Branch press conference

[PatsRI]

"The Pats did what was best for them and I did what was best for me and my family."

"I was shocked when I found out yesterday"

"He didn't think he could hold out 5 days...then I had missed all training camp. I knew I had my puropse and the (Pats knew too)."

"We studied a whole lot in NE" - Key to success with Pats

"It was the right thing to do but I felt bad. I understood my purpose though, plus my little girl running around helped."

"No (it didn't get personal with the Pats) I wouldn't say that."

That was about it, he'll wear 83 I guess and he sounded happy, I guess 39 mil will do that for you. The strange thing is he rally didn't sound bitter (like Lawyer, Gash, Willie etal) did. He kept saying he understood where the Pats were coming from but he had his purpose.

 

[BelichickFan]

BelichickFan Press Conference :

"F*ck You, Branch".

 

[Kdo5]

Any pictures of him holding up his new Seahawks #83 jersey and his having a wide smile on his face...

 

[BelichickFan]

Any pictures of him holding up his new Seahawks #83 jersey and his having a wide smile on his face...

Maybe he called his high school coach again to thank him

 

[PatsRI]

Any pictures of him holding up his new Seahawks #83 jersey and his having a wide smile on his face...

Just had the audio stream.

 

[desi-patsfan]

Later Branch. Hope you have a good umbrealla.

OT: After 6655 posts by BelichickFan, he/she is an "unknown quantity"? Damn, what do you have to do to get people to recognise you?

 

[kencc]

Don't blame this all on Branch. Both sides screwed this up. Pats let him get other offers, when he came back with 2 offers they should have compromised & uped there offer & gotten this done, but they were being pig headed also.

 

[BelichickFan]

Don't blame this all on Branch. Both sides screwed this up. Pats let him get other offers, when he came back with 2 offers they should have compromised & uped there offer & gotten this done, but they were being pig headed also.

I thought the $6M per that we offered was overpaying, let alone upping it.

 

[Brownfan80]

OT: After 6655 posts by BelichickFan, he/she is an "unknown quantity"? Damn, what do you have to do to get people to recognise you?

BF wasn't even green in his icon until I voted positively for him a few days ago. Crazy huh?

 

[PatsRI]

Don't blame this all on Branch. Both sides screwed this up. Pats let him get other offers, when he came back with 2 offers they should have compromised & uped there offer & gotten this done, but they were being pig headed also.

I think we've covered this with about 3000 posts.

 

[DefenseRules]

Branch isn't stupid. He knows how the fans up here are. He saw what we did to guys like Glenn and Milloy when they came back and how badly we all ripped Law for whining about money when he was the highest paid guy on the team. He knows that New England fans will rip him to shreds the next time he's in town if he talks **** on his way out of town.

Hey he's gone. He'll be someone else's problem now. Time to move on. Hopefully the guys on the team will get their heads out of their arses, stop moping and feeling sorry for themselves, and get back to FOOTBALL. This is not like the Lawyer Milloy situation, IMO. Lawyer was here for every meeting, every practice and all the preseason games that lead up to the season. Deion Branch separated himself from this team a long time ago.

 

[hwc]

After watching him on NFL Network, I think Branch just had us all snowed with the nice guy BS. I think he's basically just a pint sized version of T.O.

He doesn't give a damn who he plays for. It's all about the bling.

Honestly, I don't know why we continue to get all wrapped up in these jerks. The only loyalty is in our imaginations. They'd move to a 1-15 team in ten seconds for an offer $2 more than their current team.

IMO, Belichick has it exactly right. Draft 'em, play 'em, send 'em packing if they refuse a fair offer, and go get another one. Take the emotion out of it. It's just business.

 

[BelichickFan]

IMO, Belichick has it exactly right. Draft 'em, play 'em, send 'em packing if they refuse a fair offer, and go get another one. Take the emotion out of it. It's just business.

Yeah, the players think they're the sh!t but they're just little pieces in the puzzle. Later tonight I'll start a thread on who you would keep over trading for a #1 pick with the contract almost up.

Brady, Seymour. Maybe Wilfork. That's about it for me.

 

[Pats726]

After watching him on NFL Network, I think Branch just had us all snowed with the nice guy BS. I think he's basically just a pint sized version of T.O.

