Comedian Ron White notes that “you can’t fix stupid.” Forrest Gump’s mama said, “Stupid is as stupid does.” And Comedian Bill Engvall, referring to the many flavors of this condition, said, “Here’s your sign!”

These references came to mind the other night as I was watching  commentary on how some athletes (college and professional) do and say “stupid” things that can end or taint multi-million dollar careers.

Now I really like to watch football. That’s my favorite team sport. Next would be baseball. I’ve even been known to watch a little golf even though I don’t play golf. People who are very proficient in these sports can make more money than would be the gross national product of some small countries.

Yet among them are those who don’t think before they speak or act and sometimes diminish those cash returns exponentially.

One of my favorite college football players, Jameis Winston, just can’t seem to behave himself. He’s won the Heisman trophy as a freshman quarterback. He’s a tremendous athlete and has the potential for a very lucrative professional career. He’s the quarterback for the reigning national college fooball champions, the Florida State Seminoles.  And because of his latest problems with his mouth, he was scheduled to sit out the first half of the Florida State versus Clemson game Saturday. He’s let his team down. He’s let his fans down. And I’m guessing that he let his mama down.

Had this been the only incident or accusation, I would not feel as badly about this as I do. But seemingly there’s a trend.

Winston is only one of many athletes who have acted in modes that range  from obnoxiousness to downright thuggery. Meanwhile, there are others who would kill for their talents, and they toe the line when it comes to decency, integrity and just plain old behaving.

Lately we’ve heard a lot about some of these caustic incidents. And we wonder just how someone can be so talented and gifted and then appear to be taking night classes on how to screw it all up.

Certainly this didn’t just start last week or last year or even last decade. It’s been going on for a long time. But now with the mass media factor applied, it seems much more prevalent. When you have 24-hour sports talk shows and one of these incidents comes to light, well you can plan on hearing about it for several days or weeks. Every expert on every deviancy and malcontent will be interviewed relative to each incident.

And sometimes it seems that the greater the volume of talent, the greater the tendecy to be “stupid.”

Johnny “Football” Manziel  gets out there and does handstands on the socially acceptable edge. His latest little exhibition in the lack of maturity was to give the finger to the opposing bench. Does that sound like someone who can lead a professional offense?

I certainly couldn’t see someone with the class of a Peyton Manning, a Matt Ryan or an Aaron Rogers acting so obtusely.

I really hope these guys who appear to be mostly “dancing with stupidity” at the moment will abandon that jig and embrace the wisdom of some of the more experienced elders in the sport. It’s just sad to see the potential for great careers put in jeopardy in this fashion. That said, I love to see a “no-name” athlete who finally gets a chance and makes the most of it … eventually becoming a household word that is more than four letters.

Please don’t let us down again Jameis. We would rather cheer for you!

(Email: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com)