The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Illegal Aliens Murdering Illegal Aliens

Posted on | May 1, 2023 | 1 Comment

The mainstream media spent days telling Americans that a TEXAS MAN had murdered five of his neighbors, and some of us were like, really? Because the name Francisco isn’t like, say, Bubba. And while I usually try to avoid jumping to conclusions in the immediate aftermath of such incidents, my hunch was that maybe Francisco wasn’t in the country legally. Likewise, the names of the victims didn’t exactly seem very Texan.

So it turns out that, not only is Francisco Oropesa an illegal immigrant from Mexico who had previously been deported five times, but that the five people he killed were illegal immigrants from Honduras. We are not only importing murderers, we’re also importing murder victims. I’m sure this was what Emma Lazarus must have had in mind.



 

 

Category: Crime, Immigration, Texas

Another Soros-Funded Disaster

Posted on | May 1, 2023 | 1 Comment

When we talk about crime-riddled cities, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia get a lot more attention than St. Louis, but on a per-capita basis, crime is much worse in St. Louis, which regularly leads New Orleans and Baltimore as the most violent major city in America. Alas, so many people have fled St. Louis in recent decades that it almost doesn’t qualify as a “major” city now, with fewer than 300,000 residents. (Henderson, Nevada, Greensboro, North Carolina, and Irvine, California, are all bigger than St. Louis now.) Things have been going downhill in St. Louis for a long time, so it would be wrong to say that the 2016 election of Kim Gardner as Circuit Attorney for the city has caused the decline; rather, the scandal-ridden tenure of Gardner is symptomatic of the social decay in a city that has long since passed the point of no return. Only in a desolate urban nightmare could someone with such little aptitude for office have gotten elected, and it is impossible to pity the residents of St. Louis, as they have gotten exactly what they deserve for electing a prosecutor who ran on an anti-law-enforcement platform.

Kim Gardner has never bothered to hide her hatred of police. In many cases, she has refused to prosecute criminals, and she has driven out nearly all the experienced prosecutors in her office:

St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner’s Office has dismissed more than 9,000 cases, frequently as they were about to go to trial according to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s latest filing.
Judges have been “forced” to dismiss more than 2,700 cases because of the prosecution’s failure to provide defendants with discovery and speedy trials, according to the filing.
The few assistant attorneys who remain must endure a “toxic environment” that has driven dedicated attorneys — burdened with unbearable caseloads — to exhaustion and medical emergencies, Bailey said in the filing.
All are among new allegations Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey filed [March 21] against Gardner in a 121-page amended petition as part of a rare legal maneuver to remove her from office.
Bailey began the quo warranto process as it’s known in February, and has since reviewed more than 30,000 documents and data from the St. Louis City Circuit Court and St. Louis Comptroller’s Office, according to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office.

What prompted the state Attorney General to take action against Gardner was a horrific incident in February involving 21-year-old Daniel Riley.

Riley had been charged in an August 2020 armed robbery but was released on bond and then, despite repeatedly violating the terms of his release, was still on the streets in February 2023 when he was speeding in an Audi SUV, failed to yield at an intersection and caused a crash that led to a teenage volleyball player from Tennessee — who was in St. Louis for a tournament, and just happened to be on the sidewalk at the time of the crash — having both of her legs amputated.

While it is perhaps predictable that Missouri’s Republican attorney general would be trying to force Gardner out of office, even Democrats in St. Louis have now started turning against her. A local defense attorney, David Mueller, has announced himself as a Democratic primary challenger to Gardner, and other local Democrats are also expected to toss their hats into the ring. And last week, St. Louis Circuit Court Judge Michael Noble denounced Gardner’s office as a “rudderless ship of chaos” in a hearing on whether she should be held in contempt of court. “It appears that Ms. Gardner has complete indifference and a conscious disregard for the judicial process,” he said.

