Butler's Punishment Could be More Detrimental than Construcive

Butler's Punishment Could be More Detrimental than Construcive

Derek Havens

Super Bowl XLIX hero, Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, has been absent from the Organized Team Activities to this point, and now we have more details on the situation. Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald reported Wednesday afternoon the second-year defensiv

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It's all part of a philosophical foundation for the system that BB employs. No one player is above it. It may sound harsh due to inclement weather, but the idea is, that no matter what, you can not be late. All the players are grown men being compensated very well in an extremely competitive business. How is it any different in any line of work really? Unless the function or event is cancelled, anyone who has a job is expected to be there on time and these guys sign a contract. BB's reaction may seem harsh and prove to be detrimental to a particular player, but at the same time, hopefully Butler just "man's up" and realizes that he is held to the same expectations and uses it as a lesson learned. I'm sure there are many nmore examples of this in BB's career where it has been a positive lesson as opposed to a negative. Of course, in our society the news only cares about the negative. In the bigger picture, this really isn't a big deal, unless you compare it to say....psi in footballs, then it may be a big deal.

Fair unfair, harsh lenient who really cares. We have all worked for all different types of bosses. BB if nothing else is consistent!
Even a rookie makes enough money that the possibility of losing it and having to get a real life job for a tenth of what you are making now, should be enough incentive to be there early with bells on!

Only in boston we dont miss a chance to question a hall of fame super bowl winning coach consistently the best coach over the last 15 yrs and arguably one of the best ever . I am always amazed. If the pats miss the playoffs they will be calling for BB's head just like they do with the red sox and the bruins every year.

Too much has been made of this in the media IMO.

It is about a culture and philosophy.
Bill Belichick has created a culture in NE based upon his philosophy of how to build a winning franchise.
The decisions he makes are consistent with that culture and philosophy.
If he makes the decisions that Brad Havens, or someone else would based upon their philosophy, then he is no longer sticking to what he believes in.
What Belichick believes in works.
No one makes every decision correctly, but the person who makes more correct than anyone else who has ever done it should stick to their philosophy.
Put another way, we could argue about the reasoning that makes this decision a stupid one, but to do so means you have to reverse many other decisions because you want to abandon the philosophy. That would be detrimental.

AndyJohnson said:

It is about a culture and philosophy.
Bill Belichick has created a culture in NE based upon his philosophy of how to build a winning franchise.
The decisions he makes are consistent with that culture and philosophy.
If he makes the decisions that Brad Havens, or someone else would based upon their philosophy, then he is no longer sticking to what he believes in.
What Belichick believes in works.
No one makes every decision correctly, but the person who makes more correct than anyone else who has ever done it should stick to their philosophy.
Put another way, we could argue about the reasoning that makes this decision a stupid one, but to do so means you have to reverse many other decisions because you want to abandon the philosophy. That would be detrimental.

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I don't think there are many who were questioning the fact that he punished him or stuck to a standard, but many, myself included, were scratching our heads over the 'reported' severity (3 weeks-all activities) and whether keeping him out of activities for that length was warranted.

Now, hearing that based on nflpa rules he was still there, still getting paid, and still in film/coaching sessions; it makes it a little more understandable. BB had no ability ( nflpa rules) to punish him in almost any way for missing 'voluntary' activities; so he essentially just took away the media opportunities.

I also am still not sure EXACTLY how much 'on field' time he actually missed. So, I am still a little uncertain at this point if I would say the level was appropriate-equivalent to precedent or not. But certainly bb gets a benefit of doubt.

Gumby said:

I don't think there are many who were questioning the fact that he punished him or stuck to a standard, but many, myself included, were scratching our heads over the 'reported' severity (3 weeks-all activities) and whether keeping him out of activities for that length was warranted.

Now, hearing that based on nflpa rules he was still there, still getting paid, and still in film/coaching sessions; it makes it a little more understandable. BB had no ability ( nflpa rules) to punish him in almost any way for missing 'voluntary' activities; so he essentially just took away the media opportunities.

