fgssand said:
Who is the villan here and who is playing hardball here.
Why is it always villain and hardball with us? If a player or team has a positon beyond which they will not go, why is it hardball, and not a sense of self-worth or policy or just plain negotiating. Remember all the rhetoric surrounding Brady's contract?
Why is it always the Pats trying to screw a player? Why aren't they allowed to set values based on thier corporate model?
We fans are soooo weird about favorite players. When it looks like they may leave (in recent history Milloy, Law, Washington, AV), they suddenly become greater than thr greatest. The become the heart and soul of the team. The team cannot win without them. Losing seasons were predicted when Milloy and Washington left, and we won the SB both years. It was widely acknoweledged that we could not win it all if Law did not return to the lineup when he was hurt, and yet we did (and by then people had already forgotten that we were supposed to to 6-10 that year with Ted W gone to the Raiders).
Now it's AV. We won be becasue he kicked. Without him we cannot win. The dynasty is over. He cannot be replaced.
The fact is that he can be replaced. The Patriots will not go for years with losing seasons because we changed kickers. We will find a new kicker.
If he does poorly, it will prove that AV was needed, and the "I told you so's" will fill the board. If he does well and kicks a couple game winners, AV will be disparaged as being "not so great - who needed him?"
The fact is that A is AV no matter if he is replaced by a dud or a superstar. If a poor player is picked as a replacement, it does not mean AV is better somehow or that the decision was wrong. Ditto if the new guy is the next Stenenrud or Anderson.
Adam put in some great years here, and his pleasant personality and work ethic added to his legend. Good for him. But that has nothing to do with whether he should be in a Pats uniform next year. That is based on his expected contribution and the price he feels he is worth.
Personally, I don't see all this adulation for Vinatieri. It isn't like he every gave something back to the team. He ALWAYS put himself and his paycheck first.
I was glad they brought Troy Brown. He took pay cuts and played out of position (hurting his stats and WRs get paid by stats), and it was nice to see him get taken care of. I was sorry to see Ted Johnson retire. He took a lot of paycuts to stay here. WMG, also.
AV is more like Henry Thomas, or Chad Eaton, or Brandon Mitchell, or Woody, or Ted Washington, or any of a number of players who who refused to take
pay cut for the team. I do not have a problem with that. it is a personal decision with them what they do. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it.
But see it for what it is: a decision by a player to prefer money to a career with a given team. No one requures them to take less, and no one should. But please acknowledge that not doing so does NOT move you up in the annals of the team history.
Lawyer Milloy will always have a palce in my heart. But it isn'[t the same place that he would have had had he remeined a part of the Patriot organization.
I feel high regard for those who were cut for business reasons. Much higher that for those who left for money.
AV has done well for the Patriots. He may or may not do well again for us. But he isn't the heart and soul of hte team and he isn't necessary for us to go back to the superbowl.
It will be interesting to see how he fares compared to the horrible careers posted by those spurned by BB over the years.