I think you are right..he's just a phony!!!

 

[PlattsFan]

Good for him. It's just business, no bitterness, no "respect" BS ... he had his path to maximize his profits, the Patriots had theirs to prevent that from happening and enforce what they saw as his value. The one thing I hate is the Johnny Damon whiners who spend months *****ing about how their old team dropped the ball.

I do agree that we shouldn't expect loyalty from the players. Any more than we should expect it from the organization toward the players. It's a business, these guys aren't my buddies, I don't look up to them, I don't work for the team, I could care less who gets what for cash. Wake me up when the contract negotiations are done and tell me who's on the field. Thanks for the memories.

 

[hwc]

Yeah, the players think they're the sh!t but they're just little pieces in the puzzle. Later tonight I'll start a thread on who you would keep over trading for a #1 pick with the contract almost up.

We'll know within weeks which will be the next "disrespected" players looking to feed their families elsewhere.

You know that the Pats will make contract extension offers to Koppen, Graham, and Samuel soon -- well-supported by comparables around the league. The ones who want to stay with the Pats will announce extensions. The ones who have already decided to hit free agency and blame the Pats for not overpaying them will have no announcements.

Graham is obviously looking for respect elsewhere, based on his comments about "giving the Pats one chance". Yadda, yadda, yadda. Maybe Grahmbo should look around and see that the Pats have drafted three more tight ends since they took him in the first round. I don't think he has a lot of leverage.

I think Koppen is a likely prospect to stay. Who knows with Samuel. He's viewed by the "pundits" as one of the NE's crappy DBs, so we'll have to see how the market plays out.

 

[RI Pats Fan]

Good for him. It's just business, no bitterness, no "respect" BS ... he had his path to maximize his profits, the Patriots had theirs to prevent that from happening and enforce what they saw as his value. The one thing I hate is the Johnny Damon whiners who spend months *****ing about how their old team dropped the ball.

I do agree that we shouldn't expect loyalty from the players. Any more than we should expect it from the organization toward the players. It's a business, these guys aren't my buddies, I don't look up to them, I don't work for the team, I could care less who gets what for cash. Wake me up when the contract negotiations are done and tell me who's on the field. Thanks for the memories.

You get it. I like that. At least you're honest about it, loyalty doesn't exist one way or the other. It IS just a business. It's a team sport, sure, but if your goal isn't to win a Super Bowl, it's to make money.

 

[DaBruinz]

Don't blame this all on Branch. Both sides screwed this up. Pats let him get other offers, when he came back with 2 offers they should have compromised & uped there offer & gotten this done, but they were being pig headed also.

Kencc -
You seem to be forgetting EVERYTHING that led up to the point where the Pats allowed Deion to go out for offers. Like the 3 contract offers that Branch's agent turned down without so much as a counter offer over the last 2 years. Its kind of hard to compromise when you don't know what the other side is looking for.

To say the Patriots were being pig-headed is just ridiculous and isn't backed up by the facts. And your post lends to the idea that you are a Johnny-Come-lately to the situation and really don't iknow what you are talking about.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

What's a Branch?

 

[DaBruinz]

You get it. I like that. At least you're honest about it, loyalty doesn't exist one way or the other. It IS just a business. It's a team sport, sure, but if your goal isn't to win a Super Bowl, it's to make money.

See, this is where I don't believe that you or Platt get it. There IS loyalty in this league. Heck, if the Pats weren't loyal, they'd never have attempted to renegotiate with Branch, Givens or McGinest prior to the end of their contracts. The Pats would never have renegotiated with Seymour. And they would never have renegotiated with Brady.

There is loyalty in the league. Team Management shows loyalty to players by offering to extend contracts before they need to. They do other things for players. They negotiate with team sponsors for their players to get lucrative sponsorship deals. Loyalty and Respect are NOT shown by how much money a team indiscriminantly throws at any player. Players can show loyalty to the team by understanding the economics of the game and by not divulging team information to other teams when they are traded or when they move one.

The Patriots showed loyalty to Robert Edwards by carrying him and his contract 2 years (or maybe it was three) beyond when they had to.

Yes, its a business and teams do cut players before their contracts are expired. But the players do receive advance compensation for that in the form of signing bonuses that they do not have to return unless they violate the terms of their contract.