You couldn't be farther from the truth in your last paragraph. It's not all about sympathy for 'just' a football player, but more for a kind, up-beat person, who wanted to help others that needed it the most. Sure, the 'painter' would be a sad story, but I mourn more for a man that was trying to make a difference in peoples lives... like keeping kids out of gangs in his hometown. Which, Ironically enough, is possible that he died against the cause he was trying to fight.

Sure, some atheletes just do it for the money... but, when people like Darrent Williams use their fame for the greater good of mankind, then this makes it all the more tragic. People die everyday, it's inevetible... but Darrent still had so much left to do for his community, and most importantly, his family (two kids, incase you didn't know). I implore you to next time to read the book first, rather than judging it by its cover.

Bronco Fan,

I read the book. It's been written before and is widely used in describing athletes. Perhaps Darrent was a model citizen but if he were home, with his children, and someone came in and attaked him I could understand.

What a strange response. If he were at home you could understand? What is that supposed to mean?

You shouldn't "understand" it no matter where he was. He was a 24 year old kid - with too much money, too much fame, and perhaps too much bravado. He could have gone out to Sizzler with his kids that night and been followed home and shot - who knows? All odds and guesses aside - you don't know, and neither do I.

Say this painter, for example, had gone out after a job say, for groceries. On the way he sees some friends and talks. Meanwhile, some "unsavory" events begin to occur, and escalate to an avoidable conclusion.

With this in mind, we don't know exactly what happened in the painter's situation, also it is extremely unlikely that you do either, as no reference was made in article. So blindly assuming that since he was an athlete, that he was putting himself in a situation that could have easily been avoided is just, for lack of a better word, stupid.

The painter has 3 kids, a wife, and a mortgage. Yet he was killed while walking to his car with his groceries. This accident will be tragic to his family. On the other hand, Darrent was killed by a drive by shooting. It is senseless acts like this that do generate more sympathy. Again, we don't know Darrent's personal situation, nor do we know the painter's. So in the future, before you automatically assume that this athlete, went to a bar, left, got shot. Hmm, must have been his fault. Let's write about it!. Please examine all aspects of said situations.

2nd Paragraph: Correction- we don't know what happened in the painter/athlete's situation.

Once more details emerge, and they are trickling out, we'll be able to see if Darrent put himself in a bad situation. I'm willing to say he did.

Weighing one tragedy versus another based on "putting oneself" in a bad situation is a false dilemna. Yes Darrent was at a hard core rap club which in my book exposes him to potential trouble. Do you talk on your cell while driving? Would you say someone who is killed because they were talking on the phone and crashed is worse than someone who wasn't talking on their cell but crashed anyway?

The focus should be on why people in our culture believe that shooting randomly into a vehicle with an intent to kill is the only option left to "resolve" their dispute. This was gang related and if you read the news you will see it is a case of wrong place/wrong time - Darrent was caught in the crossfire.

Critic - how much research have you done regarding Darrent's charity endeavors? Enough to say that any old painter's death would be more worthy of sympathy?

Talk about jaded...

Critic - are you an idiot or what? A life is lost due to some gangbangers unspeakable stupidity and you choose to put the focus of blame on the athlete (aka victim) rather than the gangbanger (aka scum)? Are saying that the athletes should only go to practice, the game & home with no other life outside of that? Why should athletes - as well as ordinary citizens like myself - be vicitimzed by what I view as domestic terrorists (aka gangbangers) and made to corrow in fear? The focus should be on how senseless these acts of terror are, how citizens (famous or not) can be better protected from these terrorists and to grieve for the survivors of these victims. The focus should NOT be to hide behind a screen name and write articles blaming the athlete of tempting a deranged gangbanger to pull the trigger.

If you had done your research before writing your idiotic opinions, you would know that Darrent was at the club primarily for two reaons - first to promote his independant recording label (Ryno Entertainment) and second to attend a friends Birthday party.

You need to wake up and have some compassion for human kind. You should not assume anything surrounding what transpired, but rather wait for the facts before you pass judgement on Darrent.

It's debatable as to whether I'm an idiot though I'll take your comments and weigh them heavily (Sarcasm).

Darrent Williams was a victim. Again I feel sorry for his family but no more than I do for anyone else who's died through violence.

He chose to go out the night after a loss to promote his record label and to share time with a friend who was celebrating his birthday, correct? Should he have stayed at home? That was his choice. Would he have been safer at home? Perhaps. Yet, he chose to go out and enter a club wherein alcohol is served and tempers apparently flared. It's not his fault that a gangbanger shot him but he had a choice as to where to be that night.

He chose poorly.

You need to re-read your original article then. Your very last sentence says "Both may be terrible and tragic but the cynic in me believes the latter is more deserving of our sympathy." meaning to me that you believe the hypothetical painter deserves more sympathy because he/she is not a celebrity unlike the athelete. I believe they each deserve all the sympathy we can muster from each and every one of us, however the athlete's celebrity status causes a local happening to become a national story - therefore more press coverage. I believe the issue you have is not with the sympathy shown towards the respective victims & families, but rather with the publicity the athlete's death receives - or better yet the lack there-of the "painter" receives. If that is what you mean, then I am in total agreement - I have yet to see newscasts, newspaper articles, message boards, blogs and other avenues of communications for a painter whose life was ended while in their prime. However, with how society idolizes celebrities these days, this is nearly unavoidable.

With the logic you use, you are telling me that I will have chosen poorly if I would per-chance be killed by a drunk driver on my way home from work today. I knew there was the possibility that there could be a drunk driver out there (ready & willing to wield their car/weapon against me), yet I still risked my life by entering onto the highway and allowing the to drunk driver to hit me. Hmmm ... interesting logic ...

If you chose a route that's more dangerous than another on the way home, and you know this to be true, then you have chosen poorly. Williams could have been home with his family instead of being out clubbing with his friends.

When I go out to a club or bar I'm aware that anything is possible. If I'm killed at a bar no one needs to celebrate my life-I took the chance of being around inebriated people.

Mr. Williams decided to party with people of a rather nefarious nature. He chose poorly.