Deion was a good Patriot

[FrontSeven]

I still think Deion was a good Patriot. Nay, he was even a great one. Twenty one catches in two SBs don't lie. I will never have anything but great respect for what Deion did here. I just have to add that as great as he was it's now pretty obvious that he wasn't a true number one receiver. Everything Tom and the team have accomplished for six years was without a true number one receiver.

We have to seriously consider it was "Don't ask what Deion did for Tom, ask what Tom did for Deion" now, and the conclusion can only be that Deion rose to lofty heights that he almost didn't deserve with a mortal QB, and he probably didn't realize it.

We missed Deion last year. Without him we really struggled. With Deion we had a great offense, and with the news guys there really isn't an adequate word in the English language to describe it.

It should also be obvious now (if you read the definition of MVP) that Tom was probably the MVP of the league on more than one occasion, but got STIFFED because he didn't have the stats. That's how backward these people have the MVP voting. They vote for stats, when it should be the opposite in Brady's case, as his impact was extreme with no supporting cast to get him the stats.

So he'll get it this year but the problem is that it will perpetuate the myth that the stats leader should get the MVP award. In fact, he'll probably be worthy of both, but that's a coincidence to MVP voting (or should be.)

Deion really screwed up. Had he remained here he might have made less money, but he'd be cherry-picking easy catches due to Moss' presence. He'd be undefeated. Instead he's going to have to endure a rock fight every week, and probably never get back to the SB, where a class act like him belongs.

How much is it worth to miss out on being on what might turn out to be the greatest team in NFL history? What a screwup. I know we all have to eat but in the end Deion's exposure to advertising deals in NE would have made up for it.

To think that we basically "traded" a Deion for a Randy is almost unthinkable. It ranks up there with the Jimmy Johnson tooling of the NFL in the early nineties. Smarts counts. What's a number one draft pick compared to a coach that smart?

 

[Flying Fungi]

but is he a good seahawk?

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Who cares?
He and Benidict Arnold are dead to me.

 

[mcbee]

Who cares?
He and Benidict Arnold are dead to me.

Perfect.

He was a good patriot, when he was healthy...as far as achievement wise. And his SB performances were good.

But he wasn't a good Patriot in that he was a worm who wormed his way into more money. Much more than he deserved, judging by the performance in Seattle.

A little gratitude would have been nice. Not every WR plays with a HOF caliber QB. Helps the stats just a bit.

 

[xmarkd400x]

Nothing wrong with going after the money, in my humble opinion. There is no loyalty from the organization. Why should there be any from the player?

Say what you want, but you KNOW the second any Pats player becomes less than adequate he is out on his rear regardless of what he has done lately.

 

[GuyClinch]

In the NFL the player really should go for the money. Injuries can end your career in a hurry and teams will cut a player at any time if he can't play any more. With Branch both sides understood this and are more the likely over any bad feelings that may have been created - not that there were any..

Branch was a good but not great reciever and the Pats new that and wanted to pay him accordingly. He thought he was worth more on the market and he was correct - even if that was because Brady and not say Eli Manning was throwing to him.

The real "enemy' of the Pats is the NYJets and Mangini. I wonder if the Pats will run up the score on them.

Pete

 

[MoLewisrocks]

People often assume that before they started posting here they rest of us were just babbling incoherently. Most of us had Deion pegged at the outset of his contract issues. He was a great #2 and a marginal #1 made better by playing with a QB who could make chicken salad out of chicken **** absent a viable alternative. He also benefitted from the system and scheme and consistent coaching and quality game planning, not just as it related to himself but across the board.

Now he gets to play for an emotional and currently unhappy camper HC who lost his GM duties and basically tied his wagon to the tail of a gunslinger at heart who is becoming injury prone and a RB with durability and apparently emerging ego issues as the window begins to close in the great northwest.

He's got his contract, though he may not last in Seattle to see it through to fruition. When Holmgren goes there will be all manner of shakeups in his wake that could dramatically effect who Deion plays for and with, and for how long. Had he remained here and honored his contract he might have entered FA this off season with another ring and even another of Tommy's SB MVP's. That the media bestowed the third one on him rather than where it truly belonged is what led to his hype driven departure. He'll get another shot elsewhere but at not nearly the level to which he was overvalued absent this team and this QB.