Gardner’s campaign received about $116,000 from political action committees backed by billionaire George Soros. We are told that identifying Soros as a funder of liberal DAs is promoting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, but the question is, do Jews actually support this dangerous “progressive” lunacy? If not, then it is incumbent on Jews to denounce Soros — and indeed, many have done so loudly — and to stop this baseless smear of Soros’ critics. How is it a “conspiracy theory” to point out how Soros is spending his money to affect elections? And if the Anti-Defamation League really wants to discourage anti-Semitism, why aren’t they criticizing Soros, rather than defending him? Because I think every decent citizen — Jew or Gentile, black or white, Republican or Democrats — should consider Soros indefensible, given the results he has obtained in St. Louis and other cities where his money has helped elect “progressive” prosecutors like Kim Gardner, who remains unapologetic:

Gardner shrugged off the ongoing court battle to remove her from office as “a witch hunt” designed to discourage young reformers from going to law school or pursuing a career in the criminal justice arena.
“I’m not leaving. I’m not resigning. I’m not doing nothing,” she said to rousing cheers. “You gonna have to remove me.” . . .
Gardner walked out of the Central Baptist Church Saturday morning after delivering a defiant 13-minute speech to about 60 loyal supporters who awarded her with a t-shirt and heralded her as “the Mother of Justice.” . . .
“I’ve been criminalized every day because of my black skin, because I’m Black,” she said. “I’ve never had a fair shake.”

Playing the race card? Really? Despicable to the end . . .



 

 

Category: Crime, Missouri

Rule 5 Sunday: Paige Spiranac

Posted on | May 1, 2023 | 2 Comments

— compiled by Wombat-socho

I’m a little fuzzy on what all these influencers in social media are influencing; sometimes it just seems like a (mostly) wholesome grift allowing pretty girls to show off their bodies while keeping (most of) their clothes on and showing off Stuff and Things gifted to them by people wanting them to promote said Things and Stuff. One of the more successful influencers who’s come to my attention through Outkick and similar outlets is Paige Spiranac, who apparently didn’t make it in the LPGA but is wildly successful promoting Golf Things. Here we have Ms. Spiranac apparently promoting golf balls.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

This woman has balls.

NINETY MILES FROM TYRANNY: Hot Pick of the Hot Pick of the Late Night. The 90 Miles Mystery Box Episode #2062, Morning Mistress, and Girls With Guns. 

ANIMAL MAGNETISM: Rule 5 Great Divorce Friday, and the Saturday Gingermageddon. 

EBL: MAGA – I Don’t Give A Trump, Hadley Gamble, Helen Mirren, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley & Rosamund Pike, “Yum Yum” Swalwell, Pablo Picasso & His Women, Maine Stein Song, “Filipino Baby”, The Diplomat, and Rosamunde Polka.

A VIEW FROM THE BEACH: Anna Alimani, Still Talking Tucker, Fish Pic Friday – The Reel Rocky, Thursday Tanlines, Kiki Lookalike Dies From Plastic Surgery, The Wednesday Wetness, RIP: Henry Belafonte, Chesapeake Bay Not a Disaster, Is Merrick Garland Obstructing the Hunter Investigation?, The Monday Morning Stimulus, Palm Sunday, Emrat Quits Hollywood and Dem Threatens Taibbi with Jail, Bud Light Exec Out

STICKS STORIES & SCOTCH: USS Ranger

FLAPPR: T.I.T.S. For April 28

Thanks to everyone for all the luscious links!

Amazon Warehouse Deals

Visit Amazon’s Intimate Apparel Shop
Shop Sex & Sensuality Gifts




Category: Rule 5

Biden Administration Hiring 360 Armed IRS Agents Ready to Use ‘Deadly Force’

Posted on | April 30, 2023 | Comments Off on Biden Administration Hiring 360 Armed IRS Agents Ready to Use ‘Deadly Force’

Get paid by the government to kill tax cheaters:

The Internal Revenue Service is hiring special agents who shouldn’t be afraid of using “deadly force.”
Criminal Investigation, the law enforcement branch of the IRS, is looking for agents across the US who can combine “accounting skills with law enforcement skills to investigate financial crimes,” according to a job posting on its website.

(Crime-fighting accountants! How exciting is that?)

