The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Poor choices have painful consequence
We all have poor decisions in our lives we wish we could have back.
Words that are spoken. Actions that are taken.
The way we learn what not to do, at times, is by making those mistakes ourselves.
But you also realize, in retrospect, making those mistakes isn’t just about you and your accountability.
It’s about the people who also pay a heavy price for those ill-advised decisions.
So if at all possible, you shouldn’t place yourself, or them, in that position in the first place.
About 1,700 miles away, along the Mexican border in southern Texas, there is a high school student-athlete who unquestionably made an awful decision last week.
He probably feels remorse. And as likely as it is that he knew immediately part of the potential toll his poor choice had, it also serves as a painful reinforcement of a reality that never changes.
Even when others clearly don’t deserve that punishment, the actions of one can lead to consequences for all.
Dec. 3, Edinburg hosted Pharr-San Juan-Alamo in a Class 6A District 31 zone playin game in the Texas high school football playoffs.
Bobcats standout defensive end Emmanuel Duron was assessed with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after, according to a report in The Monitor of McAllen, he had shoved an offensive lineman to the ground and attempted to tackle the quarterback after the play had been whistled dead.
Video of what occurred next has circulated on social media and platforms across the world — and even watching it more than once, it still seemingly transpires in slow motion.
Duron exchanges words with referee Fred Gracia and is subsequently ejected from the game for concurrent unsportsmanlike penalties.
Gracia announces the penalties as Duron is shown restrained on the sideline. Moments after the announcement, Duron breaks loose and rushes the field. He plows into Gracia at full speed and hurls the 58-year-old official forcefully to the ground.
Duron was escorted from the facility by police.
Oh, by the way, Edinburg won the game, 35-21.
Afterward, Edinburg coach J.J. Lejia was asked about the incident.
“I can’t release any information on that, and I apologize for that,” Lejia said. “I hope you understand.
“I want this (moment) to be about our program and all the other kids we had on the field tonight.”
Ideally it should have been, and you can understand as a leader of young people why Lejia would want that to be the case.
Duron’s poor decision shouldn’t reflect on his teammates and community.
Yes, it was in the heat of the moment.
And yes, even for something that egregious, there should eventually be a path to forgiveness.
Unfortunately, after a decision of that magnitude, it’s impossible to constrain the effect.
The following day, Edinburg removed itself from the playoffs.
“The district has decided to remove the Edinburg High School football team from the playoffs after an unexpected incident involving a student that occurred during a football game on December 3, 2020,” the Edinburg Consolidated Independent School District wrote in a prepared statement. “We extend a sincere apology to the referee and his family. On behalf of the Edinburg CISD Board of Trustees and administration, we apologize to the athletes, staff and our school community.”
Duron was later charged with assault and posted bond, and at last report, Gracia was in concussion protocol.
Here’s to hoping Gracia makes a full recovery.
Albeit several states and a time zone away, it was also difficult for me to not feel for Andrew McCullough, the Monitor’s high school sportswriter covering the game. McCullough went to do his job chronicling high school football — and by the end of the night, he had standing contact from “Good Morning America” and the New York Times.
He has tweeted doz
ens upon dozens of times in the days since, laudably trying to shift focus to normalcy. He tried to make it about the student-athletes and coaches he regularly covers — and as a colleague in this industry who also feels that sense of personal value of those people, I get it.
Sadly, in part thanks to society’s unquenchable thirst for controversy, good luck trying to easily make that shift.
He light-heartedly tweeted it was his cue to
go to bed after seeing ESPN’s Adam Schefter had also tweeted about the incident.
In the 24 hours afterward, the incident had made international headlines.
A video, for example, of former NFL punter and media personality Pat McAfee watching video of the incident and reacting to it had over a half-million views on YouTube.
One other thing Lejia told McCullough stuck with me in the immediacy
of the controversy. After the victory, Lejia spoke of his pride for advancing in the postseason.
“We’re excited, and our kids are excited,” Lejia said.
“(Making the playoffs) was one of our goals, and it’s tough because we didn’t do anything (as a program) until we got released (to resume practicing) in September.
“I’m just glad to see the look on their faces. ... We were picked to finish seventh in our district, and now we’re going to the dance. That’s all that matters.”
They were going to the dance, at least.
One player tweeted succinctly, “4 years for it to end like that.”
And that, really, is the point.
Edinburg had no choice. If it didn’t bow out, the University Interscholastic League, Texas’ high school sports governing body, made clear it would have made that decision for the school.
If neither entity would have made that choice, imagine what kind of circus Edinburg’s next playoff game would have been.
Media who wouldn’t know the difference between Edinburg and Pittsburgh would have converged, shoving cameras, lights and microphones in the faces of people long since weary of that spotlight. Edinburg’s studentathletes and coaches, through no fault of their own, would have faced unimaginable social-media ridicule.
You should have the latitude to grow and learn from mistakes.
You should be held accountable for your actions.
If you do make a mistake, you should be able to make it right and eventually earn your way back into the good graces of others.
But you should also face an unwavering pressure to not make a mistake that blatant, and you should have enough self-control and regard for your teammates, coaches and community to avoid it.
Emmanuel Duron came into Dec. 3 as one of the most highly regarded defensive ends in his region of Texas. He is also a statecaliber wrestler.
This decision will follow this young man — even if and when he’s forgiven, and time has healed much of that decision’s pain — for the duration.
And I sincerely hope there is some redemptive path for Duron.
I hope McCullough, with all due respect to them, doesn’t hear from “Good Morning America” or the New York Times ever again.
I hope, in 2021, Edinburg returns to the gridiron and embarks on a deep postseason run under Lejia’s guidance, galvanizing their proud community.
But let this one awful decision be a stern reminder for all.
Words spoken and actions taken aren’t just about you.
They’re also about the cumulative damage left behind for everyone else as well.