Neely Crenshaw Character Analysis

Everyone has pride B y swallowing, getting over, or pushing it aside; everybody has pride. However, some people let that get in the way of their life, eventually swallowing them whole. With Neely Crenshaw, his embarrassment of not winning that Heisman trophy, along with his pride, kept him from returning to his hometown. The same hometown that gave him his pride, making him think he was a hot shot quarterback and nothing bad would ever happen to him. When he came back to honor his coach, his old football pal Paul Curry, had to remind him to move on.
When Neely and Paul were in high school, they were “practically unstoppable.” (Grisham 13). They were best friends, co-captains, and a force to be reckoned with on the field. A major difference between Paul and Neely is how they both moved on from the Messina Spartan Dynasty. For Paul, he married a prominent, local girl from town, and settled down. Neely however, decided to play college football, and attempt to stretch out his legacy as a football star. In high school, he had his pick of the girls, the teachers cut him slack for his grades, and the law did not apply to him. He was the king of Messina, everybody loved him. Why would he just stop his kingdom in high school? College football

would stretch it out, and he could possibly make it into the National Football League.
Unfortunately, he got injured in a college game his sophomore year, and that knocked him out of football for the rest of his life. While recovering, he had to adapt to living like a normal person; a person without thousands of people cheering for him, without girls throwing themselves at him, and without everyone knowing who he was. He finally did adapt; but still would not ever come to Messina. He was too embarrassed for not becoming a big shot everyone thought he would be. Pride kept him from coming back, from being like every other Messina player; sticking around, becoming a fan and a part of the community.
Neely has not been back to Messina ever since Paul got married. He kept it a goal to never return to the hometown that built him. Selling real estate in Florida, getting married, then eventually getting a divorced has filled his life reminiscing on the glory years. Seeing how beautiful Cameron was just a reminder of how ignorant he was “The gravity of his mistake hit hard.” (Grisham 174)
Pride has played a big part in both these men’s lives. Paul acknowledges his past football career and realizes he cannot replay the past, but can watch and support the team as well. His pride from being a once iconic Spartan has left and just the man is left. “Not anymore. After I got married, we bought season tickets, joined the booster club,, the usual stuff that everybody else does. Over time, I forgot about being a hero and became just another fan” (Grisham 16).
Neely is holding in his feelings about a great deal in his life.

Pride has played its role in this process. He let his enormous pride get the best of him and he cheated on Cameron with Screamer. He did not even think how Cameron would react, nor at the time did he care. He thought he was king and everyone else bows to him, listens to him, and loves him. He let it get in the way of where he chose to school, letting the most money define his worth. When Texas Tech offered him fifty thousand dollars to play football there, how could he turn that down? It showed he was worth that much money, and worth more than everyone else. He assumed he was higher than everyone else, better than everyone else, and more important than everyone

else.
All in all, these two men took about the same starting point and ended at two completely different places. Both were amazing football players, with promising futures, and the tools to succeed. Paul looks back at the glory years and is happy with what he has accomplished. Neely on the other hand, looks back and sees how it let it all take him over and now all he has is a divorce, a small real estate business, and no close friends. This just shows you how you can let pride consume you, but in the end, you are left with nothing.