September 4, 2017
By Justin Nicely
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that 2016 second round pick, Su'a Cravens, told Redskins players that he was retiring, but after meeting with team officials he has changed his mind for now. He will think about the decision the next few days. It's not the first time he's considered retirement since entering the league.
The team placed Cravens on the non-football exempt list, and will be gone for at least a month. If Cravens doesn't return within 5 days of receiving notice from the team regarding the consequences of not returning, he'll be placed on the reserve/left squad and will be done for the year.
Cravens informed the other defensive backs in a group chat Saturday night (after final cuts) that he was retiring and said, "peace out" and left the chat. They were upset with him and what he said (I don’t blame them). They saw it as disrespectful.
The Redskins front office has yet to comment on the situation other than this tweet officially placing him on the non-football exempt list.
By Justin Nicely
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that 2016 second round pick, Su'a Cravens, told Redskins players that he was retiring, but after meeting with team officials he has changed his mind for now. He will think about the decision the next few days. It's not the first time he's considered retirement since entering the league.
The team placed Cravens on the non-football exempt list, and will be gone for at least a month. If Cravens doesn't return within 5 days of receiving notice from the team regarding the consequences of not returning, he'll be placed on the reserve/left squad and will be done for the year.
Cravens informed the other defensive backs in a group chat Saturday night (after final cuts) that he was retiring and said, "peace out" and left the chat. They were upset with him and what he said (I don’t blame them). They saw it as disrespectful.
The Redskins front office has yet to comment on the situation other than this tweet officially placing him on the non-football exempt list.
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Jay Gruden will not comment on the situation until Tuesday, but some players have given their thoughts on the matter.
"Shocking.” Said DJ Swearinger. "He has to handle what he needs to handle, whether mental or with his family. We're here to support him. That's that tough. I'm not in those shoes, so I can't speak on him, so whatever he's dealing with I'm praying for him, and hopefully he'll be back." He added that he has total confidence in Deshazor Everett as the starting strong safety.
Josh Norman said, "This game tests your wits in every form, every facet of your body, your mentals. Everything. If you're not ready to come back and play and give it your all, and your heart isn't in it, then you'll seriously go out there and get hurt.”
Several days ago Cravens was anxious to return from his knee injury, and believed he would be ready for the season opener against the Eagles. Recently, however, he started talking about retiring to the coaching staff. His retirement decision is not a physical thing, it's a mental thing. Last year, he no showed as a rookie to Redskins park for a day and a half before the team had to call him and see where he was at. He also had a similar situation at USC where he went to college. The Washington Post’s Jerry Brewer said that teammates have already discussed that if Cravens returns he'll have to repair his reputation. Some wonder if they'll ever trust Cravens again. Many teammates didn't think he pushed through his biceps injury at the end of last year and lost some trust in him then. Since being drafted out of USC, Cravens has suffered a concussion, arm injury, and knee injury. He earned $800k last year, and is on schedule to earn $1.107M annually. So he definitely has to have a reason for wanting to walk away.
Cravens has deleted all of his pictures that has anything to do with the Redskins on Instagram, which he has done on and off on a regular basis since near the end of last year for some reason. He's complained about having to go to practice and live in Ashburn on snapchat multiple times, so maybe he is just homesick. No one really knows what is going on, but remember he's a human being. Many fans forget that. Be there to support him and his decision.
Su’a Cravens took to snapchat today and said in a video he felt like he should make a video and “jell out the dark a little bit” but said, “I don’t feel like I need to explain myself… I don’t feel like I have to.” He paused then said, “I think I need to follow what makes me happy… Get my mental right, my well-being right, my family right. I’m not worried about the comments or what people think about me.” He said, “I’m going to be a lot more open with y'all now that I can. Now that, I don’t have nobody to answer to at the moment. Y'all are really going to get to know me.” He finished with: “And you can hate me, you can love me. There will be no grey area or in between, and I don’t prefer it any other way. Love y’all.”
"Shocking.” Said DJ Swearinger. "He has to handle what he needs to handle, whether mental or with his family. We're here to support him. That's that tough. I'm not in those shoes, so I can't speak on him, so whatever he's dealing with I'm praying for him, and hopefully he'll be back." He added that he has total confidence in Deshazor Everett as the starting strong safety.
Josh Norman said, "This game tests your wits in every form, every facet of your body, your mentals. Everything. If you're not ready to come back and play and give it your all, and your heart isn't in it, then you'll seriously go out there and get hurt.”
Several days ago Cravens was anxious to return from his knee injury, and believed he would be ready for the season opener against the Eagles. Recently, however, he started talking about retiring to the coaching staff. His retirement decision is not a physical thing, it's a mental thing. Last year, he no showed as a rookie to Redskins park for a day and a half before the team had to call him and see where he was at. He also had a similar situation at USC where he went to college. The Washington Post’s Jerry Brewer said that teammates have already discussed that if Cravens returns he'll have to repair his reputation. Some wonder if they'll ever trust Cravens again. Many teammates didn't think he pushed through his biceps injury at the end of last year and lost some trust in him then. Since being drafted out of USC, Cravens has suffered a concussion, arm injury, and knee injury. He earned $800k last year, and is on schedule to earn $1.107M annually. So he definitely has to have a reason for wanting to walk away.
Cravens has deleted all of his pictures that has anything to do with the Redskins on Instagram, which he has done on and off on a regular basis since near the end of last year for some reason. He's complained about having to go to practice and live in Ashburn on snapchat multiple times, so maybe he is just homesick. No one really knows what is going on, but remember he's a human being. Many fans forget that. Be there to support him and his decision.
Su’a Cravens took to snapchat today and said in a video he felt like he should make a video and “jell out the dark a little bit” but said, “I don’t feel like I need to explain myself… I don’t feel like I have to.” He paused then said, “I think I need to follow what makes me happy… Get my mental right, my well-being right, my family right. I’m not worried about the comments or what people think about me.” He said, “I’m going to be a lot more open with y'all now that I can. Now that, I don’t have nobody to answer to at the moment. Y'all are really going to get to know me.” He finished with: “And you can hate me, you can love me. There will be no grey area or in between, and I don’t prefer it any other way. Love y’all.”