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+---- Thread: *Payday Coming (/showthread.php?tid=10651)
*Payday Coming - 37thchamber - 10-11-2018
"I'm totally different around my family and close friends to how I am in the locker room," Lennox Garnett explains. We're talking about his experiences as a professional so far, and how the locker room environment differs to college. He's not really giving me anything, though. So I changed tack and asked about his attitude in the locker room. Is he the joker? Is he quiet? "I keep it low key in the locker room at the moment. I'm the new guy still, just finished my rookie year. Can't be too loud."
At Howard, Garnett was a vocal leader both on and off the field, but that confidence seems to have manifested itself very differently at the professional level. It's still there, though. He's calm and assured. Focused. But there's no swagger, no volume. "That's not very Jamaican of me," he jokes.
Given that Lennox didn't move to the United States until he was almost a teenager -- when he was reunited with his parents, and also met his two younger siblings for the first time; "I didn't really remember my parents from before they left," he reveals. "I was too young." -- so he has had to adapt in ways most never do.
"I remember getting detention on like, my second day of school," he recalls. "Someone made fun of my accent, and where I grew up, it was normal to respond to that kind of thing with some cutting words of your own. So I did."
"That backfired." He adds with a laugh. "I got angry and so my accent just became more pronounced, and they just made even more fun of it until I lashed out at the nearest kid."
Lennox's father came to the school to sort the problem out, "he was really calm and quiet," Lennox remembers. "That's how I knew I was really in trouble."
Lennox points out to me that, being of Jamaican descent, expectations were high. His parents were strict. "They definitely expected a lot, and if I didn't live up to those expectations, I knew about it. My parents spent a lot of money to bring me to the States, and there were frequent reminders of that."
With the NSFL draft coming up tomorrow, Lennox -- named for his father's favourite boxer, the British heavyweight Lennox Lewis -- is acutely aware of expectation. "I've had a few interviews," he says. "And it looks like I'm pretty high on quite a few people's lists. That comes with a set of expectations of its own, a high draft pick."
He doesn't seem concerned, though. "There's nothing I can't do if I set my mind to it," he shrugs. Curious about the source of this confidence, I press the issue. "I've seen the numbers, I know I'm one of the more athletic prospects this year, I know I had a strong year with the Coyotes. This doesn't mean I think I'm the best player or anything like that, but it does mean I know my value, you know?"
I asked if he had any preference about his would-be destination, and in typical Jamaican fashion, he shrugged it off. "I'm fine anywhere," he said, before a short pause. "Warmer cities are better, though."
The Philadelphia Liberty possess the first pick of this draft, and Lennox confirmed that they have reached out to him, ostensibly because they have considered selecting him with that pick. Already knowing that he is very much aware of the pressures of being a number one pick, it intrigues me to know how he would feel about playing on a team that finished last season winless. "Not an ideal situation, obviously. But I can make a difference there." He tells me. Rumours are circling him at the moment, suggesting that he is in talks with Wu Tang Sports Management -- a player agency headed up by recently retired Baltimore Hawks cornerback Antoine Delacour -- which would surely have some impact on a possible Liberty pick. "Not really. Even if I go with the Wu, I've already spoken to Antoine about this, and his personal issues with the Liberty can't interfere with him making the best possible deals for me. I have a plan, and I can't allow another man's beef to derail that."
A plan?
"Yeah, my parents left Jamaica because the economy is pretty horrible. You know it's over a hundred Jamaican dollars to one US dollar? That's what we had to deal with." He begins explaining. "But I also know that we have a strong athletic tradition in Jamaica. Everyone knows about the sprinting, but there's a lot more than that. I want to show the world what Jamaican athletes can do, and where better than in professional football? One of the most athletically demanding sports in the world."
I've cracked his shell, he tails off into a frenzied explanation of his plans -- which are admittedly grand plans -- and how he intends to accomplish his goals. So does this mean he's going to be chasing a large contract in the NSFL? "Maybe not straight away," he admits. "I'm no fool, I just got here. I can't ask for the big bucks yet. But that's the end goal."
Back to the draft, Lennox lets slip that some teams didn't make contact. "I know why," he says, without a hint of disappointment. "They don't have early picks, and they're certain I won't be around by the time they're on the clock. Which is fair." Ah, there's that confidence, that swagger, that every famous Jamaican athlete seems to have. For all his talk of keeping it low key, there is no hint of humility in the man. Even his attire tells a story, now that I'm paying closer attention. An immaculately trimmed hairline; a gold chain with a clenched fist hanging from it -- also gold; multiple gold rings. This is a man who has come into wealth and wants people to know. My eyes flick back to the chain, though. Why a fist?
"That's power." Lennox tells me matter-of-factly. "I've been through some struggles. Not as many as others, but some. And I wanted to show solidarity with those who are still struggling. So I got the chain, and donate to community causes and so on." So the fist is a symbol of solidarity? "Yeah, it's a symbol of... fight. It tells everyone I'm not going to back down, tells people still fighting to keep going, I'm with you."
This leads to a discussion on the protests during the national anthem by various athletes in America, and I ask Lennox whether he would demonstrate in such a way. "It's a valid protest, and it gets people talking," he says, after a long pause. "But I'm not sure I could do what some of these guys are doing. There's too much at stake for me, personally. Do I support what they're doing? Of course. I just can't say I'd be as willing to sacrifice as they are."
An awkward silence follows that moment of brutal honesty, and Lennox appears troubled. "It's easy to say you're willing to give up what you worked hard to earn, but to actually do it is an entirely different matter," he elaborates. "These guys can do it their way, I'll do it mine. We're all working towards the same goal."
Sensing the need to lighten the mood a little, I switch the topic back to family. Lennox has two siblings, a younger brother and a younger sister. "They're both athletes too," he grins proudly. "Tanya runs track at Coral Reef, and Aaron is on the basketball team there. We're pretty close." A little surprising, given the age gaps (five and six years respectively) but Lennox insists this is the result of being apart from family for so long. "I love Miss Rita, she's like another mother to me, but it's not the same as being with your whole family. I hadn't had them there for so long, so when I did, I made sure I made it count."
His parents will be in attendance tomorrow, as will his siblings, as he waits to see where his career takes him next. "Aaron won't play football because of me," Lennox laughs. "Says it's annoying being compared to me all the time, so he focused on basketball instead. He's already better than I was. Taller, too." The three of them regularly vacation together, travelling to Jamaica when they can find time between school semesters, and Lennox's commitments as a professional football player in Kansas City. "First time I took them back with me, they struggled to understand the locals," Lennox recalls. "Aaron made some joke about how Dad and I get 'super Jamaican' whenever another Jamaican is around, so I spent the rest of the trip speaking patois to annoy him. Tanya picked it up quickly, but Aaron... he just couldn't get his head around it."
The final thing I asked Lennox about was how long he sees his career lasting. Without missing a beat, he replied "ten more years". Does he not think he can go longer? "I could, but if I haven't achieved everything I want to achieve in ten years, it's probably time to call it a day. I have more important things to do after football."
(1542 words)