Jets guard Willie Colon remembers the “rookie dinner” when he was in his first year with the Steelers in 2006 and the check came to him.
“It was kind of like a rite of passage,” Colon said Monday. “I had to pay a heavy bill.”
Colon declined to reveal the amount, but indicated it was around the $15,000 Dolphins tackle Jonathan Martin reportedly had to hand over for his teammates’ trip to Las Vegas. Colon, now a veteran, said it’s a part of the NFL that has to go the way of the leather helmet.
“It’s a culture that’s changing, that needs to change,” Colon said. “You’re messing with a guy’s way of living. Nobody can kick up 15 grand and have to pay rent and God knows what else. I think it’s irresponsible of his teammates and everybody else. You’ve got to be accountable for how you treat people. I feel sorry for [Martin] in that regard.”
Colon said at the time he was asked to cough up the money, he did not see it as a choice.
“I didn’t know better. I was a rookie,” Colon said. “They told me to shut up and get it done.”
Colon is now one of the most respected leaders in the Jets locker room and he said players have to respect each other and not cross the line from fun practical jokes to harassment.
“There’s a line for making a guy earn his rite of passage and then there’s another line of harassing a guy or making him feel degraded,” Colon said. “I think we’re all men. We’re all professionals. We all come from different walks of life. I was always taught [to] respect the practice squad guy to the star guy — treat them all the same. Anytime a guy feels disrespected and feels like he can’t go to work and feel comfortable, you can’t have that in the locker room. At the end of the day, he’s playing for you. You’ve got to take care of each other.”
Colon said it falls on veteran players and the coaches to ensure rookie rituals do not get out of control.
“If you see a guy who maybe doesn’t have thick skin or is sensitive to things,” Colon said, “it’s up to the older guys to be mature in that aspect and say, ‘Hey, leave that guy alone’ or just be mature yourself and be like, ‘Hey, I didn’t mean it like that.’ Everybody has different intentions. It’s tough,”
The Jets have a rookie starting on the other side from Colon in Brian Winters. Colon said the veterans do require him to pick up the lunch tab, but it does not sound like a hefty bill.
“He’s been buying ‘Five Guys’ for us,” Colon said with a smile.