MMQB: Belichick and Tillman connected [merged]

[Patspsycho]

Re: MMQB: Belichick and Tilman connected

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]

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

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]

Re: MMQB: Belichick and Tilman connected

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

 

[DarrylS]

Re: MMQB: Belichick and Tilman connected

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!]

MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

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

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!]

Re: MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

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

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Re: MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england.../279680-mmqb-belichick-tillman-connected.html

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

 

[letekro]

Re: MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

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]

Re: MMQB: Belichick and Tillman connected

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]

Re: MMQB: Belichick and Tillman connected

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.

 

[SoonerPatriot]

Re: MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

OT, but I couldn't help but notice how annoyed King was that Clayton dropped that pass which he said was "the most catchable ball thrown on Sunday". Really Peter? You saw EVERY pass attempt yesterday?

Then he made Clayton his goat of the week and mentioned it yet again in his "MVP Watch" with Flacco. .

 

[Delicate Genius]

Re: MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

Anyone else waiting for ESPN to accuse Belichick of tampering?

 

[PatsFan24]

Re: MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

Anyone else waiting for ESPN to accuse Belichick of tampering?

LOL mikey whatever his name is the jets fan is prob mad as hell about it

 

[DarrylS]

Re: MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

http://www.patsfans.com/new-england.../279680-mmqb-belichick-tillman-connected.html

Needs to be merged....

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Re: MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

Anyone else waiting for ESPN to accuse Belichick of tampering?

LMAO

101010

 

[MassPats38]

Re: MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

While King has his issues, I always respected him for his willingness to correspond with soldiers and publish their letters and reports. Probably one of the few places you can see that. Whether he did that to "name drop" or otherwise, it is the right thing and his motivations were immaterial to me when I was overseas.

As for being discouraged by the war effort, that is a natural response to any seemingly interminable war. Try getting on an elliptical trainer and setting it at level 15 for 45 minutes after someone specifies full effort and the time period, then when you reach the end of the time period having that someone add another 45 minutes, and keep repeating that cycle until you have little energy to move forward. You will ultimately get discouraged, and that is not a life or death scenario.

And just another example Belichick is not the a-hole the world seems to think he is. Unfortunately, I suspect this letter will get little press as every movie needs a villain and Belichick tends to wear the black hat in the NFL for fans of all other teams.

 

[vyrago]

Re: MMQB: Belichick and Tilman connected

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

Under The Banner of Heaven which focuses on the fundamentalist Mormons is also excellent.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Re: MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

Or... when you're a soldier and realize your country lied to get in there, for geopolitical gain and oil, not exactly why you signed up in the first place...

Keep your moonbat political views in the appropriate forum.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Re: MMQB: Belichick's letter to Pat Tillman

While King has his issues, I always respected him for his willingness to correspond with soldiers and publish their letters and reports. Probably one of the few places you can see that. Whether he did that to "name drop" or otherwise, it is the right thing and his motivations were immaterial to me when I was overseas.

As for being discouraged by the war effort, that is a natural response to any seemingly interminable war. Try getting on an elliptical trainer and setting it at level 15 for 45 minutes after someone specifies full effort and the time period, then when you reach the end of the time period having that someone add another 45 minutes, and keep repeating that cycle until you have little energy to move forward. You will ultimately get discouraged, and that is not a life or death scenario.

And just another example Belichick is not the a-hole the world seems to think he is. Unfortunately, I suspect this letter will get little press as every movie needs a villain and Belichick tends to wear the black hat in the NFL for fans of all other teams.

Great post. Typical. Congrats.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Reading comprehension certainly is a lost art. Tillman honored all his committments. He went into the service a UFA and would have come out as one.