"Ghetto Instincts"

"Crowell used all the right instincts on the field but off the field he failed!"

Growing up in the hood can be both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that if you can survive there you can survive anywhere in the world. There are certain survival instincts that are developed over a period of time that makes it easy to function in the world. The curse is that the things that seem normal ain't always normal to the rest of the world! What's acceptable in the hood is typically against the law outside of it. I was a grown man before I realized that hearing gun shots all night wasn't normal and that it wasn't just white noise. It wasn't until I was a college graduate and had moved to Smyrna, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, for my first job that I realized that all people didn't shoot guns at midnight on New Years!

Unfortunately, the University of Georgia's starting running back Isaiah Crowell has had a difficult time understanding what instincts should be transferred to the outside world and those that shouldn't. Early Friday morning he was arrested and charged with a felony count of possessing a weapon in a school zone, a felony count of altered identification mark and misdemeanor count of possession/carrying a concealed weapon. He was arrested around 2:20 a.m. ET after being stopped at a vehicle checkpoint near the Georgia campus and booked at 3:37 a.m. There was also a strong smell of marijuana in the vehicle as well but none was found. Not only was he arrested but Coach Mark Richt has kicked him off of the team!

Let me break it down for you in standard hood vernacular bruh! He and some of his boyz were coming from the club bumpin' that Tupac "Me against the World" smokin' weed when they realized that they were driving into a police checkpoint. They couldn't U-turn because it was too late. So they finished all of the weed and figured that they were good because the po po's can't arrest you for smelling like weed. Therefore, they had no problem with the police searching the ride because all of the weed had been inhaled. However, Crowell forgot about the burner under the driver's seat. 

See in the ghetto it's completely normal to have one under the seat because that's the way everybody rides. Since he was a little boy he's seen uncles, older brothers and maybe even his ole man carrying guns. It's normal bruh when you're from that environment. Unfortunately, in the real world you have to have that joint registered bruh. You can't just ride around with a 9mm with the serial numbers scratched off because that's against the law bruh! I know it's normal in the hood because registers guns but you ain't in the ghetto anymore. 

It is instinctive to protect yourself in the hood. When kids are 6 years old walking to the park they're carrying  either a bat or a stick for protection. Unfortunately, it is what it is! It's a learned behavior bruh! This isn't the suburbs where you never have to develop that instinct. 

However, now that you're a big time college football player the "I have to carry a gun to protect myself because Ima get them before they get me" instinct isn't needed anymore! As a matter of fact, it was only needed in the ghetto as you got older if you were into some "gang bang/drug selling or always got your mouth open" type activities. If you weren't involved in any of the above behaviors you never needed to develop that instinct to carry in the first place because boyz weren't checkin' for you like that. I'm not telling you what I heard. I'm telling you what I know because I grew up in gang infested Gary, In. and I've never touched a gun in my life. 

Crowell forgot that he was the No. 1 running back in the country and the No. 4 prospect overall by ESPN Recruiting in 2011. He forgot that he led the Georgia Bulldogs in rushing in just his freshman year with 850 yards on 185 carries with five touchdowns. He forgot that he was the MAN in Athens and that he wasn't in the hood anymore. Folks down there were kissing his butt and would do anything for him.  However, because he couldn't control his instincts he's sitting in jail and is kicked off of the team right now. 

Some instincts are critical to survival out here and they can only be developed in the ghetto. Like always being able to keep your head on a swivel while you're out and about. Because there's always somebody looking for a sucker that's not paying attention. When you see a cat looking suspicious on the street make sure that he sees you looking at him because now he's not coming your way. Why, because he knows that he can't sneak up you now. Keep your doors locked at all times because criminals are always looking for the path of least resistance. On campus never sit your book bag down etc. Instincts like that are needed not the "I have to carry a gun" joint. That joint get's you popped all of the time bruh!

Another curse of the ghetto is that when you're the man growing up you tend to get a pass on everything. Why, because all of your friends and family are waiting for you to get paid so that you can take care of them. Nobody ever tapped this kid up and told him what was at stake at UGA. This was an opportunity to play on the big stage and in two more years he'd be a millionaire. Nobody held him accountable for his actions up until he showed up at Georgia and by then it was too late. You can't change a cat once he's been ruined by all of the folks sitting around waiting on him to get paid. 

That's why parents, family members and friends around these young studs have to be willing to jam a boy up when he gets out of line when he's still coming up. Coach Mark Richt had had enough when he finally dismissed him from the team on Friday. He's been in the coaches doghouse since he's arrived on campus more than a year ago. 

Sometimes you can take a cat out of the ghetto but you can't take the ghetto out of the cat. Now let's keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! There is some ghetto in all of us that grew up there. That's why we have the drive to succeed so bad because it's carried by the flavor we picked up in the hood. You can see it in our manorisms everyday. That's why  people can't keep us from winning because they become intimidated by our confidence. Our thought process is, if we made it out of the hood we can make it anywhere and it comes across every time we walk into a room and open our mouths. These are the instincts that make those of us that grew up in that world so great. Not the "I have to carry a gun" joint!

I just hope that this young cat can get his instincts in order to use the talent that God has blessed him with. He has to first deal with the two felonies that he just picked up. I'm sad that he just couldn't get it together though. Unfortunately, some duns have no intentions of leaving the ghetto and are recklessly pursuing a BS in Hoodology, a Masters in Ghettoism and a PhD in Thugatology. 

Holla At Ya Boy
Jay Graves
Follow me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport
Information from the Associated Press was used in this Hot Joint!