“Special Agents are duly sworn law enforcement officers who are trained to ‘follow the money.'”
These agents investigate financial crimes, money laundering, tax-related identity theft, and terrorist financing efforts. They are the only IRS workers who are permitted to carry and use firearms.
Required to work a minimum of 50 hours a week, always on call even during vacations and weekends, these agents will need to be fit so they can “effectively respond to life-threatening situations,” per the listing.

(No fatties.)

They will conduct arrests, search warrants, and “other dangerous assignments.” But most importantly, they must be legally allowed to carry a gun.
The agents must be prepared to protect themselves or others “from physical attacks at any time and without warning and use firearms in life-threatening situations” and shouldn’t be afraid to “use force up to and including the use of deadly force.”

(Libertarians need not apply.)

According to a posting on the website for government jobs, the IRS is seeking agents in all 50 states. The posting lists 360 vacancies.
The roles will pay between $52,921 and $94,228 annually, according to the USAJobs listing.
Applicants must be US citizens, aged between 21 and 37.

So, next time you hear some lazy kid complaining there are no “good jobs” available, here’s your answer: The IRS is hiring.



 

 

Category: Taxes

FMJRA 2.0: La Vie Secrete – Exercises Spirituelles

Posted on | April 30, 2023 | Comments Off on FMJRA 2.0: La Vie Secrete – Exercises Spirituelles

— compiled by Wombat-socho

This business with Stephen Crowder vexes me greatly. I would like to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it seems pretty obvious to me that while he seems to have taken Colossians 3:18 to heart, he’s completely forgotten the following verse. I’m not sure I can in good conscience keep linking to Louder with Crowder, but I shall leave that up to the Commentariat. Please post your opinions in the comments.
In other, more cheerful news, the 1971 cards are out for Dynasty Baseball and the expansion draft in Pete’s league is done; I need to lay off the Civicrack and submit my keeper list for this season to Pete, especially since I promised to do it by Thursday. Once again, you’ll get to suffer with me through the season, though hopefully I’ll have more solid pitching and hitting than I had last year.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

Pic somewhat related.

How to Translate Bidenese
The DaleyGator
Okrahead
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum
Flappr

Why Are the Media Playing Along With Biden’s Make-Believe Presidency?
Okrahead
Vulture Of Critique
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

 

Crazy Moms Are Dangerous
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Tranny Canned: Bud Light Marketing Executive Now on ‘Leave of Absence’
The DaleyGator
The First Street Journal
A View From The Beach
EBL

FMJRA 2.0: A Utilitarian View Of The Monitor’s Fight
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

The Rontavious Factor
The DaleyGator
EBL
357 Magnum

Late Night With Rule 5 Sunday: Double-Dip Extra Scoop Donna D’Errico Edition
Animal Magnetism
Ninety Miles From Tyranny
A View From The Beach
EBL

Major (and Also Minor) Media News
The DaleyGator
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 04.25.23 (Afternoon Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 04.25.23 (Evening Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

Crazy Furries Are Dangerous
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum
Flappr

News From Zimbabwe, U.S.A.
The DaleyGator
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 04.27.23 (Early Morning Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

In The Mailbox: 04.27.23 (Evening Edition)
A View From The Beach
EBL
357 Magnum

‘Generational Wealth’ and the NFL Draft
EBL

In The Mailbox: 04.28.23
EBL
357 Magnum
A View From The Beach

Top linkers for the week ending April 29: 

  1.  EBL (16)
  2.  A View From The Beach (14)
  3.  357 Magnum (13)
  4.  The DaleyGator (5)

Thanks to everyone for all the links!

Amazon Warehouse Deals




Category: FMJRA Award

No Man Has Ever ‘Won’ an Argument With His Wife (Change My Mind)

Posted on | April 29, 2023 | Comments Off on No Man Has Ever ‘Won’ an Argument With His Wife (Change My Mind)

Now, I heard a cryin’ man
Is half a man, with no sense of pride.
But if I have to cry to keep you,
I don’t mind weepin’, if it’ll keep you by my side.

