04/20/24
November 06, 2008
Warrick Dunn faces his mother’s killer: Warrick Dunn faces his mother's killer, an excerpt from Dunn's memoir "Running for My Life".
posted by paulus andronicus to football at 09:20 PM - 7 comments
Extremely powerful. For Warrick to speak to the man that murdered his mother takes alot of guts to do. For him to forgive the man that murdered his mother was a courageous act and I applaud him.
posted by BornIcon at 08:49 AM on November 07, 2008
Thank you for this, paulus.
In a course of study that I've been pursuing over the past several years, we frequently do what is called a "theological reflection". That is we reflect upon something, an event, an object, a Biblical passage, in theological terms. The elements we consider are creation, sin, judgment, repentance, and redemption. This story shows all of these elements in bold relief. What may surprise some is that the sin is not necessarily committed by Brumfield, nor is the repentance and redemption his. Rather, it is Warrick Dunn who has recognized that failing to confront his own emotions and forgive the men who committed the crime was the greater sin. The judgment was Dunn's lack of passion on the field. His repentance and redemption are obvious from the story.
I have often wondered if I would be able to forgive someone who so grievously injured me. I'm not sure I would ever be able to do so, and if I could, it would take the same years of prayer and effort that it took Warrick Dunn. He is a better man than I for having done it.
posted by Howard_T at 12:15 PM on November 07, 2008
While it is indeed unusual in our society for people to offer forgiveness for this type of act, what you need to realize is that by forgiving this person, Warrick actually releases himself. Forgiveness allows him to move forward with his life and not be consumed by his mother's death. It is healthy for the forgiver to forgive. It does not absolve the perpetrator, it releases the forgiver.
posted by grabowski84 at 02:21 PM on November 07, 2008
Warrick Dunn is one of the most stand-up guys ever to play professional football. I don't have anything else to say, just, yay, Warrick Dunn rocks.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 07:54 PM on November 07, 2008
As I listened to Brumfield, I realized that most of the questions I had crafted in a spiral pocket notebook that I brought with me, questions that I had compiled from my family, were suddenly irrelevant. If he wasn't going to admit that he murdered my mom, as he did in his confession to police, I couldn't ask him questions about that night.
This pisses me off more than anything. Dunn just wanted answers from that night and the coward can't even give him that. What a total, spineless, piece of s**t. Own up to what you did and deal with the repercussions...death penalty or not. At least give this man, whom you've taken everything away by your own choices, some sort of closure by answering the "why's" for him.
posted by bdaddy at 07:32 PM on November 08, 2008
Howard_T:
What may surprise some is that the sin is not necessarily committed by Brumfield, nor is the repentance and redemption his. Rather, it is Warrick Dunn who has recognized that failing to confront his own emotions and forgive the men who committed the crime was the greater sin. The judgment was Dunn's lack of passion on the field. His repentance and redemption are obvious from the story.
I'd say as well that he came to realize that all you control is your own stuff. You can't make someone who's done you wrong acknowledge and repent; therefore, you never get the much-vaunted "closure" that everyone tells you you're supposed to seek...right? Well, yes and no. If achieving "closure" means answers to every question you might want to ask (of your mother's killer, of the universe, of God), then you're not going to get that unless you're pretty lucky. Acceptance of that fact, however, is a form of release all by itself. Once you let go of what you think other people owe you -- which, no matter how just your claim, you may never be able to collect on -- then and only then can you go about balancing your own accounts.
bdaddy:
Dunn just wanted answers from that night and the coward can't even give him that. What a total, spineless, piece of s**t. Own up to what you did and deal with the repercussions...death penalty or not.
From the article:
"As I listened to Brumfield, I realized that most of the questions I had crafted in a spiral pocket notebook that I brought with me, questions that I had compiled from my family, were suddenly irrelevant. If he wasn't going to admit that he murdered my mom, as he did in his confession to police, I couldn't ask him questions about that night. It changed the dynamic of the conversation I had come to have."
People have confessed to all kinds of things in police interrogations and later been proven innocent. I have no idea of the truth in this case (and you don't either, most likely), but the fact that confessions have been known to be coerced and that this one was recanted does cast some doubt on the situation.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 05:50 PM on November 10, 2008
Wow. That is one tough maamajamma.
EXCELENT read paulus, thanks