[quote name=\'DoorNumberFour\' post=\'254307\' date=\'Jan 9 2011, 12:05 PM\']I think they're trying to smear this guy. I mean, he DID say drugs and alcohol took over his life, and he WAS homeless...he said in no uncertain words where he was coming from, so anyone who knows this guy's story knows that part of it going in. Why are his mug shots and rap sheet being presented like some sort of revelation?[/quote]
In the first place, that's all Smoking Gun does is dig up dirt on people, he's certainly not being singled out. Secondly, "drugs and alcohol" is a familiar stanza in a redemption story like this, so familiar that the media is choosing to gloss over the "theft, robbery, escape, forgery" part because that doesn't play as well.
It's safe to say that there's no way Oprah, Kraft, the Cavs, ET and who knows who else would have hired this guy under normal circumstances, since "golden voices" aren't really all that rare and the most cursory of background checks would have exposed his very shady background. This story makes me uncomfortable, for most of the reasons Chris and Travis have already mentioned. This is a guy who probably had some bad breaks, but who also made a string of extremely bad choices, and essentially he's now being rewarded for them big time.
Still, I think the only way the media now turns on this guy is if it comes out that the whole thing was manipulated in some way, and everything about the story appears legit. Chalk it up to a life lesson (i.e. "not always fair"), and move on.