Ain’t too proud to beg, sweet darlin’.
Please don’t leave me girl (don’t you go).
Ain’t too proud to plead, baby, baby.
Please don’t leave me girl (don’t you go).

Everything you need to know about love, you can learn from old R&B tunes, unless you’d prefer to learn it from old country-and-western songs. What the Temptations were laying down in 1966 has stood the test of time because it’s the absolute truth — however proud a man might be, love will force him to beg for mercy, because that’s how women are.

Rollo Tomassi has expounded on women’s inherent solipsism — it is no use trying to convince a woman to view any conflict or dispute from an objective or logical perspective. If she feels she has been wronged or insulted, no amount of rational argument will convince her otherwise.

Of course, men can be self-centered, emotional and stubborn, but when it comes to male/female relationships, it is the woman’s solipsistic certainty of her own rectitude — her feelings are never wrong — that so often proves the great stumbling block to happiness. No matter how irrational her anger may be, you’re not going to help the situation by telling her she’s wrong to be angry. Indeed, the two words you should never tell her in such a moment are “calm down.” Oh, that will set her off!

If she feels hurt, it doesn’t matter how many reasons you offer for why she shouldn’t feel that way. Her feelings are beyond criticism.

These meditations on the dynamics of male/female relationships are not just random or coincidental. Some readers will be aware of the situation — one which has “gone viral,” as the kids say — that has prompted me to share whatever little wisdom on this subject I can claim to have obtained after 34 years of marriage. Tim Pool is among the several YouTubers who’ve weighed in on the controversy, involving a Ring surveillance video of an unfortunate domestic situation. Tim says it looks to him as if the guy in the video has been “set up,” and that may be true. Dragging people’s dirty laundry into the public eye — leaking a video to Yashar Ali, really? — is the kind of scorched-earth tactic that connotes an irreconcilable breach and, as Tim says, it’s probably wrong to judge somebody on the basis of one (out-of-context) video clip.

“If Americans can be divorced for ‘incompatibility of temper’ I cannot conceive why they are not all divorced. I have known many happy marriages, but never a compatible one. The whole aim of marriage is to fight through and survive the instant when incompatibility becomes unquestionable. For a man and a woman, as such, are incompatible.”
— G.K. Chesterton

Perhaps not as memorable as a Motown lyric, Chesterton’s observation is nevertheless true. Men and women are different; trying to reconcile and accommodate these differences is the great challenge of marriage.

The goal of marriage is cooperation. When husband and wife begin trying to prove each other wrong, then it becomes a competition, and marital happiness becomes impossible. If love means anything — if it denotes more than mere affectionate sentiment — then it must include the willingness to lose an argument, rather than to make your beloved unhappy by a bullheaded determination to prove yourself right.

God knows that stubbornness and arrogance are among my faults. As I’ve often remarked, there are two kinds of people in the world — people who agree with me, and people who are wrong. When I was younger, I actually enjoyed arguing for the sake of argument, until it became apparent to me that I was wasting my time trying to convince wrong people of their error. If someone respected my judgment, they wouldn’t be disagreeing with me, would they? So the argument itself is evidence that they consider me unworthy of respect, and why should I indulge them as they seek to prove that I don’t deserve respect?

Perhaps (suggesting this only as a hypothetical possibility) I have been wrong about something occasionally, but if so, I’ve long since forgotten those occasions, and thus my arrogant conviction of my 100% correctness, which certainty forbids me ever to argue with anyone who disagrees with me. Don’t bother arguing with an old man who, even when he was very young, believed he already knew everything, and through the years has not become less convinced of his know-it-all wisdom.

Self-awareness requires me to confront the fact that no one could ever admire me as much as I admire myself, and to realize that this arrogance can be annoying to others. So I’ve learned to be silent, to bite my tongue when I’m tempted to correct people for being wrong. They don’t want to listen to my advice, and are therefore free to go to hell in the time and manner of their own choosing. It’s not my responsibility.