I also am still not sure EXACTLY how much 'on field' time he actually missed. So, I am still a little uncertain at this point if I would say the level was appropriate-equivalent to precedent or not. But certainly bb gets a benefit of doubt.

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My point is simply that someone who argues that their logic dictates BB should have handled it differently, must accept that their logic would dictate he handle many things differently, and the net result would not be good.

Look at it like parenting. The best parents in the world make poor decisions that the worst in the world would have made better. But if you ask them to conform to that set of rules, values, prioirites or philosophies, the children would not be better.

Methinks there is much more to this story than has been revealed publicly.

SVN said:

a̶r̶g̶u̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶ unarguably the best ever

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Fixed it.

I've learned just to shut up and wait to hear from both sides.

One thing that would bother me if true, would be getting penalized so severely when my flight the day before got cancelled.

Sure I guess next time I would arrive 2 days prior or rent a car and drive straight through. Lesson learned, but 3 weeks?

Yeah, it may be consistent but it doesn't change the fact that it was excessive for Ota's.

Btw, this is based on speculation so it is only my opinion on a subject that may not even be the case.

If a man can watch film and learn from others and his own mistakes, study the
play book instead of running reps that others may need more, I guess I'm okay
with that. Butler may use this incident as motivation. jmt

Like I said in another post ...
One would have to know Butler's schedule in the 2 days leading up to his booked flight.
But seriously ... too much is being made of this.

It's not personal, it's just business.

BB applies the same rules to everyone. Also, how many organizations will sit/not play a high round draft pick when an undrafted rookie beat them out in camp. Not too many. BB is focused on putting the best team out there. People might disagree with how he goes about it, but the results speak for themselves.

IcyPatriot said:

Too much has been made of this in the media IMO.

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Especially when one considers this is normal operating procedure for the Patriots.

I'm grateful for Butler's play but he gets way too much hype. The dude did what he was supposed to do for his part in a play Belichick was specifically practicing for. It's not like one play or one quarter elevates you to a Deon Sanders. Hopefully he lives up to his legend now, but until then it's none of my business to pass judgement on a hypothetical discipline and the inner workings of Belichick's Patriots.

Don't care.

The way I see this is BB making a statement that Butler needs to earn his roster spot. This is the NFL, where at any given time someone better than you can take your spot. You're lucky to be even given a chance at a roster spot that so few people in the world could ever get a chance at. Nothing short of perfection is acceptable. I doubt Butler will be making this mistake ever again.

There's a reason why BB has led one of the winningest teams in history. Going about it the the Jaguars or Browns way clearly doesn't work too well.

Reminds me of something that Vince Lombardi would have done in his day, where 15 minutes early was late.

It would not shock me at all if one of Butler's deficiencies, which kept him from being on the field more often last year, was film study. Two OTA weeks doing film study with the coaches might help him considerably.

Gumby said:

I don't think there are many who were questioning the fact that he punished him or stuck to a standard, but many, myself included, were scratching our heads over the 'reported' severity (3 weeks-all activities) and whether keeping him out of activities for that length was warranted.

Now, hearing that based on nflpa rules he was still there, still getting paid, and still in film/coaching sessions; it makes it a little more understandable. BB had no ability ( nflpa rules) to punish him in almost any way for missing 'voluntary' activities; so he essentially just took away the media opportunities.

I also am still not sure EXACTLY how much 'on field' time he actually missed. So, I am still a little uncertain at this point if I would say the level was appropriate-equivalent to precedent or not. But certainly bb gets a benefit of doubt.

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It wasn't 3 weeks all activities. It was 6 of 10 practice sessions on the field. Butler fully participated in meetings, film study and all other off-field activities.

From one of the BB films...

If you were a rookie, you'd hate me,if you were a veteran, you'd love me.

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Pretty close to a rookie who got thrust into the limelight over night. Just reducing his hat size a bit. it's good for you.

Not that a veteran wouldn't get similar treatment, but a veteran who still doesn't know how to be professional usually gets the boot, rather than repeated lessons.