- Joined
- Mar 25, 2005
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At the end of the day the worst thing that could have happened from a player relations standpoint between Deion and this team occurred when the mediots in the press box in Jacksonville decided to give Tommy's third Superbowls MVP trophy to Branch. I think they feared what winning a third would do to the Manning vs. Brady debate. So instead of giving it to a guy who knows what to do with them - take 'em home and put 'em on the nightstand, and move on - they gave that one to a kid who hearing his name mentioned in the same breath as Jerry Rice suddenly assumed his ship had come in. The Pat's tried to begin negotiating an extension with him following that game, but just as suddenly he had issues to rehash and a trophy to wave in their faces any time rational comparables were being discussed and phrases like less than a thousand yards came up. I feared what that award woudl do to him, and I was correct - he was good as gone that night.
I think Asante's 12 pick season has had a similar effect on a guy who like Deion already apparently felt he'd been undervalued for some time. After all, he has 2 more Superbowl rings in his jewelry box than either Champ Bailey or Nate Clements or Nathan Vasher... It's almost enough to make a fan wish we had a Ray Lewis on defense who could have easily cut Asante's INT total in half...LOL Almost.
This is the price we pay for winning. Lots of teams and fans pay the same price without winning a thing. It is what it is - which is why it's best for us to just leave it to Belioli to deal with it as they will. I do think in his heart Deion wanted to stay because of the way his QB and his teamates had embraced him - he just wanted his money more. I think Asante, who is somewhat more of a loner, would be happy to stay here. However I've never felt Asante genuinely cares one way or the other as long as he gets paid.
I think Asante's 12 pick season has had a similar effect on a guy who like Deion already apparently felt he'd been undervalued for some time. After all, he has 2 more Superbowl rings in his jewelry box than either Champ Bailey or Nate Clements or Nathan Vasher... It's almost enough to make a fan wish we had a Ray Lewis on defense who could have easily cut Asante's INT total in half...LOL Almost.
This is the price we pay for winning. Lots of teams and fans pay the same price without winning a thing. It is what it is - which is why it's best for us to just leave it to Belioli to deal with it as they will. I do think in his heart Deion wanted to stay because of the way his QB and his teamates had embraced him - he just wanted his money more. I think Asante, who is somewhat more of a loner, would be happy to stay here. However I've never felt Asante genuinely cares one way or the other as long as he gets paid.