You have to pursue a type of Zen acceptance about your inability to tell other people how to live their lives, or otherwise the sense of tragedy will overwhelm you. Like, why did the Patriots miss out on the opportunity to draft tight end Tucker Kraft? He went to the Packers, alas, and instead Bill Belichick picked a linebacker from Sacramento State — an error, I’m sure, but Bill Belichick didn’t ask for my advice on the NFL draft, and there’s no point arguing about it now. Selah.

So it is with the video of the domestic trouble involving the famous YouTube personality. There are liberals trying to claim that this incident proves that “tradcon” (traditional conservative) ideas about marriage are wrong, and I’m like, “What? Are you kidding me? Because I consider myself both traditional and conservative and sure as hell would never talk to my wife like that.” But people don’t ask my advice, see?

Y’all need to listen to some old Motown records and chill out. That may not sound like “tradcon” advice, but it sure is better than getting divorced over an argument about your dog. Change my mind.



 

 

Category: Celebrities, Marriage

In The Mailbox: 04.28.23

Posted on | April 29, 2023 | 1 Comment

— compiled by Wombat-socho

Usual weekend deadlines for the usual weekend posts.
Ceterum autem censeo Silicon Valley esse delendam.

OVER THE TRANSOM
357 Magnum: How Is That Bail Reform Working Out?
EBL: Charles De Gaulle Resigns, also, Keira Knightley and Rosamund Pike
Twitchy: Democrats Stopped From Cheating To “Ratify” Equal Rights Amendment, also, Megyn Kelly Slams Poser Sunny Hostin For Acting Oppressed “In Sh***y Country That She Can’t Stand
Louder With Crowder: You’re under arrest? Dylan Mulvaney wants it illegal to call she/her a he/him, Joe Rogan thinks Tucker Carlson going to Rumble would be “f*cking huge” and these numbers back him up, and CNN contributor disembowels Randi Weingarten over the “generational damage” her lockdown policies did to our kids
Vox Popoli: Never Relax the Rules, End No-Fault Divorce, and Two Years of Arktoons!
According To Hoyt: No Forgiveness Without Repentance, Halfway to Success by Thomas Kendall, and Discount Seventies
Monster Hunter Nation: WriterDojo S4 E16: Passive Voice

RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES
American Conservative: A Last Supper with Tucker Carlson, also, It’s Time For Congress to Ban Abortion
American Greatness: ABC News Airs ‘Hatchet Job’ RFK Jr. Interview, Biden DOJ Sues Tennessee Over Ban on Trans Surgeries, and Conservatives Lost the Culture War and the Trump Agenda Is the Only Path Forward
American Power: ‘But There Are Lawsuits Coming in the Wake of Dominion Voting…’
American Thinker:  The Ruling Class’s Stalinist Purge, Bud Light’s Demise at the Hands of Credentialed Woke Millennials, and How Conservatives Got the Trump Indictment Backwards
Animal Magnetism: Rule Five Great Divorce Friday
Babalu Blog: Cuban Catholic bishops say Castro dictatorship left door open to talks on release of political prisoners, Slide show: No amusement for you! The death of Cuba’s Lenin Park, and Reports from Cuba: Cubans with dollars also eat badly: Picadillo, sausages, and mayonnaise bought from outside
BattleSwarm: LinkSwarm for April 28
Behind The Black: Big space Raytheon shifts gears to compete in the new space market, SpaceX successfully launches Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, Glacier layers on the border of Hellas Basin, April 28, 2023 Quick space links, and Pushback: FIRE sues school for banning students from wearing “Let’s Go Brandon” shirts
Cafe Hayek: It’s Not Just An Austrian Position, also, There Is No Saving Industrial Policy
CDR Salamander: Fullbore Friday
Da Tech Guy: It’s just incidental Data, but…
Don Surber: Media Says Voting Threatens Democracy,
First Street Journal: The Philadelphia Police Department: does sloppiness in the little things lead to sloppiness in the bigger issues?
Gates Of Vienna: The Queer War on Biology, Giorgia Meloni: Fast-Track Ukraine Into the EU, and The Muslim Brotherhood in France, Part 8
The Geller Report: FIRST TIME EVER MSNBC Is No. 1 at 8 PM, Tucker-Less Fox Time Slot Down TWO MILLION
Hogewash: Team Kimberlin Post of the Day, Through the Looking Glass, Here’s Looking at Euclid, and A Civil Rights Victory
Hollywood In Toto:  Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Knows What a Woman Is, also, How Ilan Srulovicz Battles Back Against Intolerant Hollywood
The Lid: Why Did Biden’s EPA Choose A South Korean Corp For Its First Smart Grid Product?
Legal Insurrection: California Legislature Considering New Rules Mandating EV Bidirectional Charging Capabilities, “A full-blown Color Revolution-style attack on the US Supreme Court as an institution is now in its early stages”, Parents’ Rights Activist Andrew Gutmann Running for Congress in Florida as a Republican, 94-year-old Grandmother Fights Home Equity Theft at the U.S. Supreme Court, and Parents Outraged After Vermont School District Tells Teachers to Call Kids ‘Person Who Produces’ Sperm/Eggs
Nebraska Energy Observer: Scattershot Friday
Outkick: Report: Tom Brady Done With Models, Colts’ Owner Jim Irsay Asks Fans On Twitter If Team Should Draft Will Levis After Already Drafting Anthony Richardson, Brittney Griner Says It’s ‘A Crime’ To Ban Biological Men From Competing Against Women In Sports, Deion Sanders Shares Important Message About Egos And The Team: ‘It’s About All Of Us’, Paige Spiranac & Olivia Dunne Form Influencer Superpowers Alliance, and It’s Not Will Levis Fault That His Reps And NFL Machine Failed Him On NFL Draft Night, As He Leaves Kansas City
Power Line: Thoughts from the ammo line, A day in the life of the MSM, and The Age Issue: Biden Vs. Reagan
Protein Wisdom Reborn: A Reckoning
Shark Tank: Eskamani Celebrates Tax Breaks On Diapers
Shot In The Dark: Speaking Of Which, Aggression, and Communicating With The MN DFL Part V
STUMP: Video: U.S. Mortality Trends 2020-2022 part 5: Historical trajectories for Causes of Death 1999-2022
The Political Hat: Firing Line Friday: Corporal Punishment
This Ain’t Hell: Valor Friday, The US military is required to implement an all-electric vehicle fleet by 2030, Fort Lee Renamed, Security Long Gone, Pentagon Shuts Barn Door, and Ukraine received 98% of the promised combat vehicles ahead of its anticipated counteroffensive
Transterrestrial Musings: Randi Weingarten
Victory Girls: Democrats Have More Than Five Reasons To Worry About Biden
Volokh Conspiracy: A Judge Who Understands Firearms
Watts Up With That: Nuclear Energy is a Game Changer, But Not for Climate Reasons!, South Africa and The Green Energy Wall and George Monbiot on Eco-terrorism: “I back saboteurs … but I won’t blow up a pipeline”
Weasel Zippers: Biden Struggles To Read His Teleprompter During Biden-Harris 2024 Kickoff Event, MSNBC Claims It’s Racist for State Police to Enforce Law In Jackson, MS, and Hakeem Jeffries Claims Biden Has Made Sure “There’s Order At The Border”
The Federalist: 234 Years Ago, George Washington Became America’s First President, How Democrats’ Push For Electric Cars Endangers National Security, 8 Ways Government Shielded Joe Biden From The ‘Laptop From Hell’, Tucker Carlson’s Fox Departure Signals The End For Corporate Media, and How Far Will Corporate Media Go To Cover For And Re-Elect Joe Biden?
Mark Steyn: Live Around the Planet: Friday April 28th

Amazon Warehouse Deals




Category: Linkagery

‘Generational Wealth’ and the NFL Draft

Posted on | April 28, 2023 | Comments Off on ‘Generational Wealth’ and the NFL Draft

South Dakota State tight end Tucker Kraft

Thursday night, my brother Kirby and I went out to Chili’s, where all the TVs were on the NFL Draft. Being a Patriots fan, of course, I was most interested in who New England would draft in the first round, and was very pleased by their moves. They traded down (from 14th overall to 17th overall), picking up an extra fourth-round pick in the process, and chose Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzales — a steal at 17, because many had Gonzales ranked as the top cornerback in the 2023 class. Meanwhile, of course, the University of Alabama was well-represented in the draft, with quarterback Bryce Young going as the No. 1 pick to the Carolina Panthers, linebacker Will Anderson Jr. going at No. 3 to the Houston Texans, and running back Jahmyr Gibbs going to the Detroit Lions at No. 12.

