DeSean Jackson villian or hero?

The perception of most professional athletes is that they are greedy, and only play for the check they will receive. You think that they are selfish and only care about themselves, that they don’t care what team they play for, only for the money, and they sure as heck don’t care about their fans, am I right?

Take DeSean Jackson, cocky football player, who celebrates every touchdown like it is his first ever. You would think that this is the athlete I described a few sentences ago. Only a few short weeks ago I would have agreed with you, but after reading a story about something Jackson did recently, it completely changed my view on him and other professional athletes.

I don’t know if any of you saw the story about a 13-year-old boy named Nadin Khoury. Khoury was the victim of bullying at the hands of a group of teenagers in Pennsylvania. A video was captured as these bullies dragged Khoury through the snow and hung him to a fence by his jacket. Courtesy of the bullies putting the video on the Internet, this video went viral all over and caught the eye of the show “The View.”

“The View” brought Khoury, his mother and his father on the show. After talking about the video, Khoury said that the reason he spoke up was to help future kids who are being bullied. Elisabeth Hasselbeck then spoke about how Khoury is a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan, and that there were some other people who wanted to tell Khoury how brave they thought he was.

Then, from the side of the set, came DeSean Jackson and offensive linemen Todd Herrman and Jamaal Jackson. Right away the young Khoury started to tear up as DeSean walked right up to him and gave him a huge hug, followed by Herrman and Jamaal. Khoury’s mother and Whoopi Goldberg also broke down in tears, as they watched this in front of their eyes. Goldberg then talked about how the three of them changed their plans to come and be with Khoury. Jackson, who had originally sat next to Barbara Walters, got up and moved Walters over so he could sit next to Khoury. Khoury, who was still crying at the time, had his favorite professional athlete sitting next to him telling him how proud he was of him.

Jackson then got up and took his own jersey off his back, autographed it for Khoury and gave it to him. He then told Khoury that anytime he needed them, DeSean has got two linemen to protect him.

Say what you want about DeSean; he’s cocky, he doesn’t respect the game of football. But what DeSean did was amazing. Kudos to you DeSean, my perception of you is a lot different now.

What do the Yankees offseason mean?

Mark Prior, Bartolo Colon, Freddy Garcia, Eric Chavez, Ronnie Belliard, Andrew Jones and Russell Martin; sounds like the all-star team from 2003, right? Wrong, it’s the new part of the rotation, bullpen and bench for the 2011 New York Yankees.

I know you’re all saying, “Wait Pete, you’re not serious, they’re all has-beens,” and yes, you are right, but you are also wrong.

You are right in saying that they are all possibly washed up and that Brian Cashman has lost his mind. Mark Prior hasn’t pitched in the MLB since ‘06, I was still going to Sweet 16s at that point, and Bartolo Colon is still pitching in the majors, where have I been? Freddy Garcia hasn’t made an all-star team since ‘02; Eric Chavez hasn’t played in over 100 games since ‘06, and who is Ronnie Belliard? Andrew Jones, the same Jones that left the Atlanta Braves for a huge contract and then batted under .200, and Russell Martin, who went from top tier catcher in baseball to sitting on the bench in Los Angeles. What is Cashman thinking?

Depth is what he is thinking. One thing the Yankees lacked last year was depth on the bench and in the bullpen. Last season the Yankees had Marcus Thames as their fourth outfielder. For those of you who don’t know, Thames should never own a baseball glove ever again. Ramiro Pena was their extra infielder, great glove, but it looks like he is swinging a stickball bat when he’s up at the plate. And who could forget Nick Johnson, the man with the third best OBP in baseball in 2009? He batted lower then my weight and I weigh 170 lbs.

Let us not forget about their bullpen. With the exception of Mariano Rivera, Kerry Wood and Boone Logan no one had lower then a 3.00 era, no one was close. Our go-to guy before we got Wood was Joba Chamberlain and David Robertson, who both sported over 3.80 era. That’s not good at all for guys whom we expect to get big out late in games.

Adding these so-called “has-beens” gives the Yankees options, more options then they had all of last season. They are all low-risk, high-reward players, all of them except Martin received major league contracts. These players will have to earn their money. So if they don’t make the major league roster out of spring training they are gone, no money involved, and if they do make the team and play well, then they are steals.

In 2009, when the Yankees won their last championship, they had players like Brett Gardner, Eric Hinske and Jerry Hairston, Jr. coming off the bench. Their bullpen had guys like Alfredo Aceves, Chad Gaudin, Phil Hughes, Phil Coke and late in the playoffs, Damaso Marte.

If Yankees fans want their team to get back to winning championships, this is the route to go.