You try to help people. Occasionally it works out. And sometimes it doesn't. AJC's Bill Torpy reported today re: the arrest of Roddy's cousin.
Ali White, 21, and two other men, are charged with storming into a Lawrenceville home, physically assaulting a man and woman, and stealing some items, including a watch, according to a police report obtained by the Gwinnett Daily Post.
In 2007, Roddy White, a former first-round draft pick, brought his 15-year-old brother, Tyler, and cousin Ali, then 17, from Charleston, S.C., to Atlanta, "after their lives began to wander," according to a 2008 story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The two teens lived with White, who rose each morning at 7 a.m. to fix breakfast for them and send them off to school.
Irresponsible tweeting aside, Roddy's a really good guy, and I feel for him right now. Innocent-before-proven-guilty is how our justice system rolls, but this is far from ideal given how much our WR1 invested in the kid. Roddy took him in and - assuming Ali is guilty - this is how he's repaid.
Nobody should spin or misconstrue this as a knock on Roddy. You make your own decisions. Roddy obviously had nothing to do with any of these shenanigans. Unless you're just fond of pistol whipping people, Ali's alleged conduct isn't something folks generally do for fun. It sounds like he needed the money, which makes me think he and Roddy were already somewhat distant. I mean, if my cousin were an NFLer, I'd just ask him for money.
Another non-story more or less, but it does show that Roddy has a soft side. NFLers have families, and because they're pretty well off, they often find themselves in patriarchal roles. Unfortunately, it bit him in the tuchus this time around. But heck, that happens to all of us sooner or later.
Discuss.