As soon as I woke up, I began searching for inklings of what the Patriots might do in the second round of the draft, and was skimming over Alex Barth’s “big board” choices when I noticed the name Tucker Kraft.

Six-foor-five, 254 pounds, tight end who caught 65 passes for 780 yards and six touchdowns with the South Dakota State Jackrabbits his sophomore season. He suffered an ankle injury that limited his playing time last season, but is still one of the best tight ends in the country.

The guy’s name is Kraft, OK? The owner of the New England Patriots is Robert Kraft, so how in the world could they not draft this guy?

He hails from the tiny town of Timber Lake, South Dakota (population 513), and has a keen sense of what’s at stake in his professional career. His father Doug, a standout college athlete who never made it to the pros, was killed in a small plane crash in 2013. Doug Kraft was a self-described “proud redneck” and, among his several endeavors in a farming region, flew planes as part of his crop dusting business. His father’s death affected Tucker Kraft deeply, and something he has said in interviews illustrates what a thoughtful young man he is:

“I’ve never like really thought about doing football and taking my skills to the next level as doing it for me. I’ve always thought about doing it for other people. Setting my family up for generational wealth.”

The phrase you’re looking for is servant leader or, to use another analogy, he is a work horse who knows why he’s pulling the plow.

The chance to play in the NFL is a rare opportunity. There are 32 teams, each of which has a 53-player active roster, so at any given time there are only 1,696 active players in the league, not counting practice squads, and most players who are drafted don’t last more than five years in the NFL.

However good you were in college, you enter the league as a rookie, and have to earn your roster spot through competition, a competition that never ends. Every player is working to get better all the time — lifting weights and running drills in the off-season, studying game videos to improve their technique, etc. — and ultimately no player is guaranteed a roster spot. To obtain “generational wealth” in an NFL career, a player has to make it past his four- or five-year rookie contract, and do so as a bona fide starter, to get that big free-agent contract worth many millions of dollars. Just this week, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson signed a five-year, $260 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens, including $185 million guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $52 million. That’s MVP quarterback money, and there’s no way even the best tight end in the league is ever going to get paid that much, but it gives you an idea of what “generational wealth” can mean in the NFL.

On the other hand, things can go badly. Alabama fans were shocked and heartbroken in 2021 when Henry Ruggs, a star wide receiver for the Crimson Tide who was drafted in the first round by the Oakland Las Vegas Raiders in 2020, was arrested in a vehicular manslaughter case, where he was driving his Corvette drunk at more than 120 mph in a wreck that killed a woman. Good-bye, “generational wealth.”

Then there was the case of former Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins, drafted in the first round by the Washington Redskins “Commanders” in 2019. Haskins was later traded to Pittsburgh, but on an April morning in 2022, Haskins was drunk (with a .20 blood alcohol level) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, when his rental car ran out of gas on I-595, and he tried to cross the expressway on foot. Haskins got run over by a dump truck, then hit by an SUV, and died on the scene. No “generational wealth” for the Haskins family.

Some of the most elite athletes, chosen in the first round of the NFL draft, never succeed as pros for one reason or another, while others who are much less highly touted go onto Hall of Fame careers. Certainly every Patriots fan knows that Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick (199th overall) in the 2000 draft, while Julian Edelman was a seventh-round pick (232nd overall) in the 2009 draft. And you can guarantee that, as a tight end, Tucker Kraft knows that Rob Gronkowski — arguably the best tight end in NFL history — was a second-round pick (42nd overall) in 2010.

