Peter King on Randy Moss- ...New England went one step too far"

[marcus]

Peter King is a sports writer who calls it like it is.

Whether or not you agree with him, the Patriots philosophy dramatically changed this weekend, when they turned from a one of a kind character team to a "me too" talent over character team





"I'm about to get preachy/sappy. Even when the Patriots took a chance on guys like Corey Dillon, they were using roster spots on guys who were never accused of not hustling. To me, and to Bob Kraft, Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli, cheating the game is the worst crime a player can commit. Moss has done it regularly, going back to the infamous dogging it that Merril Hoge proved on ESPN years ago.

People around the Raiders had a major beef with Moss -- he regularly dogged it. I'm not going to kill the Patriots for this, because Moss might well turn into Pete Rose, and if he does, good for him. But this is not the kind of player the Patriots stand for. He can prove all of us doubting this trade wrong. But I can't help but think that, regardless of the outcome, the Patriots should have let someone else deal with his potential flameout. In their quest for the greatest offseason in the Cap Era (which the Patriots might have won before the Moss trade), I think New England went one step too far"

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Of course that what he was gonna say.

Do you really think that he can come out and just say............. "If this works for them, the NFL next year is all but going to suck for everyone (including writers and color guys who have to make blow-outs seem interesting) except one team and its fans. If it doesn't, and he's cut early (ala Gabriel), they lose next to nothing and still have an incredible array of target for TB"

Expect it. Many will hate this mve cuz it simply makes one of the best teams MUCH better. It's almost unfair from a "parity" standpoint. All understand what it means though, they may just not want to say it.

 

[lutontown_fc]

Wow. Marcus managed to dig up a negative report about the Patriots acquisition of Moss?!

I am so very surprised.

 

[Bella*chick]

Yeah, but he was a guest on Mike and Mike this morning and while he talked about the character stuff, he basically admitted this was good for New England and Moss would play well for them because this is his last chance to save his reputation. Greenberg wanted him to name the negatives and King was basically unable to from a football standpoint.

 

[sebman2112]

What a complete moron. Yes, I said it. NE gives up a fourth round pick and a small contract to get one of professional football's most prolific WR's and it's a bad move? Really, I think he'll be alright but if he does act up NE isn't stuck with him. NE gave up a fifth rounder to get Doug Gabrial and that didn't workout, so they cut his *****. They'll do the same with Moss if he acts like a turd.

 

[BelichickFan]

We'll see how people see it when Moss is catching passes and opening up the short and middle part of the field. Right now it's all theoretical BS . . . when he's on the field and impacting the game, we'll see how he feels.

 

[Va_Pats_Fan]

Thats funny. He was on Mike and Mike this morning, and he stated that the Pats have had the best offseason in the salary cap era. Said the deal had a huge upside, and little risk......

 

[upstater1]

you know what's funny about all this.

The players hate Bill Belichick. After the San Diego game he was the worst human being in football.

The Adalius Thomas hooked up, Randy Moss, donte Stallworth. Belichick is so hated that he saved the Patriots $9-10 million on those players. Their contract offers with other teams would have been about $9.5 million higher than what the Patriots offered. He's so hated that players are actually giving up $$ to play for him.

Thanks Dan Marino and Bob Costas and Skip Bayless and Boomer Esiasion (although I can't hold it against Boomer too much since he's generally excellent) for pointing out what a miserable human being BB is.

 

[Patriot Missile]

The possibilities are endless. Belichick seems to always coveted a player like Randy Moss. Not just for his crazy unnatural skill set,but also for his ability to create mismatches for oppsosing defenses across the board. It's not even fair really. People think we are going to be changing are offensive philosophy and I don't think we will. Many of the same plays will be in place it's just now we have more athletic surehanded receivers to make the short to medium pass routes whom have a much better chance for YAC and taking those to the house. Ofcourse the long ball will be an option like never before also.

 

[Bella*chick]

you know what's funny about all this.

The players hate Bill Belichick. After the San Diego game he was the worst human being in football.

The Adalius Thomas hooked up, Randy Moss, donte Stallworth. Belichick is so hated that he saved the Patriots $9-10 million on those players. Their contract offers with other teams would have been about $9.5 million higher than what the Patriots offered. He's so hated that players are actually giving up $$ to play for him.

Thanks Dan Marino and Bob Costas and Skip Bayless and Boomer Esiasion (although I can't hold it against Boomer too much since he's generally excellent) for pointing out what a miserable human being BB is.

Post of the day!!!

 

[PatsFanInVa]

It's like the old song - "kick em when they're up, kick em when they're down." Now I'm not saying King personally does that, I am just saying every move by a coach, especially BB, the Lombardi of our era, will get a huge amount of scrutiny, especially this offseason.

King seems to have talked to both points, taking together this writing and what people report hearing on Mike and Mike - he's saying the talent infusion is huge, but at the same time the character hit could be equally huge.

Predictable story. I personally was telling everybody for months, "oh shaddap about Moss... we'll never spend that kinda $ on a wideout... locker room cancer... yadda yadda yadda...even if I would love having the talent."

Well okay now we got him, I am ecstatic. It's like "sour grapes" in reverse. It's like Christmas morning, after I just knew I wasn't going to get that BB gun (heh heh hey look a pun,) and there it is anyway. Yeah yeah, "you'll put your eye out, kid." Fine. But I get to plink at some cans first!

