BelichickFan

I hadn't seen this until it was linked on the Draft Board :

Pats make right move by swapping Boyer for Brown

"One head-shaking moment I witnessed came after the Patriots pummeled the Jets in November. During that game, Patriots left tackle Mark Levoir destroyed Donald Strickland with a kickout block on a screen.

After the game, as Levoir was walking through the locker room peeling off tape, safety Brandon McGowan barked, "Hey, what the [freak] is wrong with you, Levoir?" Levoir looked at him confused. McGowan said the shot on Strickland was unnecessarily violent and would mark the Patriots DBs as targets now, too. Levoir looked completely taken aback. Then rookie corner Darius Butler - normally quiet as a church mouse - walked past McGowan and echoed McGowan's statements before ducking into the shower.

"Are you not supposed to hit defensive backs hard? Is that what they're pissed about?" I asked Levoir.

"I have no idea what that was all about," he answered."

Imagine Harrison doing that

Go away McGowan you little puss. I want to move forward with Meriweather, Chung and Sanders. McGowan can go and play touch football with some other team.

JFK

McGowan is better than Sanders. No one can convince me otherwise.
Regarding the block on Strickland, i don't remember it. Some hits and blocks are unnecessarily violent though even though McG does hit hard too.
Butler echoed McG's words so i won't call him a puss at all cos he doesn't play like one.

Brono

Well, to be fair, a reporter can witness one incident of selfish behavior, and not witness multiple other incidences of selfless, professional, team-oriented conduct.

Nevertheless, the issues of leadership, character and mental toughness appear yet again. Is it possible to rebuild a core with the character of Bruschi/Vrabel/Harrison/McGinest/Johnson/et al. in a definite time, or is rebuilding character in the locker room a crapshoot that could result in a protracted run of mediocrity?

PatriotNation

I think you have to bring him back, he is a solid role player. Locker room comments aside his play on the field earned him the chance to compete next year.

Levoirs hit was nasty, but this is football, it is a contact sport.

It does make other players a target but you can not tell me there wasnt a target on their backs already. Especially from the Jets.

BelichickFan

Butler isn't exactly Mr. Tough Guy although he can get away with it more being a CB. McGowan is dead to me after reading that.

BelichickFan

The locker room was a big part of the problem. We aren't at the point where we can say "locker room comments aside".

mike100915

What? This is just one of the many reasons why this team stunk this year and had no heart. Levoir made a nice play, that set the tone for the day for the Patriots. Frankly, they needed more plays like that throughout the year. The Patriots organization has no room for people like Brandon McGowan, and it makes we worry about how intelligent Darius Butler is.

The Patriots need more Mark Levoirs, not Brandon McGowan's. There's a reason why the Bears didn't want him. This answers all my questions about the locker room. Would Rodney Harrison ever said something like that to Logan Mankins? I doubt it. See ya lata, McGowan.

Seymour93

Wasn't he one of the guys lauahing it up in the lockerrom after the Colts or Saints loss?

McGowan came from an emotionally immature team in the Bears. It's no surprise that he's brought that attitude to NE.

His play dropped off by midpoint of the season anyway. I wouldn't shed a tear if he left.

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upstater1

Of course this entire article neglects the fact that McGowan put himself in harm's way to make more hard tackles than anyone when he played.

He hit with reckless abandon.

Is anyone here arguing that McGowan avoided contact?

mike100915

Couldn't agree more!