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DeMarcus Lawrence got a lot of heat the other day when he was caught on video snubbing a young Giants fan’s autograph request, with the NFL player saying, “get the right jersey, son.” With all due respect to the kid, the two-time Pro Bowl defensive end did have a good reason for walking past him — you know, because the little dude was in a New York Giants jersey — so it’s not as if Lawrence was just being a prick.
"Get the right jersey, son" 😅
DeMarcus Lawrence signs for Cowboys fans only
(via @1Freedrugs)pic.twitter.com/ezujBlDGRU
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 10, 2019
While most people found the viral video to be pretty amusing, here’s to the poor kid’s soul, which was clearly crushed after the brief interaction with a team’s rival. Hey, he’ll learn he shouldn’t approach a bear in the woods without the right tools one day.
Although DeMarcus Lawrence has no reason to explain himself for snubbing the kid, because the media loves to ask questions, the defender tried to offer up a good explanation for his actions, other than that the kid was a Giants fan. The best thing he could muster up? Trying to give a motivational lesson to everyone.
Talking to USA Today, Lawrence said that being told “no” so many times growing up helped toughen him up, and that he hopes the same message can be used to make this little Giants fan better — which is a brilliant way of covering up the fact that he just blatantly punked out the kid.
“The ‘no’s’ I got leading up to my career and being able to not get on the field with my teammates — I think that helped me out a lot in understanding where I want to be and what’s really important to me,” Lawrence said.
…
Lawrence sees now the video showed “sadness on the kid’s face,” he said Wednesday from his locker after practice, and for that “I apologize.” But the Cowboys’ captain says he was “shocked” at what he views as disproportionate criticism and believes it misses the point.
“You can’t just walk around life and think you have the privilege of getting everything you want,” Lawrence said. “When you hear no, you have to be able to accept that no and move on. Maybe that no led you to going to the next person and you get their autograph. It’s just like a door salesman: You’re going to get some no’s when you go and sell insurance at people’s doors. They’re going to tell you no, no, no. If you keep coming home to your wife with a no, she’s eventually going to leave you. ’Cause you’re not bringing no money to the table or food.
“It’s all about getting back out there and keep trying, bro.”
Man, that sounds like it’s straight out of a head coaches manual, doesn’t it? It’s the idea of turning a negative into a positive, and Lawrence just wants to have the young Giants fan learn from the snub. Yep, that’s all.
As for future autograph seekers out there, DeMarcus Lawrence has a message for them: if you’ve got a Cowboys jersey on, he’ll more than likely stop to give an autograph.
“Tell your parents for Christmas you want DeMarcus Lawrence — we’ve got more people on the Cowboys,” Lawrence said. “We’ve got Jaylon Smith. Dak Prescott. Plenty. You choose.
“Don’t have to be a DeMarcus Lawrence jersey, but we like the silver and blue.”
Hey, can’t blame the guy for trying to downplay this whole thing, right? Pretty solid tactic by Lawrence.