NFL undrafted free agents

Saw an interesting post on PFT earlier today.  It featured the Chiefs’ own Dwayne Bowe sharing a story with ESPN The Magazine.  Here’s an excerpt:

“You hear stories about groupies hanging out in hotel lobbies, but some of my teammates had it set up so there was a girl in every room.  The older guys get on MySpace and Facebook a week before we go to a city; when a pretty one writes back, they arrange to fly her in three or four days in advance. They call it importing.”

“Younger guys don’t have the money to do it,” Bowe added.  “Anyway, these girls had the whole top floor. They know everything about us — first and last names, sisters and brothers, salary.  This one girl was talking to me like she’d known me for years.  ‘Hey, D-Bowe, how’s Grandma?’  I’m like, ‘How do you know my grandma?’  She knew that I talk about her every time I’m interviewed for a story.

SMH.  Like he said before, groupies will always be there whenever a team featuring young millionaires is anywhere within striking distance, filled with delusions of “have a baby by me, be a millionaire.”  Every one of them thinks they will somehow be different and special to the object of their desire/greed/affection/stalking.  But I digress.  If this amusing little anecdote is a true story then forget about the trouble it can cause for Bowe and the team — imagine the trouble it will cause across the entire sports landscape.  Think about it, people will have to start wondering if this is going on all over the place.  If this story is true, it’s basically prostitution.  You can’t honestly tell me that these women just show up in the player’s hotel room, knowing intimate details about them, just to hang out for a few days with them.

Money may not be given to them for “favors” but they are basically getting a free trip with free rooms and I’m sure free meals at restaurants other than IHOP or Mickey D’s.  A little spending money is always good to have, too.

Let’s face it; each woman now has some kind of dirt on the man whose room they are staying in.  Tiger’s misadventures prove (to me at least) that all it takes is one noho (thank you, Mr. Littal for that) speaking out to lead to a flood of nohos speaking out, each trying to trump the last in outrageousness of their story.  This is also doing very little to help the image of a lot of women out there who aren’t about this kind of nonsense just because they happen to admire certain athletes.  I wonder if the men on the PBA (bowlers) tour have these kinds of adventures.  It’s possible; the ultimate groupie is more about the money and potential fame than what sport you play.

Dwayne Bowe may have inadvertently opened a huge can of worms here.  Now all the “older” players on the team in his rookie year may have to face some sort of scrutiny.  It may not come from the league or media, but definitely from their wives/girlfriends or significant others.  I know if I were one of the players who either helped shuttle these women to San Diego (the location he talked about for this story) I wouldn’t be very happy with Dwayne.  This is the sort of thing you just don’t talk about.  It’s one of those things that society kind of just knows happens, but chooses to keeps it moving.