- Commissioner’s statement on Ventura, Marte
- Ronnie O’Sullivan: Masters champion ‘felt so vulnerable’ in final
- Arron Fletcher Wins 2017 WSOP International Circuit Marrakech Main Event ($140,224)
- Smith challenges Warner to go big in India
- Moncada No. 1 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Braves land 2 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- Kingery makes MLB Pipeline’s Top 10 2B Prospects list
- New Zealand wrap up 2-0 after Bangladesh implosion
- Mathews, Pradeep, Gunathilaka to return to Sri Lanka
- Elliott hopes for rain for Poli
Diego Costa’s Temper Tantrums Should Be Celebrated by Antonio Conte and Chelsea
- Updated: October 19, 2016
To better understand Diego Costa we need only remember Rod Tidwell.
Tidwell was a wide receiver in the mid-1990s; one of the NFL’s finest in his position while playing for the Arizona Cardinals. Much like Costa now, he was unfancied, though; seen as a loose cannon. He had got his way to the top by grafting—but with a chip firmly on his shoulder, he wasn’t exactly the first player a marketing man would think of when the big commercial deals were available.
Because of that, Tidwell struggled. He was seen as unglamorous and his face didn’t quite fit. He wasn’t the first name fans would consider when it came to the plaudits and as such, meant the player was underrated. The impression was that the wide receiver was good, but not that good. Indeed, he wasn’t even liked much by his own fans at times.
Tidwell’s public persona often went before his ability as a player, and it impacted his career. It was only when his agent, Jerry Maguire, convinced him that he should celebrate his best qualities and give the public what they wanted—to “dance” as Maguire put it—that he eventually got the recognition he had craved.
In the words of Tidwell, he wanted “Arizona dollars.” He only got them by exploiting what it was that made Rod Tidwell, well, Rod Tidwell. It took Maguire to refine his qualities to reach the end game.
Share Tweet
Forgetting Tidwell’s “Show me the Money” credo, there are similarities with Costa; the big difference being that the Chelsea striker is playing out his narrative in the real world. Tidwell was a character of fiction in Cameron Crowe’s celebrated movie Jerry Maguire, although that fact doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take heed of the sentiment.
Tidwell was a unique case in Crowe’s version of the NFL; he riled people, especially his own coach, who was unwilling to budge on the reduced contracts he was offering. Tidwell came with too much baggage to be treated like a superstar.
Sure, there are exceptions, but overall the character we see on display from Costa represents the same thing as a man such as Tidwell. And just as Tidwell got his way by exploiting the gifts of his own character, it’s exactly how Costa is achieving now.
Catching those Hail Marys eventually made everything worthwhile for those who put up with Tidwell’s tantrums; scoring the goals he does at Chelsea is equally the same with Costa. He’s the Premier League’s leading goalscorer this season and in the sort of form we find him, he’s going to be right up there come the end of …
