The Jacksonville Jaguars believe they have hit on a smart strategy for identifying the best free agents on the market according to Kevin Clark of the Wall Street Journal: They look for players with great wives. Shahid Khan, the Jaguars' new owner, who made his fortune in auto-parts manufacturing, said he had the idea because he tries to meet all of the spouses of his employees, he said he has retreats in which his employees are encouraged to bring their spouses. Khan figured some of the things needed to be a solid player—like staying after practice or putting in extra work—require a stable home environment. The team's new coach, Mike Mularkey, spoke with GM Gene Smith about the importance of a good family life during his interview process and just like that, a new NFL personnel theory was born. "If you're happy at home with your wife at home, I think the energy level is higher," Mularkey said. "It's very important to me...There's a lot that goes with being married. I just believe the happier you are with your wife, the happier you are on the field. I really believe that." While there hasn't been any serious study about the relationship between marriage and performance in the NFL, the institution clearly seems to help some athletes. "I can only speak from personal experience," Smith said. "When my wife came into my life, she made me a better person. I think you start looking at things in a more responsible way and you actually have an intrinsic reason to come home." While the jury's still out on Jacksonville's marriage test, there's little debate that meeting a player's wife serves another important function: "She's usually a big part of the decision-making process," Smith said. Source: The Redzone
um, wow .............. i 'guess' this could be a possible indicator of a good character guy, which i believe is important, but, actually, many of the greatest athletes in history either weren't married when they played or cheated on their wives/didn't have great marriages when they played. actually, i could make a pretty strong case that a single guy or a guy who doesn't want to go home to his wife will stay late/work harder more often than a guy with a happy home life that may view work as his '2nd' priority ............... I can attest, when my wife or kids are being a pain in my ass, i will work longer hours because i'm in no rush to go home.
Lucky you aren't in Britain then, the wacky foreigners involved in sawwwker have said/done stupid crap all the time in the last couple decades that the floodgates opened to them. This is only the beginning for you yankeedoodles.