In the final analysis though it worked out great for us. Randy probably wouldn't be here if Deion still was. Unless we let him walk this offseason, neither would Stallworth since he essentially got Deion's contract. They say everything happens for a reason, and after seeing how spygate galvanized the old and new talent on this team I'm becoming more convinced than ever that that is true. Belichick needed to see top tier talent at the WR position could sufficiently impact performance to justify increasing the budget for that unit substantially above a couple of million per season.

 

[Pats726]

Perfect.

He was a good patriot, when he was healthy...as far as achievement wise. And his SB performances were good.

But he wasn't a good Patriot in that he was a worm who wormed his way into more money. Much more than he deserved, judging by the performance in Seattle.

A little gratitude would have been nice. Not every WR plays with a HOF caliber QB. Helps the stats just a bit.

Worm is putting it mildly...I think the board has gone over this again and again.....IF Branch had played a year and gone free agent, I do not think anyone would have had a problem with that. That he lied to the fans what he intended to do...that he totally failed to negotiate in good faith..that he held out like a whiny 2 year old demanding money...that he showed that he really did not care about his teammates and that it was ALL about him...well..ALl of that and more of what Branch did showed me he was quite low. VERY low...

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Nothing wrong with going after the money, in my humble opinion. There is no loyalty from the organization. Why should there be any from the player?

Say what you want, but you KNOW the second any Pats player becomes less than adequate he is out on his rear regardless of what he has done lately.

There is a lot more loyalty, within reason, from this organization than most any other in the NFL. Ask Tedy or Rosie or Rodney or even Corey whom they carried (literally) into 2006.

The only players who end up out on their rears are the ones who refuse to listen to reason like Lawyer (who is on his second team since leaving and likely wishes he'd taken a simple million dollar paycut when by his own admission was an immature leader on and off the field in 2002 and pulled his head out of his ass before it landed him in Vicklanta) or Ty (who by the way has yet to earn what he was insulted by here when offered 4 years ago).

Even a half demented backstabber like LJ got to keep his 2005 roster bonus that was paid 4 months before he retired on the eve of a season. There is plenty of loyalty on this team, but it's a two way street and it's paved with accountability.

 

[spacecrime]

I still think Deion was a good Patriot.

Me, too. People forget one of the best things he did as a Patriot. He swore that he would play out his contract, and didn't announce he was holding out until after we had let Givens go and had not drafted a WR.

If he had been honest and upfront about his intentions, we would have either kept Givens or drafted a WR. Look what happened: Givens got hurt and the WR we would have drafted probably wouldn't have worked out.

Thank you, Deion Branch!!!!

Also, if we hadn't been stuck with the WRs we had last year, BB might not have corrected our WR situation by signing Stallworth AND going out and trading for Moss and Welker.

Truly, we owe our 7-0 season, to Deion.

 

[LoveDemPats]

People often assume that before they started posting here they rest of us were just babbling incoherently.

Hey, maybe it should read "thy enherent gods" instead of "they rest of us."

Just teasin ya man.

Us new posters get together every thursday morning at the internet Denny's, (its a swingin place, like bedrock, twitch twitch twitch). We have pancakes and sausage, and we vote for God-King-Emmboofoo of the prior week, and the voting is always close. (the winner gets a funny hat.)

 

[spacecrime]

Nothing wrong with going after the money, in my humble opinion.

You don't sound very humble to me, but anyway, the thread is "Deion was a good Patriot." He certainly could hold out and go after the money, even if he has to lie and fail to honor his word, true, but I don't see how doing that makes him a good Patriot. If he honored his contract, then he wouldn't be a good Patriot?

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

I'll take a page outta the BB manual.

Deion? ........... He don't play for us.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Deion was under contract with us and refused to play... that's significant and a helluva lot different from Samuel's situation - who was a free agent and under no obligation to practice or play.

That being said, with his salary being what it was, its kindof tough to blame the guy for sitting out... the risk/reward situation dictated that he was assuming all the risk by playing with very little reward in return

Sitting out for an extended period of time would forfeit his 1 year salary but offered the reward of not risking injury and gaining a big signing bonus.

