Yesterday, Jacksonville Jaguars tackle Richard Collier was shot and rendered in critical condition.  Specifics, especially with regard to motivation, are sketchy.

Preface: What follows is not an attempt to use this situation as springboard to criticize simply for the sake of it.  It is, instead, an illustrative plea to provide some respect, or at the least, benefit of doubt for a man who is fighting for his life.

First of two examples: Joe Duffy is the founder of Offshore Insiders, a Web site that deals in sports handicapping.  Duffy feels it appropriate to post some thoughts regarding Collier’s shooting.

I write this article knowing there is nothing joyful about benefiting from tragedy, albeit in this case indirectly.  But every now and then off field tragedy causes an emotional response from players that cannot be manufactured or duplicated, nor should be ignored by gamblers, as impure as it seems.

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Emotion should never be underestimated and simply can’t be contrived.  Regrettably opportunity knocks when real-life circumstances transcend sports.  But it is opportunity nonetheless.

Duffy transcends the pragmatic nature of his profession without abandoning it.  It would be unfair to ask him to do the latter, and his willingness to do the former is something I certainly appreciate.

Second of two examples: the words of Brian Sexton, sports director of a local news affiliate.  After sharing the few known facts of the incident with ESPN, Sexton reverts to what he knows, and offers insight into what this will mean for the Jaguars.  He then finds it germane to relate an account of legally troubled teammate Fred Taylor speaking to the team about his incident.

You would think that a young man would get that through his head.  Obviously, he did not. Yeah, all of a sudden now, it appears that you’ve got a lawless situation down here in Jacksonville.

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Although we don’t know whether Collier was provoked, you know, in a club, and it carried out of there…we just don’t have enough facts…”

Sexton implies that Collier was “obviously” shot because he didn’t heed the words of a peer who advised him to stay out of trouble.  He doesn’t “know enough facts,” but finds it appropriate to not only speculate, but qualify his speculation as “obvious.”

I wouldn’t expect a news source to communicate emotional concern, because that isn’t his role.  I also wouldn’t expect him to wax uninformed opinion on something he doesn’t have a factual grasp on.  I realize that he was speaking on live television, but he is not a drive-time radio host.  If he runs out of facts, he should shut up.

To recap: A handicapper in the gambling industry has ethically outclassed news director Brian Sexton by a startling measure.