Bedard: Aqib Talib trade signals change in Patriots philosophy

[ausbacker]

Can we please stop posting headlines from Bedard and Breer on here? We know they're haters.

I don't agree that Bedard is a hater.

 

[VrabelJr]

If you guys are looking to 22, 23 or 24 year old kids that go from piss poor to millionaires over night to be role models then the issue is with you. Not with the Patriots and whoever they are putting on the field to win games.

Find role models else where. The game has changed. This isn't the 70s and 80s where players are proud to play football and give up their lives not expecting much in return. A lot of these people are just damn good at football and know they will make a ton of money and it's their best option.

edit: To expand on this. I'm not saying there aren't respectable people in the NFL that you and/or your kids can't look up to. Those people exist and the NFL will push them to the forefront of media attention. The rest they will try and hide because it's the same old story: ghetto kid/farm boy balling out of control doing stupid things with his new money.

BB isn't paid to put preachers on the field. He's paid to win games. Sometimes you can do both. In this day and age you usually can't.

 

[Danger Zone]

You mean like Ochocinco and Haynsworth?

How Ochocinco and Haynesworth behaved while they were here with the team (and even what they said about us afterwards) only speaks volumes for the Patriot way and coach Belichick.

 

[MTM558]

It was just Florio's speculation and unsubstantiated claims (parroted by Bedard) that the Pats won't have any contact with Talib until after the Buffalo game. Fact is that the Pats have to give Talib a physical before the deal can be 100% official. They can give him a playbook at that time.

What I find interesting is that the Pats have not made a statement about the availability of Talib. And that is something that they would normally do, though I've noticed they've not had a press conference since Thursday before the trade.

While the Buccaneers have confirmed the trade, the reason the Patriots have not is because Talib has not taken his physical yet. The reason why is because until his suspension is over he cannot have any contact with Patriots staff members or use their facilities. You won't hear about this trade being official until after the Buffalo game, in my opinion.

 

[MassPats38]

You mean like Ochocinco and Haynsworth?

How much did the Pats leverage themselves with those moves? They didn't. The "Patriots Way" is more about the potential that a particular player can be taught the system, or rather NFL intelligence rather than some supreme humanitarian characteristic. Neither of those players are historically stupid. They just did not fit this system. In a sport of violence, not everyone will be winning awards for peace.

And news flash - the Pats are "win now" every year, and have been competing for titles since Belichick showed up. That is the standard. In terms of contracts, "win now" means a contract that acts to the detriment of future player contracts. Not the case with Ocho, Haynesworth, Dennard or Talib. If Talib pans out, awesome. If not he will be cut next week.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't agree that Bedard is a hater.

I don't either, he just has some kind of agenda in this story. And that's fine, he isn't expected to be perfect.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

You mean like Ochocinco and Haynsworth?

Ochocino had a bad rep when we signed him?

 

[JMC00]

Was literally pouting about it on Sports Sunday

 

[ChoWZa]

I completely disagree with this entire article. There is simply two outcomes of the Talib trade, he either makes the defense and the team better, or he does not. Corey Dillon? Super Bowl. Randy Moss Super Bowl appearance. So whats his point? The Patriots are continuing making trades that put them in contention for super bowls, yeah that doesn't make any rational sense.

Signing a player is more like leasing a car than it is marrying someone into your family. When I lease a car if I don't like it I can trade it in. I can hand it in at the end of the lease. I can buy it at the end of the lease. It's not like someone marrying into your family who whether you like him or not, he's there for good.

And I'm sorry but football is a job like any other, you either get results or you don't. There's also a difference between being accused and being convicted. This guy definitely has an agenda. When other players are complaining or you see Talib fighting with teammates on the news, or on the field, then you can write a trash piece like this.

 

[ausbacker]

I completely disagree with this entire article. There is simply two outcomes of the Talib trade, he either makes the defense and the team better, or he does not. Corey Dillon? Super Bowl. Randy Moss Super Bowl appearance. So whats his point? The Patriots are continuing making trades that put them in contention for super bowls, yeah that doesn't make any rational sense.

Signing a player is more like leasing a car than it is marrying someone into your family. When I lease a car if I don't like it I can trade it in. I can hand it in at the end of the lease. I can buy it at the end of the lease. It's not like someone marrying into your family who whether you like him or not, he's there for good.

And I'm sorry but football is a job like any other, you either get results or you don't. There's also a difference between being accused and being convicted. This guy definitely has an agenda. When other players are complaining or you see Talib fighting with teammates on the news, or on the field, then you can write a trash piece like this.

Every player the Patriots acquire is supposed to help them win the Superbowl. That's the whole point of roster turnover and player up-skilling! Who would have thought...

