Jacksonville Jaguars: Dante Fowler Jr. apologizes, doesn’t learn his lesson
By Luke Sims
Dante Fowler Jr., defensive end for the Jacksonville Jaguars, apologized over his recent arrest but he hasn’t learned (yet).
“I don’t feel like I have a maturity issue” is the line that Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end added onto his apology after his recent arrest.
This was an arrest after a middle aged man criticized his driving which was enough to prompt Fowler to hit him in the head, stomp on his glasses, and throw his groceries in some water.
"Despite the two arrests and nine traffic tickets in three counties, Fowler said: “I don’t feel like I have a maturity issue; it’s just some things. Maturity is not a problem. I’m actually growing a lot, especially with this new structure [on the Jaguars] and everything that we have. It’s starting to carve me into the person that I want to be, the professional that I want to be.”"
Ideally, Fowler will demonstrate growth with the team’s new no-nonsense head coach and executive vice president. Getting arrested over such a minor encounter is not the way to do that.
Stating that there is no maturity issue just demonstrates that Fowler does not understand the problem.
I came down hard on Fowler following his arrest. I wrote that he wasn’t professional enough to matter and that “these are not the actions of an adult who knows how to handle himself in adverse situations and knows how to act in a manner that is becoming of someone who holds a position of leadership.” Whether he knows it or not, Fowler’s immaturity matters. He needs to demonstrate that he is an adult and can handle minor hiccups on the road as an adult.
That is something that he must do regardless of what his profession is, but it matters even more as young children look up to him and his teammates rely on him. Then, after growing as an adult, he must prove he is a professional.
While ideally they both go hand in hand and Fowler becomes a stand up citizen and productive player, sometimes the emphasis needs to be on the man first and the player second.
Related Story: Dante Fowler isn't professional enough to matter
Fowler still has the support of the locker room. Now he needs to show that he can give that same support back.