On the character issue, one thing I find humorous is Moss's use of pronouns and his newfound confusion about what constitutes and individual. Pay attention to these factors while reading over this article:

http://www.patriots.com/news/index.cfm?ac=latestnewsdetail&pid=25032&pcid=41

“I think that Coach is going to give me his best as far as getting me prepared weekly and motivate me. I think that he is the kind of coach that can motivate me, and not just me, but the team, to go out there and win. I mean, he has a proven track record, so why not be happy? Why not be excited to come and play for this organization?”

Okay, someone still needs to talk to Randy. You motivate yourself in NE... we don't have Parcells yelling in your face anymore. We have expectation - motivation seems to come from the inside.

In another article he was talking about being the 2nd best receiver on the team out of Marshall (Troy Brown being the best one.) He got all tongue tied, started saying things like "not saying Troy Brown is an individual, just what he did for this team..." It's like they're trying to ramp him up on "we-speak."

I just find it funny. He's trying to drink the kool-aid, and it's kind of dripping out on his jersey and stuff LOL....

But he WANTS to believe! By September, he WILL believe! I guess... I think he's moving to a new paradigm, and you can hear it in his interviews.

PFnV

 

[DefenseRules]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not going to waste time nit picking at every word that comes out of his mouth. I could care less.
I didn't want him here but now we got him. I want him to come in here, work with Brady and learn the system, and help us win games. PRODUCTION, that's all I care about.

 

[Joker]

Is there any worse scene in sports than watching Done Noringo b!tch and moan about the Patriots every time he gets his greasy Dolphin face on the tube?

 

[DarrylS]

I will be the first to say thought this was high risk minimally, but after reading a lot of stuff on this it is not that bad, we are bringing in a pro bowler for a 4th round pick.. for a contract that is peanuts on the grand scale of things.. I do not care for Moss up to now, but give the guy a chance and if it fails no biggie.. it is a 4th round pick, if it was a 1-3 round pick I would be very concerned, it is what it is.. an opprotunity for a turd football player to prove once and for all he is a winner, not just a malcontent who uses the press for his own grandeur. In the grand scale it is no biggie, if he came here for small cash and a 4th round pick. People need to keep it in perspective..

 

[patsacolachick]

you know what's funny about all this.

The players hate Bill Belichick. After the San Diego game he was the worst human being in football.

The Adalius Thomas hooked up, Randy Moss, donte Stallworth. Belichick is so hated that he saved the Patriots $9-10 million on those players. Their contract offers with other teams would have been about $9.5 million higher than what the Patriots offered. He's so hated that players are actually giving up $$ to play for him.

Thanks Dan Marino and Bob Costas and Skip Bayless and Boomer Esiasion (although I can't hold it against Boomer too much since he's generally excellent) for pointing out what a miserable human being BB is.

LOL I thought the same thing!!! In yo' face, you miserable jealous talking heads who never had a clue about BB and never will, because he won't let ya!!

 

[PatsFanInVa]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not going to waste time nit picking at every word that comes out of his mouth. I could care less.
I didn't want him here but now we got him. I want him to come in here, work with Brady and learn the system, and help us win games. PRODUCTION, that's all I care about.

Hey dude I'm bored and it's still April...

Beyond that, I think his heart's in the right place and his head will follow. Maybe slowly, but still. Keep an eye on the pronouns though.

In fact, I think I might initiate a study of pronoun frequency in Moss interviews, just count words, count occurences of "me" and "I", and compare over time.

Like I said, I'm bored.

PFnV

 

[Patsfanin Philly]

. Greenberg wanted him to name the negatives and King was basically unable to from a football standpoint.

Greenie fully admitted that he was asking as a Jets fan, and that it was (my words now) out of jealousy/fear/respect more than anything else.

 

[vyrago]

-I just find it funny. He's trying to drink the kool-aid, and it's kind of dripping out on his jersey and stuff LOL....

But he WANTS to believe! By September, he WILL believe! I guess... I think he's moving to a new paradigm, and you can hear it in his interviews.PFnV

Furthermore, he hasn't had the REAL kool-aid yet. He's drinking his own concoction, a sort of faux-Pats brew that's sort of close, but still has some Moss growing on it. After he's had the real harrison,brady,colvin&Brown mix, he'll be just fine.

 

[Bella*chick]

Greenie fully admitted that he was asking as a Jets fan, and that it was (my words now) out of jealousy/fear/respect more than anything else.

Oh, I know, Greenie is a Jets fan. It was funny that nothing King said made him feel any better.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Furthermore, he hasn't had the REAL kool-aid yet. He's drinking his own concoction, a sort of faux-Pats brew that's sort of close, but still has some Moss growing on it. After he's had the real harrison,brady,colvin&Brown mix, he'll be just fine.

I'm not a big "what he said" guy, He told me all I needed to hear by taking a $16M paycut for the opportunity to come here and WIN. That speaks to me in volumes.

The fact that he's already stumbling his way trying to do "patriot speak" is just more evidence of how bad he wants to be here.

That, my friends, is huge and it should be signify a significant "change of heart from him, at least for one year".