Howe: Butler missed flight, held out first three weeks of practice

Patstopia · Jun 11, 2015

Can someone please fast forward all this stupid BS and start training camp already

!

PatsFanInVa · Jun 11, 2015

Wildo7 said:
and? they are delicious that way

PatsFanInVa · Jun 11, 2015

Patstopia said:
Can someone please fast forward all this stupid BS and start training camp already!

Not if they show up late

Wildo7 · Jun 11, 2015

betterthanthealternative said:
Yes, and the Patriots expect their players to plan for the normal incidents and take extra precaution to avoid the unusual ones. That said, significant flight delays are normal incidents and it is reasonable to expect that players show the emotional maturity to figure out on their own that they should be within driving distance of the facility a couple of days prior to the beginning of camp. And, they should manage their personal lives in such a way so as to minimize the likelihood of unusual incidents, such as car accidents. That kind of emotional maturity is in the contract, so to speak.

I'm sure if Butler were driving to the facility that morning and was hit by another vehicle, to no fault of his own, and was late because of that, it would have been treated differently.

The window of opportunity for playing in the NFL is more akin to the birth of a child or a Broadway opening than it is to going to work everyday. You just make sure that nothing can get between you and showing up.

Personally I don't think they should be allowed to leave Gillette unless they need like a life-saving operation or something but the NFL is just so sissified these days

PatsFanInVa · Jun 11, 2015

Kdo5 said:
This is frustrating and over the top. I am a big BB fan but I just don't get it. I thought the punishment of Jonas Gray also lingered much too long last season. Is there an inherent need to knock these UDFAs down a peg when they get a little taste of fame?

We've seen this from him before, and not just UDFAs.

"This team hates its coach"

Seems to work though.

PatsFanInVa · Jun 11, 2015

Wildo7 said:
Personally I don't think they should be allowed to leave Gillette unless they need like a life-saving operation or something but the NFL is just so sissified these days

Right? It's like they don't even want players to need life-saving operations anymore...

My theory on Marquise Hill is that he knew he wouldn't be ready for OTAs or mini-camps or whatever they were calling it, and he figured he'd go toward the light.

RobertWeathers · Jun 11, 2015

Wildo7 said:
Personally I don't think they should be allowed to leave Gillette unless they need like a life-saving operation or something but the NFL is just so sissified these days

Thats like how the Soviets managed the Red Army Hockey Team. They were forced to live in a convent-like training camp 10 months out of the year.

You could say it worked.....Except for 1960 and 1980

RobertWeathers · Jun 11, 2015

PatsFanInVa said:
Right? It's like they don't even want players to need life-saving operations anymore...

My theory on Marquise Hill is that he knew he wouldn't be ready for OTAs or mini-camps or whatever they were calling it, and he figured he'd go toward the light.

Man thats bad...

PatsFanInVa · Jun 11, 2015

robertweathers said:
Man thats bad...

Too soon?

Brady6 · Jun 11, 2015

My observation of this situation is that the Patriots believe Butler is really, really good. If they didn't they would have found another way to punish him. In addition, they had him playing with the starters today, which indicates he was punished and now he is the starting LCB in the eyes of the coaches.

If Butler is really good, like top tier CB good, which is very possible because he is talented and very naturally instinctive the Patriots will be very good in the secondary this year in my opinion.

Triumph · Jun 11, 2015

Deus Irae said:
Your line of argument is essentially nonsensical. In any large group, you'll have variance, and you'll eventually have incidents, regardless of planning. It might be weather. It might be a car accident. It might be a power outage that leaves one without a working alarm. As it pertains to the real world, every single person on this site understands that. It's only when applied to the Patriots that people here seem to enjoy getting stupid about this stuff.

We have already covered the weather excuse.

Normal occurrences like snow in NE ( see Spikes being late) or thunder storms in the SE and MW happen every year like clockwork. With todays technology everyone has the information days in advance that the potential for delays are high this time of year when traveling unless youre an utter moron.

Maybe plan to leave a day or 2 early if something is important enough that you cannot be absent? Ask the other players who are never late what they do. Whats the secret to keeping appointments. Ask Belichick?

The NFL is not the real world if you haven't figured that out yet.

rochrist · Jun 12, 2015

Deflatemyballs said:
He didn't ban him for three weeks, he was there the whole time in meetings watching film, lifting and going through other workouts. He held him out of 3 weeks of practice, which sounds like a lot but it was a total of 6 ota sessions. Butler seems to have been taking it in stride and understands what he has to do.

And it turned out, in point of fact, the it was a grand total of 6 practices he wasn't on the field for.

rochrist · Jun 12, 2015

Wildo7 said:
Maybe read the rule language again, you don't see "adverse consequences" as including being barred from participating in team activities?

So you'd contend that a player can stroll in and out of practice on a whim? Or are there some rules that are acceptable?

rochrist · Jun 12, 2015

Wildo7 said:
So you hope a player learns that voluntary doesn't really mean voluntary because BB can willfully violate the CBA and that after winning the superbowl for us it's gonna be really hard for him to earn a roster spot in the worst secondary in the AFC.

GJGE

Voluntary means voluntary. It doesn't mean show up whenever you feel like it.

n6249c · Jun 12, 2015

Wildo7 said:
Thanks, never said I was leaving though.

But we can hope...

n6249c · Jun 12, 2015

PatsFanInVa said:
Too soon?

Never

n6249c · Jun 12, 2015

Wildo7 said:
Maybe read the rule language again, you don't see "adverse consequences" as including being barred from participating in team activities?

But he wasn't barred from participating in all team activities, he got to do film study and workouts, just didn't get reps on the field. Those are coaches' discretion anyway, all BB has to do is say "I know what I've got with Malcolm and needed to see what the new guys can do" or something like that.

Kontradiction · Jun 12, 2015

Wildo7 said:
Thanks, never said I was leaving though.

Ah. So you're just "done with football", but you still continue to post on a football message board. Makes sense.

RobertWeathers · Jun 12, 2015

Brady6 said:
My observation of this situation is that the Patriots believe Butler is really, really good. If they didn't they would have found another way to punish him. In addition, they had him playing with the starters today, which indicates he was punished and now he is the starting LCB in the eyes of the coaches.

If Butler is really good, like top tier CB good, which is very possible because he is talented and very naturally instinctive the Patriots will be very good in the secondary this year in my opinion.

According to Rodney Harrison, BB told him in 2014 TC that he thought Butler was a damn good player.

Brady6 · Jun 12, 2015

rochrist said:
Voluntary means voluntary. It doesn't mean show up whenever you feel like it.

I think you nailed it here, the voluntary aspect of OTAs starts and ends with the decision to attend. Once you notify the team of your intent to attend you're expected to be on time and ready to follow the coaches instructions.

Honestly, I have no problem with the punishment. Butler is a young kid who had an unprecedented rise from unknown to the player who arguably made the biggest defensive play in the history of the NFL. It probably did go to his head. I actually would have expected Butler to be out here trying to win an offseason practice award and taking control of a starting CB position so the fact he couldn't even get here on time is disappointing and I am glad Belichick taught him a lesson.

Howe: Butler missed flight, held out first three weeks of practice

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