Titus Young can't afford what he wants to buy. Unfortunately, he lacks the perspective to comprehend this.
The Detroit Lions wide receiver wants to be a diva. That's nothing new for his position in the NFL, since recent history is littered with wideouts who love the spotlight, throw tantrums or change their names to their uniform numbers in Spanish. Wide receivers are almost expected to come with drama and/or demands these days, so perhaps Young feels a sense of positional entitlement.
Young, however, is intent on enacting drama from a stage that does not exist. If a Terrell Owens gives a brow-raising quote, you roll with it. If a Chad Ochocinco ruffles some feathers, it's overlooked. Titus Young cannot afford such things. He simply hasn't earned the credibility on or off the field to cash in the chips it takes for a team's PR staff to work around such a nuisance.
In fact, Young is not worth even a fraction of the trouble he's created. It's amazing that he's even employed by the Lions at this point. The team's second-round pick in 2011 out of Boise State was supposed to take attention away from Calvin Johnson on the field, but instead he's insisted on off-the-field attention of the worst kind.
Perhaps the Lions should have noticed Young would become quite the nuisance since he had issues at Boise State as well, serving a suspension his sophomore season for punching a teammate. He would do the same last May when he decked safety Louis Delmas and was sent home from the Lions OTAs. During the 2012 season, Young became a "distraction", according to head coach Jim Schwartz, after causing frustration for assistants Shawn Jefferson and Scott Linehan. His own teammates were even ready for the team to move on without him.
Now the latest drama comes via Young's Twitter feed, where the wideout has threatened to quit the sport if he doesn't get his way:
Never played the game for d money
— Titus D Young Sr (@TitusDYoungSr) January 22, 2013
Before deleting the post, Young also wrote, "Like I said I never been selfish but if I'm not going to get the football i don't want to play anymore". Unfortunately he didn't learn from those first few statements and found himself caught up in the same a few days later.
Oh I'm not done, if y'all going to cut me let me go. I'm tired of the threats
— Titus D Young Sr (@TitusDYoungSr) January 25, 2013
Perhaps the most telling response of Young's comes in the following:
@scott5050 I'm not a diva I live It
— Titus D Young Sr (@TitusDYoungSr) January 25, 2013
"I'm not a diva. I live it." It's the sort of response that's only spoken by a fool -- perhaps the NFL's biggest at this point. Young has every chance to become an offensive weapon in a pass-happy offense next to the game's greatest receiver. The platform is his for the taking. The chances are there. Unfortunately, he continues to ignore what's right in front of him for the sake of that which is not reachable.
During a week in which we are reminded of the character and leadership it takes to perform on the game's grandest stage, Young's childish and callow antics stands out like a sore thumb. The most infantile player in the game apparently has no plans to grow up anytime soon.