So if I were Deion I'd have done the same thing. So no hard feelings on my part - as much as I felt that in hindsight we were one good WR away from a SB ring last year, I can't fault the front office nor Deion for that situation

 

[rabthepat]

Who cares?
He and Benidict Arnold are dead to me.

Exactly..............:rocker: :rocker: :rocker:

 

[CTPatsFan]

He is what he is now. A better than average WR who had great numbers becuase of Brady and the system. Now that those are gone he's not nearly as impressive.

I think the Pats show a good deal of loyalty with the players they deem worthy of it. But the bottom line is we're rooting for the laundry.

 

[FlyingElvis75]

Who cares?
He and Benidict Arnold are dead to me.

Hahaha. Nice.

I do think Deion was a good Patriot. I thought we missed him badly last year. But now, it's water under the bridge. Sort of like how I feel about Woody now that I have my new Buzz Lightyear!

 

[FrontSeven]

If he had been honest and upfront about his intentions, we would have either kept Givens or drafted a WR. Look what happened: Givens got hurt and the WR we would have drafted probably wouldn't have worked out.

Thank you, Deion Branch!!!!

Come on now. Contract negotiations have more depth and complexity to them than that. You cannot know all of the details, so don't bother making that value judgment. Things can look a certain way and not be that way at all.

Case in point: "Corey is a cancer."

Case2: "Randy is a cancer."

I'm afraid that the media warps our perspectives too much because their goal is to titillate, not investigate. They often choose sides, and they bring it for whatever side they're on regardless of facts.

My intention behind the "good Patriot" statement was really to contrast him with Randy after one of the great offensive performances in Patriots history. It was to contrast them, and also to show a little respect for the man did for me on the field. Why is it that a man's contributions are scuttled forever just because he and the team did not meet their objectives in contract talks? Nothing can erase the good things he did. When we needed winning drive against Carolina and Philly, who was the man that gave us what we needed?

I know, I know .... the correct answer is Teion, but again, don't waste a guy's contributions to just making that point again. I get it.

I also get how brutal Tom was against Denver last year when he didn't have a receiver who could find Route 128. Come on, this is not just one guy here named Tom, and Deion did things for you and me that should not be erased just because he's no Randy.

 

[oldrover]

Deion is dead to me. That said, if Deion hadn't pulled his crap, BB might never have gone after the Threatening Threesome.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Come on now. Contract negotiations have more depth and complexity to them than that. You cannot know all of the details, so don't bother making that value judgment. Things can look a certain way and not be that way at all.

Case in point: "Corey is a cancer."

Case2: "Randy is a cancer."

I'm afraid that the media warps our perspectives too much because their goal is to titillate, not investigate. They often choose sides, and they bring it for whatever side they're on regardless of facts.

My intention behind the "good Patriot" statement was really to contrast him with Randy after one of the great offensive performances in Patriots history. It was to contrast them, and also to show a little respect for the man did for me on the field. Why is it that a man's contributions are scuttled forever just because he and the team did not meet their objectives in contract talks? Nothing can erase the good things he did. When we needed winning drive against Carolina and Philly, who was the man that gave us what we needed?

I know, I know .... the correct answer is Teion, but again, don't waste a guy's contributions to just making that point again. I get it.

I also get how brutal Tom was against Denver last year when he didn't have a receiver who could find Route 128. Come on, this is not just one guy here named Tom, and Deion did things for you and me that should not be erased just because he's no Randy.

Apparently you missed the part where there were no talks. And they weren't asking him to play for his rookie salary. They had been offering him an extension since 12 minutes after he was awarded the SB MVP. But Deion decided he had an axe to grind that precluded him accepting essentially the contract Donte Stallworth is now playing under or even discussing what it was he wanted to stay beyond don't tag me a year from now...

The FO may not have handled it as well as they should have, I'd have flipped him in March and used the draft pick in some fashion to replace him, but Deion made it next to impossible to deal with him.

And remember, Deion was here in 2005, as was Givens, when we lost to Denver with 2 #2 WR on the roster who already had their bags packed for the trek out of Foxboro via 128. One was crying, but in reality it was because he thought the loss would hurt his chances to shoot his way out of town...

Dion made some nice plays with a HOF QB who won before he got here and will win long after he's gone. But he's not in the same area code as Stallworth let alone Moss, and truth be told I'd rather have Welker.