per year just to practice and warm the bench 🙂
December 20th, 2016 at 4:53 pm
…. I don’t care
December 20th, 2016 at 5:39 pm
Joe, you thought a third string nobody, that nobody knew about until 18 hrs ago, would have his family at the game? If he were to be named the starter for next week, then I could his family flying in to see the special day. But come on dude. They aren’t going to waste their time and money to see him sit on the sidelines for 3 hrs. Lol
December 21st, 2016 at 1:47 am
Life has its way to f**k you over.