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Coaches Frustrated After No HBCU Players Selected In 2021 NFL Draft
If Bill And Melinda Gates Can’t Make A Marriage Work, What Hope Is There For The Rest Of Us?
Melinda and Bill Gates, shown here at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, in 2015, announced Mon- day that they’d be divorcing after 27 years of marriage.
The 2021 NFL draft came and went, and after 259 picks, no player from a historically Black college and university was se- lected.
This came as a surprise. Play- ers from HBCU programs — like North Carolina Central cor- nerback Bryan Mills — were projected to go in the later rounds of the draft, but had to settle for signing as undrafted free agents.
Washington Football Team advisor Doug Williams was not happy about that, according to the Washington Post.
“It’s hard to believe that not one guy is worthy of being drafted,” said Washington Football Team senior adviser Doug Williams, a Grambling alum and the first Black quar- terback to win a Super Bowl. “That to me, that’s a travesty. Hopefully, we can fix it.”
Jackson State coach and NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders expressed a similar sentiment Monday, sending out a message on Instagram saying players from HBCU programs
DIEON SANDERS SOCIAL MEDIA POST
were "NEGLECTED AND RE- JECTED."
Sanders said he witnessed a number of players from HBCU programs who "were more than qualified to be drafted."
Why did players from HBCU programs get ignored in NFL draft?
Players from HBCU pro- grams likely suffered as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, ac- cording to the Washington Post.
Smaller programs across the board suffered in the draft from the pandemic, which canceled fall seasons, eliminated pro day workouts and decreased travel for NFL scouts. Faced with un- certainty, NFL front offices re-
lied on powerhouse programs more than usual. Only five play- ers from the Football Champi- onship Subdivision were chosen, the lowest since 1993, along with two Division II play- ers and one from Division III.
Grambling Coach Broderick Fobbs agreed that the pan- demic played a role, saying teams had fewer chances to find "diamonds in the rough." He still expressed disappointment that no player from an HBCU program was drafted.
There were opportunities for NFL teams to see players from HBCU programs. An HBCU combine was held in March. Over 40 players from HBCU programs attended the event.
Just imagine how many hours of couples therapy you can afford when you’re among the world’s richest people. Or the shared sense of purpose you could forge while raising three children and running a $50 billion charitable founda- tion with your spouse.
Then imagine that it’s not enough to keep you together.
In announcing their decision to divorce, Bill and Melinda Gates cited the work they’d done on their marriage, and a mutual sense of pride in their children and philanthropy. But, they said in identical joint statements shared on Twitter, “we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.”
Yes, money is one of the main things couples fight about. But having so much of it that you can give billions away doesn’t eliminate the questions that every couple faces: Do we still want similar things in life? Can we still create that life to- gether? Or would it be better if we forged ahead on our own?
“They’re real people. They’re not above it all. You still have to deal with each other on a human level,” says Carlos Lastra, a partner in the family law practice at the Maryland firm Paley Rothman. “They somehow figured out what worked in their relationship for the past 27 years. They couldn’t figure out what would work for another 27 years. It doesn’t matter what your back- ground is: You’ve got to figure out your own secret sauce and keep working at it.”
She also thinks that, because the pandemic made many of us grasp life’s fragility, there’s “more permission to be au- thentic now than there ever has been.” And sometimes that
return to our true selves spurs big changes.
Another way that Bill, who’s 65, and Melinda, who’s 56, are just a normal couple? As the stigma surrounding di- vorce has eroded, the divorce rate for Americans 50 and older has doubled since the 1990s. Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos were 55 and 49, respec- tively, when they divorced. Al and Tipper Gore split while in their 60s. Kanye and Kim are getting divorced. Will and Jada marriage doesn't seem the same despite the couple staying together. In one big nut shell....Money doesn't buy you Love.
Vicki Larson, who’s writ- ten extensively on divorce and is working on a book about aging as a woman, says that when couples have raised their children to adulthood — the Gateses’ are 18 to 25 — they often feel their job as parents is essentially “done,” prompting them to reassess their lives. “You go through phases in your marriage and you go through phases as a person, and some- times they don’t jibe,” Larson notes. “When you have kids, you’re on a path together.” Once they’re grown, you have to figure out what your shared path will be, Larson adds, or decide this isn’t what you want anymore.
In the end, the real blessing of life is not how much money you have or who you love per- sonally. It's based on you being 'thankful you're alive' and are you happy or joyful every mo- ment of the day.
This is one of the reasons we regular folks are fascinated when billionaires split. It’s comforting to know that rela- tionships are difficult no mat- ter who we are.
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