The Sad and Scary Death of Joe McKinght

I was going to review Childish Gambino's new record today, but that will have to wait until Monday because I need to address the horrible tragedy that happened to former NFL running back Joe McKnight.

I was watching ESPN yesterday, and I saw scrolling on the bottom of my screen, that McKnight had died at the age of 28. I could not believe it when I saw it. I thought it may have been one of those death hoax things, but as I dug deeper, I found out I was very wrong. I needed to know what happened to him.

I remember vividly watching him in college. I am not a USC fan by any means, but when he played there, I found him a joy to watch. He was on their team after the Reggie Bush/Lendale White era, in which their running game was second to none. I never thought they would be as good on the ground as they were with those guys, but Joe McKnight was damn near as good as they were. He was very fast. He burst through holes and kicked into second gear and ran away from defenders. He was patient when waiting for holes to open up. He was a good receiver out of the backfield. Hell, he could even block. He was the total package. He didn't win the Heisman like Bush did, but he was a very good college football player.

McKnight turned his college career into a halfway decent pro career. He was a fourth-round pick by the Jets, and since I followed him in college, I followed his pro career. He wasn't a great pro, but he was pretty decent. He became a key contributor right away, He was a change of pace back for the Jets. They put him in on third downs a lot, especially to run screen plays. He became a key guy on a decent Jets team. His career was cut short due to multiple injuries, but I always remembered him being a joy to watch. Like I said, he had world class speed and vision, and just did the right things on the football field. He was a much better college player, but he was still a decent pro.

So, when this news flashed yesterday, as I said before, I could not believe it. First, he was 6 years younger than me. I am at that point in my life where I am older than the college athletes that I watch, and critique, so when someone this young dies, it literally shakes me to my core. Then, I thought that it was some kind of freak thing. Maybe he had a bad fall, maybe he had an unexplained illness that none of us knew about, maybe he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, I just couldn't figure it out.

But, later in the day, the news reported that the way he died was much, much more gruesome and disturbing than anything that I could ever think of. He was shot and killed by someone with road rage. What the hell? What has this world come to? Why does stuff like this happen so often now? Why are guns so readily available and easy to get? It is so, so sad. I mean, earlier in the week we had the terrible and disturbing situation at Ohio State, and now some gun loon, with a very short fuse, shot someone over something so insignificant. I get road rage, not as bad now because I have kids, but I have never, ever thought that someone that cut me off needed to be physically harmed. What in the hell is the matter with this person that felt they needed to shoot Joe McKnight? I heard that there was a confrontation, but it should never come to something as terrible as this. Why do crazy people get guns? And why do they think that they need to use them when they have any confrontation? Things can be solved so much easier by just using your words. Just talk. Calm the hell down and take a breath.

That is the problem. We have become a culture of people that act without thinking. It is sad. I mean, look at the election results, that was purely based on people not thinking at all. Then, we had the Ohio State incident, and now the tragic death of Joe McKnight. How much worse can 2016 truly get? This monster that took Joe McKnight's life, over some road rage, deserves to be put in jail for the rest of their life. This is a disturbed individual that thinks guns are a way to solve problems. That should terrify people.

This is such a sad and tragic event. Joe McKnight was so young and had a long, long life ahead of him. He seemed like he was a decent person. I do not remember him getting into trouble in college or in the pros. All the news when he was playing all seemed to be good things. He, at least on the surface, seemed to be a decent guy. I am literally scared at the readily availability of crazy people getting guns. Guns are a big, big problem in the world right now. Guns have always scared me, I have never even held one, and the fact that these gun nuts flaunt the fact that they have them is one of the scariest things in the world. Had this person been reasonable and used words instead of violence, Joe McKnight would still be alive today. This is a truly tragic, disturbing and sad thing that happened yesterday.

Stories like this make me scared for humanity, hate the NRA more than I already do and they just make me sad. Joe McKnight had so much ahead of him, but now that is all gone because of a disturbed individual. Rest In Peace Joe McKnight. You did not deserve this, and this is a sad, sad day for society.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.