By Rahsaan Hunt

It’s that time again and like Mike and Mike, “I’m back and better than ever!!” It’s your old boy, Hot Rod! The Row….hold up that’s not the name up top. That’s right folks; you don’t see the pen name for this one. This write up gets the government.  Why, you may ask? Well, this may be my last write up for Planet Ill and I’ve always wanted to do at least one write-up under my real name. So for this one, say hello to Rahsaan Hunt. Now does that mean that Hot Rod! The Rowdy One is dead? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!!!

Who knows, maybe I’ll be back later, but for now I have to walk away from Planet Ill and focus on other things. Some of you who’ve followed me know I went through this before and I came back, so as I said before, “Who knows?” Hey, I still have the Fantom Zone, so I’ll be around. The kid isn’t totally out of the picture.

Speaking of leaving and coming back, doesn’t all of this sound familiar? Doesn’t it remind you of a certain quarterback who likes to leave and come back? I believe his jersey number is 4, he wears purple and gold, and he’ll be on center stage in tonight’s season opener. Well since we’re on the subject, I’m going to do something that I have never done before and stick to it. I’m going to agree with a certain someone, who I can’t stand.

Yesterday, during The Daily Line, on the cable sports network, Versus; Terrell “T.O.” Owens and Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson (I refuse to call him Chad Ochocinco. His momma named him Chad Johnson, I’m gonna call him Chad Johnson) were being interviewed about their new show and were asked this question:

During the interview, TOcho (Shout out to Robert Littal of Black Sports Online for the TOcho nickname) the topic of Brett Favre came up. Here’s what T.O. said:

“Had it been one of us(Ochocinco or I) doing some of the same things, pulling these stunts that Brett Favre has done the last two or three years, then we would be labeled ‘not a team player’, selfish.

You know what, he’s 100% correct. Now ask yourself this, had it been one of them pulling the same antics, would they have been ostracized because of: a) their previous antics, b) the color of their skin, or c) all of the above? I’m gonna roll with the answer “C” on this one. Would a T.O., or a Chad Johnson, or any other African-American athlete get away with what Favre has pulled in the past 3-4 years? I’ll let Charlie Murphy answer that:

Now, for those who know me, they know I’m not a “black or white” kind of guy. I’ve always believed in the “gray” area of things, but on this on particular topic, I have to throw my “black fist” in the air and stand up and voice my opinion.

Just because a guy has “one” Super Bowl title and a slew of NFL records, it doesn’t mean he has the right to hold their team hostage the way Favre did. I know in the past that I’ve said to give him a pass because of who he was and what he’s accomplished, but opinions can change. With the way things were handled this year in regard to Favre’s return, (three current Viking players going to his house to get an answer. Are u kidding me!?) I’ve seen the error in my ways.

Let that have been a Lawrence Taylor or Jerry Rice pulling that stunt, they would have never heard the end of it. Just look at LeBron James and the way he handled his situation with free agency. LeBron got the business from everybody, while Favre was playing “should I stay or should I go now” with the Minnesota Vikings and the NFL.

Something has to be done about this and here’s my solution; the league should shorten their time span for players to announce their return or retirement from the sport. As soon as the last game is played in February, the player should make their decision by the first or second week of April. This will allow teams who aren’t sure about a player’s return to prepare properly for their absence.  Now instead of a whole summer to make a decision, you get two months.

In terms of race, well, that’s an issue I don’t have an answer for. It’s the way the world is at the moment. If the roles were reversed, despite a person’s behavior, and they were black, they would have got the business from the fans and the media. Let’s hope something is done in the future so that our off-seasons aren’t consumed with the “Will they, Won’t they, Comeback” guessing game.

Well, that’s all from me, but before I go, I wanna thank Odeisel for allowing me to make a lil noise for the past year. Also, I wanna shout out Shelz, DJ Fusion, Malice Intended and the rest of the Planet Ill staff for being some of the best people to be associated with in this world of writing. I’m not a writer, just a sports fan who was given an opportunity to voice his opinion on paper. Enjoy the season folks and like Cee-Lo, “I’ll be around.”

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