Earlier this month, the newspaper in Brookings, S.D. — home of South Dakota State — did a feature story about Tucker Kraft:

Tucker Kraft participated in South Dakota State’s pro day on Friday morning and the tight end who is hoping to get drafted at the end of April improved his numbers in the 40-yard dash and his standing vertical.
At the NFL Combine in the beginning of March, Kraft ran the 40-yard dash in 4.69 seconds. On Friday, he ran it in around 4.5 seconds, which is not official because there was not an official clock. Kraft jumped 34 inches in the vertical jump at the combine and on Friday he measured out at 36.5 inches.
Kraft said he didn’t like the way he performed at the combine, so he wanted to make sure he improved his numbers on Friday.
“I was not happy with my results at the combine. The combine is glamorized, but after doing it and competing, I understand why some people want to do away with it. It’s hard. It’s hard on the athletes. You know, we consider ourselves high performance athletes and the combine makes me feel a little less like that. But no, I had a good time. I was incredibly grateful to be there. But I knew when I got back to Brookings, I had to turn it up a notch. I had to get more into football shape,” Kraft said.
The 40-yard dash and the vertical were the only things that Kraft participated in on Friday. He said he only wanted to do those two things because he knew he could put up better numbers and those two things are what scouts pay attention to the most.
“Well, I wanted to run a faster 40 because that’s where the money is made. I feel like I made myself a little bit of money today. And then I wanted to jump higher because I know I can,” Kraft said.
After the combine, Kraft came back to Brookings and has been working out every day on campus. He said he’s had a number of teams reach out to him in the past month and he said it’s been fun being able to just talk football with coaches.
“It’s really been pretty easy [talking to teams]. I enjoy it. A lot of guys that had [prepared for the draft] in the past said, hey man, this time sucks, you don’t feel like any of your time is yours. But you know, the coaches contact you and they ask what times work for you. So, I do like one or two meetings every single day from 4:30 to dinner. All we do is talk about my life before college, talk about my college career. They install some plays and play some highlight clips of my blocking and passing. … It’s really just talking football,” Kraft said
Although he said the interview process has been pretty easy, Kraft did have one team make it tough on him. The New England Patriots met with Kraft at the combine and all they did was show mistakes that he made.
“I feel like personally I’ve aced every single interview that I’ve been a part of. One that went otherwise was I was at the combine and I had 15 formal interviews, I think that’s the most you can have at the combine. I was with the Patriots and it was pretty chill, we were talking about Pierre [Strong Jr., who was drafted by the Patriots last year], it was laid back, we were just chatting, and then all of the sudden they just put on instead of a highlight tape, it was a lowlight tape. Just clips of me not executing and just asking me what was going on,” Kraft said. . . .

(Wow — testing his mental toughness? Shrewd!)

Kraft, who caught 99 passes for 1,211 yards and nine touchdowns in his four years at SDSU, is projected to go in the second or third round in many mock drafts. He said he will be spending draft weekend, which is April 27-29 in Kansas City, in his hometown of Timber Lake with his family and friends.
“I’ll be back home in Timber Lake, South Dakota. I’ll have a decent gathering of friends and family. Hopefully people don’t feel too bad if they’re not invited. I want the people that have really been a part of my football journey [there]. … Close friends and family [will be there],” Kraft said.
Kraft is looking to become the 24th Jackrabbit to be drafted and the fifth since 2018. Fellow tight end Dallas Goedert 49th pick in the 2018 draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. Kraft said all of the work that he’s put in so far is so that he can provide for his family.
“Come draft day, I want my name to be called early. That’s my priority. That’s why I tried to execute as well as I did during pro day. I’m not really doing any of this for me. I’m doing this to set my family up, my future kids, their kids, generational wealth. I’m trying to create something here and establish a legacy in my name to take care of my friends, my family and my community,” Kraft said.

This guy’s got “Patriot” written all over him. Round Two and Round Three of the NFL draft are tonight. We’ll see if the Patriots give Kraft his chance at “generational wealth.”



 

 

Category: Football
« go back — keep looking »