MMQB: Belichick and Tillman connected [merged] - New England Patriots Forums

Patspsycho · 10-05-2009, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarrylS

I am reading the Tillman book right now, it is a very good read.. well done, suggest it.

All of Krakauer's books including "into thin air" and "in the wilderness" are all well done. Excellent reads. I recommend those as well.

***MoLewisrocks*** · 10-05-2009, 09:49 AM

Peter loves to blather and name drop. But he gets some interesting goods. This is the stuff of goosebumps.

Quote:

In the last conversation Tillman had with Bauer, he told his agent, "You won't believe the letter I got from Bill Belichick.'' In the letter, Belichick praised him for his courage, his leadership, his willingness to set an example for people in this materialistic society, and he said it was an honor to be in the same league he'd been in.

"In the letter,'' Bauer told me, "Belichick said, 'If you ever need a job when you get out of the Army, give me a call.' ''

So what would have happened if Tillman hadn't been killed? He'd have been 28 at the time of his scheduled discharge. McGinnis was fired by the Cardinals after the 2003 season, and Ferguson canned after the 2004 season in Seattle. Imagine Tillman being on the free-agent market in 2005. St. Louis pushed hard for him in 2002, before he enlisted, and likely would have been involved. Tom Coughlin was coming off a rocky 6-10 rookie season with the Giants; he loves all things military. I bet he and then-GM Ernie Accorsi would have bid for Tillman. McGinnis, the linebacker coach in Tennessee, would have tried to sell him to Jeff Fisher, as would Ferguson with his new employers, the Colts.

I don't know what team would have signed him. But the Patriots, even with Rodney Harrison, then 32, ensconced at strong safety, were not deep on the back end, with only one other solid NFL player, Eugene Wilson (let go two years later). After the Belichick letter, I bet Tillman would have walked to Foxboro and taken any role Belichick would have offered.

Jerry Reese, Sean Payton, Josh McDaniels at the helm of quick starts* - Peter King - SI.com

***DarrylS*** · 10-05-2009, 09:52 AM

I am reading the Tillman book right now, it is a very good read.. well done, suggest it.

***DarrylS*** · 10-05-2009, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patspsycho

All of Krakauer's books including "into thin air" and "in the wilderness" are all well done. Excellent reads. I recommend those as well.

I concur... they are all good reads..

***BradyFTW!*** · 10-05-2009, 01:53 PM

Dunno if you guys caught this, but in the story about Pat Tillman in today's MMQB, this gets mentioned in the middle:

Quote:

In the last conversation Tillman had with Bauer, he told his agent, "You won't believe the letter I got from Bill Belichick." In the letter, Belichick praised him for his courage, his leadership, his willingness to set an example for people in this materialistic society, and he said that it was an honor to be in the same league he'd been in.

"In the letter," Bauer told me. "Belichick said, 'If you ever need a job when you get out of the Army, give me a call.'"

King goes on to say that had Tillman not been killed in Afghanistan, he thinks that he would have ended up playing for the Pats, largely because of that letter. Of course, that's all pointless speculation, and King's about as bad at pointless speculation as anyone, but the letter itself was pretty cool. Standard under-the-radar stuff, which is exactly what we expect from Belichick by now. No wonder most people who are actually in the league and have any idea what's going on like him so much.

***BradyFTW!*** · 10-05-2009, 01:57 PM

nevermind, just saw that there's already a thread on this- must've missed it the first time around. Merge/delete away~

***MoLewisrocks*** · 10-05-2009, 01:57 PM

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england-...connected.html

But then the board is doing wacky stuff today with times and posts so...

letekro · 10-05-2009, 02:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradyFTW!

Dunno if you guys caught this, but in the story about Pat Tillman in today's MMQB, this gets mentioned in the middle:

King goes on to say that had Tillman not been killed in Afghanistan, he thinks that he would have ended up playing for the Pats, largely because of that letter. Of course, that's all pointless speculation, and King's about as bad at pointless speculation as anyone, but the letter itself was pretty cool. Standard under-the-radar stuff, which is exactly what we expect from Belichick by now. No wonder most people who are actually in the league and have any idea what's going on like him so much.

Sad to hear that Tillman had grown disillusioned with the war effort. Unfortunately, this seems to be the overwhelming reaction of those who have spent any significant time in these conflicts. It must be horrible to be in a war and not be able to find/identify the bad guys.

RoughingthePasser · 10-05-2009, 02:09 PM

Very cool. I'll check it out and the other Krakauer books too.

I was a fan of Pat Tillman and I knew something sounded fishy.
Friendly fire and other combat incidents happen frequently and often under the radar.

He was a brave dude-big sacrifice.....but others are guilty...I'll have to read up on this.

Maybe he's somewhere doing better than we are....who knows.

Maybe this is hell-here on earth.

Maybe we're not really here.

***Spiral*** · 10-05-2009, 02:32 PM

I'm half-kidding about this: Roger Goodell, after ignoring the Jets tampering allegations, will probably end up trying to pin a tampering charge on Belichick and the Patriots.