Derek Anderson has since apologized for the way he handled his postgame news conference on Monday night, but I still can’t help but think the whole situation was blown out of proportion.
It was disappointing to me to see that when the Cardinals were losing, the TV cameras spotlighted Anderson, and then the snap judgment was that just because he was smiling on the sideline, he must be enjoying the whipping they were taking and didn’t care.
I think it’s ignorant, close-minded and very shallow of people to always try and find the negative in a situation. It’s also presumptuous to know what Anderson and Deuce Lutui were even talking about in the first place.
It’s human nature that people handle things in different manners. I have five children and for two of them, when things get heated or they get nervous, they smile or laugh so they don’t have to deal with the real pressure of the situation. I don’t think Anderson handled himself in the wrong manner by smiling on the sideline.
I got whipped a bunch of times in this league. I smiled and laughed often when I was in the locker room — or maybe I wasn’t hooting and woofing — and it was my right. It didn’t mean that I wasn’t taking the game seriously or that I wasn’t disappointed we lost the game. It’s human nature.
I also don’t mind the way that Anderson walked off the podium following the game. Listening to the exchange, I felt the reporter was baiting Anderson and then basically attacked his character as a player. That’s where it became personal to me. Every player in this league is there because they’re very competitive and they love the game. When you attack that, and everything they’ve done in their life is football, it’s personal.
Anderson did answer the initial question, about why exactly he was smiling, by saying it was none of anyone’s business. But the reporter didn’t like that answer and wanted another one. Anderson did get upset, but that’s human nature too.
I was happy that he walked off, because I know I would have done the same thing. I probably would have been even more upset at the reporter and attacked him back. It was the right move that Anderson left — he surely didn’t have anything nice to say at that point.
I hope people realize that Anderson takes the game seriously, and that he’s not going to let his character come under question if he wants to smile on the sidelines.
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