On Darnell Dockett: This too shall pass

When asked to leave by the D-backs, Luis Gonzalez made it a point to join the rival Dodgers and plot his revenge against his old team. He now works in the D-backs front office.

This too shall pass.

Charles Barkley took a blowtorch to the Suns organization on national TV to force a trade. His face now looms above the court as a member of the Ring Of Honor.

This too shall pass.

Now that Darnell Dockett has gone and done the unthinkable — signed with the rival San Francisco 49ers — Cardinals fans are piling on. He’s a hypocrite. Lacks loyalty. A traitor.

And two years from now he might very well be sounding that alarm high above the University of Phoenix Stadium crowd before a Cardinals home game.

This too shall pass.

The preferred path would have been for Dockett to stay a Cardinal, stand by his words of a year ago and finish his career with the team that drafted him a decade ago. It’s what I had hoped for; quite frankly Dockett was my favorite of those core Cardinals. The ones who bridged the gap between what they were and what they are.

I liked reckless attitude. He played like a demon on the field and caught hell off it. He made every space he occupied, either the locker room or his twitter account, a little more entertaining and a little more dangerous. If you laid out the jerseys of Adrian Wilson, Karlos Dansby, Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald or Dockett, I’ll pick out 9-0 every time.

It’s that reckless attitude that has Cardinals fans burning (metaphorically) those jerseys today. A year ago he spoke of Karlos Dansby’s lack of loyalty in choosing Cleveland. He chased the money, Dockett said. And in doing so many Cardinals fans assumed that when given the same choice, Dockett would show more loyalty.

In retrospect, the wise play would have been for Dockett to keep his mouth shut. But really, when has ever been good at that?

First off, the Dansby comments weren’t a signed legal document. Nothing that bound him to the team. It was an emotional guy having an emotional reaction. Show of hands, who out there reading this blog is guilty of that from time to time?

Second, the Dansby comments were an example of, “Do as I say not as I do.” Show of hands, parents out there — and be honest now — how many of you are guilty of this with your own kids?

And third, the hypocrisy doesn’t erase all the good Dockett has done. Before last year’s knee injury, he missed two games in ten years. He was tough, loyal and poured it all out there all the time. If what he said about Dansby wipes out all the good Dockett has done in a Cardinals uniform, that is your prerogative.

It is not mine. I will celebrate what he meant to this team.

How many more times do we need to experience a painful sports breakup like this before we learn it never ends well? Happy endings where player and team end happily ever after are the stories I used to read to my kids at night.

Feelings are hurt, emotions are raw and it leaves fans disenchanted. Barkley, Gonzalez, Randy Johnson, Steve Nash; who knows, maybe one day it will be Shane Doan. The end is never fun but redemption and forgiveness are always around the corner.

This too shall pass.

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