11-15-2008, 10:29 PM
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PatsFans.com Supporter
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Fairfield County, CT
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Cassel and competitive fires
Somehow, I'm guessing this wasn't news to Belichick when he picked Cassel (this was actually written before the first JEST game):
Quote:
Steve Clarkson, a quarterback specialist in Southern California who trains with Cassel in the offseason, warns the Jets not to underestimate Cassel's desire to win. Clarkson is one of the few who can remember how Cassel played the last time he started a game under center. Clarkson was offensive coordinator for Palisades High School, which beat Cassel's Chatsworth, 49-42, in a City Invitational quarterfinal game. . . .
Nevertheless, Cassel left a lasting impression on Clarkson and the Palisades wide receivers. Cassel played defensive back and delivered such punishing hits that Clarkson had to game plan around Cassel and even had to coax one receiver to go back into the game in the final minutes of a tied game after Cassel cracked the receiver's rib with a jarring hit.
"We felt like we should go right at him and really exhaust him," Clarkson said of the Palisades offense. "But to our dismay, I have never seen anybody hit with such precision and such criminal intent. He eviscerated our team with his physical play. We were quite fortunate to win the game but unfortunately the effect of Matt Cassel lingered the week after and our receivers were still beat up. [Palisades lost the next week. --ctpatsfan77] I remember comparing him to John Lynch." . . .
On the football field, Cassel wasn't satisfied with just being the star quarterback. "For us, it was hard to get him off the field," said former Chatsworth football coach Bill Coan. "He started on offense, free safety and wanted to be on special teams, wanted to block kicks and be the long snapper."
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And, more recently, a quote from that rag:
Quote:
“The fact is, a lot of (media) people probably in this locker room right now wrote me off, said I was going to get cut,” Cassel said, gazing at the assembled media. “That’s the interesting part about it. You just keep working hard in the face of adversity, persevere and anything can happen.” . . .
“I’ve never doubted myself,” Cassel said. “I’ve always known what I was capable of, no matter what other people think.
“It’s not about them. It’s about having a belief in yourself and I’ve always had that.”
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I'll come back to this soon enough, but think how much he must have shown in practice that BB was comfortable leaving Cassel as Brady's primary backup for the last three seasons.
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"Momentum was quickly snatched away by New England, who once again proved that any Patriot, at any moment, can make a play." —Inside the NFL, Packers v. Patriots
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