I had a chance to visit with Mike Tyson, and I came away with the notion that he is still a fascinating person that at times has been misread and unfairly stereotyped. He is sharper than he has ever been credit for.
Tyson, who will be appearing at the Peabody on Friday in a one-man play, still has moments that he is trying to shake when it comes to his past.
“I’m just glad I did not kill anybody or get killed myself,” Tyson said.
The former heavyweight champion’s life has been on display to the world for the last 20 years, and not all of it has been pleasant. The financial, marital, abusive life of Mike Tyson is a story that made it to Broadway in this one-man play that has received positive reviews.
Tyson is not your average former pro athlete. One thing that he has never gotten credit for is the knowledge that he carries. While he shies away from the fight game, there are just a handful of people on the planet who have a better knowledge of the history of the sport of boxing. Few understand the dynamics of what it takes in the ring to win. I always thought Tyson would be a great analyst for one of the boxing networks. He should write a book about the sport and its history.
Tyson still trains as if he were in the ring without the hint of even hitting a bag in anger.
“I work out everyday for a couple of hours to keep my mind and body clean. All the years of training for fights has kept me in the routine,” said the former champ.
Asked if he misses the fight game, Tyson was quick with the answer: “Not at all. I have been to gyms and watched guys train but I never, ever had the notion to ever want to get near the ring again. I am at a good place in my life now with a great family for support.”
Mike Tyson took a lot from the sport of boxing and the sport extracted a great deal from him as well. As he embarks upon a new venture with his production, if you are a fan of the sport, one can only hope that Tyson will someday give back with his knowledge and understanding.
For now though, it is full speed ahead with respect to the play, The Undisputed Truth. If the tour remains successful, Tyson hopes to take it to other parts of the world. After that, he hopes his wife Kiki will have other projects for him to mull over and get involved in.
For now the former champ has gone from boxing to wrestling some of the demons at times. But for the most part he is gracious, thoughtful and eloquent in his new venture and the demands that come with it. If things hold up, he could be the champ once again, only this time it will be onstage.
Paid less to practice less
While there is no blocking and tackling taking place at the moment, the NFL season is well under way. Yes, the silly season is here.
You know, the season where players who have the so called big contracts are asked to take a pay cut and when they refuse they get cut.
Or how about the player who leaves a team because he cannot fit under the salary cap only to sign with another team where they seldom play through the life of the contract because (you guessed it) his salary no longer fits under the cap.
In this era where the players were locked out during the last labor unrest and safety issues have now come up, not one of these so-called geniuses thought it was a good idea that when they got locked out to demand more guarantees like their brethren of the NBA, MLB and NHL.
Yet they feel real good about not having to practice twice a day in the summer. Yep, that is the ticket, practice less and get paid less in the end.
While you may hear about the big paydays of a few, most can only count on the guaranteed money that is included in the signing bonus and other roster incentives. The average pay per year pales in comparison to the other sports and yet this sport has the shortest shelf life.
How can this be in this day and age? The big money is paid up front to the player and the owners always bank on the notion that the player will not be around when the bigger money is due on the back end of the contract.
With such a one-sided deal in favor of the owners, why even bother signing a contract when the owners can pull the plug anytime they want? I guess it is what it is and the players, no matter what generation, just let it happen year after year.
The silly season gets even sillier when you see the amount of money that teams pay players in the off season. The Dallas Cowboys made a $55 million commitment to quarterback Tony Romo who has yet to be part of a winning tradition. Romo has been part of exactly one playoff win for the Cowboys.
Romo is not by himself, as receiver Mike Wallace was given a busload of money for being considered one of the fastest players in all of football who has yet to live up to the hype.
It will be interesting to see how many of the players who sign big free agent deals are still on the team in the final year of the contract. For those who refuse to have their deal restructured or flat out take a pay cut, once they are cut loose because of ego, seldom do they find a better deal anywhere else.
Welcome to the NFL.
