Ahhh, high school.

Remember the jocks? The kids that got to do and say whatever they wanted, because they were jocks?

Nothing has changed.

On April 23rd, professional football player Ricky Manning was sitting in a Denny’s with a bunch of his friends, when they noticed a guy sitting alone, eating dinner, working on a laptop. Manning and his gang proceeded to start picking on the guy, who eventually asked the management to have them removed.

So what happened next? Exactly what would have happened in high school. They beat the guy senseless, and fled the scene. He was sitting by himself, working on a laptop. They called him a nerd, and beat the crap out of him. Six thugs beat him senseless, because he was a geek.

Manning is currently charged with assault with a deadly weapon (his fists).

Odds are, He’ll get nothing more than a slap on the wrist, AGAIN. Why? Because this is America, and pro athletes are neither expected nor required to be men. We consider them role models for our children, simply because they can run faster, or throw farther. Because of a higher percentage of muscle tissue and better reflexes, we as a society allow them to be whatever kind of cowardly thugs they want to be, and then we reward them with multi-million dollar contracts. We do not hold them accountable for their actions.

Here’s the punch line:

Manning’s response after making bail, and finding out that he got signed?

"I was pretty down this morning because of the situation," Manning said."But when I found out I was a Chicago Bear, it kind of brought a little light to the day. … I can’t let something like this let me have a bad start to my football career in Chicago."

And the Chicago Bears organization?

A spokesman for the Chicago Bears says that the criminal charge will have no bearing on their $21 million, five year contract with Manning. In fact, the Bears scheduled a conference call Monday night to talk about their new player.

Update: Manning was suspended by the NFL for one game as a result of the incident, and eventually plead guilty to the charges in exchange for his second probation deal. He claimed that he “had words” with the man, but that his former teammates were the ones that committed assault. He also claims that the only reason he plead guilty was because he was “in season” and it might disrupt the team if he went to a jury trial. Disgusting.