The following appears courtesy of the Press Group, publishers of the "Pascack Press" and the "Northern Valley Press."
Two extremely different topics...NFL Draft: two local first round picks and full figured supermodel Emme's lecture to local students in Closter.
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"Two native sons of Pascack Valley heading to NFL"
The Pascack Valley saw two native sons recognized as the best of the best among the nation’s college football talent when Township of Washington’s B.J. Raji and Park Ridge’s Brian Cushing were selected in the first round of the National Football League’s (NFL) amateur draft on April 25.
Both Raji and Cushing now sit on the precipice of million dollar fortunes and national stardom after being drafted ninth and 16th overall respectively.
The Green Bay Packers tapped Raji to be the anchor of their defensive front after the 6-foot-1 337 lbs. interior defensive lineman was a stand out at Boston College. He graduated from Westwood Regional High School in 2003.
(B.J. Raji rushing the QB for during game action with Boston College.)
Cushing, a Linebacker who played his college ball at the University of Southern California, will now join the Houston Texans in 2009, five years after leading Bergen Catholic to the 2004 New Jersey Group IV State Championship.
(Cushing poses with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after he was selected 16th overall at Radio City Music Hall.)
Both will benefit from being selected in 2009 because the current collective bargaining agreement that governs the labor relations between the NFL and its players’ association is expiring. The current agreement ensures that top draft picks receive lucrative salaries.
Generally salaries are reflective of what was given to the draft pick of the same number from the prior year. The Last year’s ninth overall pick, Cincinnati Bengals’ linebacker Keith Rivers, eventually signed a six-year contract worth nearly $20 million if certain performance incentives are met. Last year’s 16th pick, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, signed a five-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals at $15.1 million with $9 million in guarantees.
Both players have had to deal with adversity on their way to earning the prestige of first rounders. Raji was declared academically ineligible prior to the start of what would have been his senior season in 2007 and spent the year off the field. He was also subject of a difficult juxtaposition when a pair of media outlets, SportsIllustrated.com and NFLDraftBible.com, reported he had tested positive for marijuana during the recent NFL Scouting combine. Those reports were later determined to be false.
The 6-foot-3 243 lbs. Cushing has been bothered by allegations that he used steroids, despite having never failed any drug test. Pictures alleging to show before and after image of Cushing register some 52,000 online results in a Google search. But the athlete, who graced last week’s cover of Sports Illustrated, continues to state in interviews he has never used steroids and will continue to prove people wrong. The Texans seemed to agree as they moved in to select him as their highest draft pick in 2009.
Both Raji and Cushing were part of an astounding seven players drafted in the first round who grew up in New Jersey, the highest total from any one particular state.
Nether player will make a 2009 homecoming at East Rutherford’s Giants Stadium, however Cushing’s team will face the Jets in Houston on September 13. The Packers don’t play ether the Jets or the Giants in 2009. Both players could have the opportunity to shine in the national spotlight, as the Texans will play one Monday night game and the Packers two. The Packers also will be televised nationally during a Thanksgiving Day game. Surely many eyes from the Pascack Valley will be watching these budding stars, not just in 2009, but hopefully for years to come.
"Emme imparts her style on students"
In a media driven world where tall skin and bones models are portrayed as the standard of beauty, 17-year Closter resident and supermodel Emme will tell you that beauty takes many forms.
“Your perfect just the way you are,” said Emme to an auditorium of seventh and eight graders at Tenakill Middle School on April 29. “You can not change your body type. You can only make it the best that it can be.”
Chosen twice to be on People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” list, Emme broke into the fashion industry as an athletic full figured model and went on to work alongside the likes of Cindy Crawford and Halle Berry.
Providing statistics, Emme told students that the average American woman is 5-foot-4 and 145 lbs. yet the average American model is 5-foot-11 and 117 lbs. This leaves many with an image of beauty that is unattainable by most and unhealthy for some.
Did you know, she points out, that the multiple-billion dollar diet industry is based on a 98 percent failure rate? Yet people continue to fuel the industry because it is working by using advertising that attacks the average persons body image.
“Just be critical of what you are seeing,” said Emme. “When you start seeing that time and time again only one image of beauty is being seen, no wonder your driving yourself crazy.”
Emme was able to share first hand experiences with students that exemplified body bashing; a tactic that can inhibit self-esteem, which she says is vital to everyone’s individual success.
As a child, born in America, but growing up in Saudi Arabia Emme was subjected to her step-father forcing her to strip into her undergarments while he drew on her with a marker, attempting to highlight where she would have “fat problems” later in life. Early in her modeling career she was subjected to a photographer declaring: “I will not shoot that fatty.”
But Emme, who won a full athletic scholarship to Syracuse University as a crew rower, explained to students that she is simply an athletic body type and while she can live a healthy life style, it would never be healthy or good for her to struggle to achieve the image of beauty portrayed in most fashion magazines.
(Emme speaking to students during her lecture on April 28, 2009)
Emme told students that there are three body types: Ectomorphic, which is loosely described as thin; Mesomorphic or athletic; and Endomorphic, described as soft and round. While she was clearly mesomorphic, it was hard to overcome traumatic experiences and body bashing before she could be comfortable with her body.
“I never really honored this big, strong, beautiful body wholly until I got in my 30’s,” she said.
This issue does not just apply to women but also men, Emme told the students. Advertising and media that often instructs men be big and bulky is often contradicted by ads encouraging men to loose weight. Instead focus on nutrition and an active life style and be proud of who you are she said.
Also it is important to have a positive support system of friends and family, not friends who partake in body image bashing. The serious conditions of anorexia or bulimia can stem from bad self-images being propagated by stereotypes and negativity.
Instead Emme tries to promote health and fashion forward trends for all sized women. A former television host and recipient of many accolades, she successfully battled lymphoma in 2007 and continues to reside in Closter with her daughter. Check her our online at her Web site, Emmestyle.com.
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