There are several fine schools and universities around the country with great programs. But one that just stands out more than the rest is Duke. Duke University has produced some of the best athletes over decades. Athletes from Duke go on to play in the NFL, the NBA, and many other professional leagues. However, representing Duke is more challenging than it may seem. Here is former Duke sharpshooter JJ Redick sharing one of his incidents from his college days.
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The Old Man and the Three host JJ Redick was a guest on Andre Schulz’s podcast Flagrant recently. The former NBA player talked about numerous stories from his career, playing against greats, and more.
Redick also shared a few stories from his college days at Duke. He talked about the heckling he had to endure at the hands of fans sitting in the stands. JJ shares one of the funnier incidents that took place back then.
Representing Duke, JJ Redick knew it would be a hard time to go play in an opponent’s building. But what he had to deal with from a guy from North Carolina State just cracked him up then too.
“There was this guy at NC State who, publicly, in an article said, ‘He holds his follow through like he’s gay or something.’ And like nothing happened, nothing happened. There was no like, ‘We need to cancel this guy’…It was just a different time, a different time.”
While these incidents still made you laugh, there were places like Maryland and Florida State that Redick mentioned, where he had to endure open threats of his 12-year-old sister being raped, anally probing her, and things of that nature.
For those of you who were not aware, college sports have some of the most massive fan following in the country. Entire towns and cities rallying behind their college teams is nothing new. But at times, trying to cheer for your team by heckling the opposing players would tend to go a step too far. Something not just Redick but athletes over the years just had to go through.
JJ Redick once addressed those hecklers
Heckling opposing players in the hopes of getting into their heads is somewhat of a long-standing tradition that fans indulge in. But at times, lines get blurred and fans tend to go a bit too far with what they spew at young teens.
This was something the former Mavs star wanted to change. And in order to do so, Redick once decided to take matters into his own hands. Having represented Duke and spending about 15 years in the league, Redick once wrote an article to those fans, urging them not to heckle players.
“When I was an 18-year-old Duke freshman, I remember seeing fans paint red dots on their shoulders to mock my acne. I remember hearing them chant profanities about my brother. I remember receiving so many nasty phone calls from opposing fans that I had to change my cellphone number.”
Redick shared quite a few stories back from his college days. He even went so far as to give those very fans some tips and tricks to keep the competition healthy while still trying to be respectful of players. A great initiative from the Duke sharpshooter, hopefully, it made a mark somewhere, somehow.