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Not going to lie, Talib's character issues do concern me somewhat. But like others pointed out there is no change in philosophy here and if we're in a win-at-all-costs mode right now, we've always been in that mode. When we've had an opportunity to acquire a talent at a bargain price, with a low risk and high potential reward to it, we've tended to go after them. ESPECIALLY in an area of need. That's what Talib is nothing more nothing less.

 

[Deus Irae]

I don't either, he just has some kind of agenda in this story. And that's fine, he isn't expected to be perfect.

Just a note: when I pointed this tendency about Bedard out in the past, most recently in the context of McCourty analysis, you tried turning it around on me. Welcome to the dark side.

 

[jnug]

The hyperbole got a little strained in this particular Bedard piece. It is something of a surprise when a professional writer leaves himself that open to criticism. It is surely more agenda than hate but I have to wonder what agenda he has that would lead him to write such an unprofessional piece. You would think he would have stopped himself and ratcheted back a bit.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

I think Bedard was either drunk or high when he penned this article.

 

[letekro]

Weird article. He is trying (i think) to point out the hypocrisy among fans who harp on the the Patriots' focus on character and the purported "Patriot Way" and then look the other way when questionable characters are brought in. Whatever the fans might think, BB has made it pretty clear from day 1 that his m.o. is not assembling a bunch of choirboys, but "improving the football team". I don't see how you can argue that Talib doesn't do that.

 

[condon84]

Well Talib is one of the bigger POS in the NFL and I'm sure before we got him most of you, if not all probably thought the same of him.

 

[jnug]

Well while I do not know enough about what happened with Talib and his sister's boyfriend, none of this discussion IMO should be about whether the guy is Jack the Ripper or Attila the Hun. In all likelihood he is simply a young man with issues controlling his anger. That has nothing to do with the practical concerns here.

The Bedard piece only asks "where do the Pats draw the line on the character issue" implying that maybe it should be somewhere on the other side of a Talib? I don't even think that is a question worth asking.

How would you feel if you discovered that you and your family were now living across the street from a guy that had already discharged multiple shots from a firearm in public and in anger? Would you think that at the moment of discharging those shots Talib had any idea about his background? How much more of a story would this be if an innocent bystander had been clipped by one of those rounds?

IMO, we tend to focus to much attention on whether a guy is Sister Theresa or Adolf Hitler in these cases and we make those societal questions the story while focusing to little attention on the practical issues around something like this. Whether he is Jack the Ripper is not a question we can answer and is not even relevant. He is a guy that has proven capable of discharging firearms in public and in anger.

Would you feel safer or less safe if Talib were around you and your family? Are you going to be all ga-ga if next weekend Talib is moving in across the hall from you? Are you going to consider that somebody elses problem cause there is such a slim chance that you will be seeing Talib's moving van pulling up in your neighborhood?

If you find that Talib is moving in across the hall from you next weekend, are you going to be hoping that the Pats have done something....anything proactively to mitigate the risk to you and your family or are you just going to be pleased as punch and go on your merry way?

These are the kinds of questions that matter when trying to judge the Pats as our neighbors, not whether they are drafting or hiring Nobel Prize winners. Even if Talib is not moving north to be closer to his new team, pro sports creates pressures in and of themselves and the nature of the profession is much about travel and contact with all sorts of people while being under a microscope and under a good deal of pressure. Should pro teams be very proactive in trying to mitigate potential issues when they are in fact adding to the pressure on troubled people and providing them the vehicle that brings them into contact with so many innocent bystanders? Should pro teams be fooling around with these sorts of issues and living on the hairy edge of these sorts of risk dynamics to begin with or should they just pass on guys like Talib?

Do I trust pro football et al and pro teams specifically to be a good neighbor to me under the circumstances. Heck, they don't do a good job of taking care of their own vets, injured some of them and invalid for life due to their participation in the brutal environment of the pro gridiron. Do I think they care a rats behind about me and my family?

If you are going to discuss these non-football issues and even if Bedard is going to write about them, at least the angle taken should be something that actually matters from a practical perspective.

 

[patsfan06]

I'm still trying to figure out when the Patriots "weren't a win at all costs" organization.

I didn't realize we weren't doing everything in our power to win before now.

 

[JMC00]

Well Talib is one of the bigger POS in the NFL and I'm sure before we got him most of you, if not all probably thought the same of him.

He's not even close to being as a big a pos as Rothelisburger or Vick. His stuff actually pales in comparison, a couple of fights and a domestic incident with a convicted sex offender that was dating his sister.

 

[SVN]

Was literally pouting about it on Sports Sunday

Bedard: 'Too much risk' involved with Talib

even troy brown doesnt seem to be a big fan