Feel-good story: With rehab right on schedule, Harrison looks to the future

[PatsRI]

http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=123784

I'm still being pessimistic (just to save on the disappoinment if he doesn't come back, I've always assumed the worse since Neely) but with Rodney I figure the first regular season home game might be his goal.

 

[DarrylS]

I read that also, if anyone can come back from that injury it will be Rodney.

 

[Mike the Brit]

Anyone need a sig?

“The only two things you can control are your effort and your attitude. So that’s what I’m working on.†Rodney Harrison.

Love it!!!

 

[marty]

“The only two things you can control are your effort and your attitude. So that’s what I’m working on.†Rodney Harrison.

Love it!!!

This article and related one "Bettis, Cowher earn respect" just made my day!!! After several days of nothing reported on the Pats, to get two in-depth reports from (gasp) Felger, made this dreary, cold, post season, pre super bowl day, a little brighter. The quotes of mutual respect between Harrison and Steelers(Cowher,Bettis,Faneca), made me think there is a glimmer of hope for Harrison in the HOF! Yea Baby!!!! :singing:

 

[PATSNUTme]

No more to say except -------

 

[Brownfan80]

Man, does the 2005 season not serve to show us how good we had it in 2003 and 2004? Rodney Harrison was so vital to both of those Superbowl seasons. His presence was sorely missed, even late in the season where the defense began to turn it around. Rodney Harrison had become as much a part of the 'heart' and 'spirit' of Patriots football as anybody. From my perspective he made the 'underdog' role a reality to everyone in that locker room even when it wasn't a reality outside of those doors. The whole team played with a tremendous chip on their collective shoulders while Rodney was back there. I think that after he went out some of that left with him. Over the final weeks we did seem to get some or most of that back, but the uncharacteristic crumbling that happened (nevermind those friggin' refs) in Denver may have been a little different had Rodney been in the lineup. I can't help but think so.

 

[mgteich]

First it was the refs. Now it's Harrison that would have stopped the OFFENSE and the RETURNERS from making turnovers. Maybe "smug" isn't the right word. However, IMHO, the Management and players are much more realistic that posters, at least I hope that they are.

The DEFENSE did not lose the game. In fact, they played very well, as they did throughout the last half of the season. Blame who you want for the key interception, Brady, the OL, the receiver. Blame who you want for Faulk's fumble. Blame who you want for the two giveaways by the returners. But the fault was not the lack of Harrison. Many, many team leaders were in attendance for the game.

Please, please understand that we LOST the game. You can believe that it always about us. I guess that's fine. At least, we can work to imporve what needs to be improved. Or perhaps as Belichick and Brady, we could credit the opposition AND point out that we should ahve played much better.

I thought maybe I was over the top until I read the post again. Brady and Brown and McGinist and Vrabel and Bruschi are leaders of the team, plus Izzo and Fauria and lots of others. To suggest that the team lacked leadership and heart because Harrison was not out on the field is just so much bunk.
---------------------------------------------------------
We need Harrison back, we want Harrison back. There is a big whole at SS. Wilson has not taken on the leadership role in the secondary. We need a leader of the secondary. This is all true. But none of this had anything to do with debacle at Mile High.

Man, does the 2005 season not serve to show us how good we had it in 2003 and 2004? Rodney Harrison was so vital to both of those Superbowl seasons. His presence was sorely missed, even late in the season where the defense began to turn it around. Rodney Harrison had become as much a part of the 'heart' and 'spirit' of Patriots football as anybody. From my perspective he made the 'underdog' role a reality to everyone in that locker room even when it wasn't a reality outside of those doors. The whole team played with a tremendous chip on their collective shoulders while Rodney was back there. I think that after he went out some of that left with him. Over the final weeks we did seem to get some or most of that back, but the uncharacteristic crumbling that happened (nevermind those friggin' refs) in Denver may have been a little different had Rodney been in the lineup. I can't help but think so.

 

[Brownfan80]

Disagree if you'd like, but if you'd read any of my posts after the game, you'd know that I don't 'blame' the refs, but they contributed.
And I don't think that Harrison being there would have magically changed the game. But I do know that Harrison makes plays. And we were one or two 'big plays in our favor' from still winning that game.
Call it 'blind optimism' if you'd like (which is funny that anyone would direct a sentiment like that at me, a notoriously negative poster), but I think that even with our turnovers and even with the refs, we were still very much in that game.
If we'd had a few big plays, which Harrison had in just about every playoff game he'd ever played in a Pats uniform, then I think we'd have come out on top. Sue me.
I know we lost, I'm not a moron, I just think that Harrison's impact has been understated and that his return will be huge (barring setback in his rehab).

First it was the refs. Now it's Harrison that would have stopped the OFFENSE and the RETURNERS from making turnovers. Maybe "smug" isn't the right word. However, IMHO, the Management and players are much more realistic that posters, at least I hope that they are.

The DEFENSE did not lose the game. In fact, they played very well, as they did throughout the last half of the season. Blame who you want for the key interception, Brady, the OL, the receiver. Blame who you want for Faulk's fumble. Blame who you want for the two giveaways by the returners. But the fault was not the lack of Harrison. Many, many team leaders were in attendance for the game.

Please, please understand that we LOST the game. You can believe that it always about us. I guess that's fine. At least, we can work to imporve what needs to be improved. Or perhaps as Belichick and Brady, we could credit the opposition AND point out that we should ahve played much better.

I thought maybe I was over the top until I read the post again. Brady and Brown and McGinist and Vrabel and Bruschi are leaders of the team, plus Izzo and Fauria and lots of others. To suggest that the team lacked leadership and heart because Harrison was not out on the field is just so much bunk.
---------------------------------------------------------
We need Harrison back, we want Harrison back. There is a big whole at SS. Wilson has not taken on the leadership role in the secondary. We need a leader of the secondary. This is all true. But none of this had anything to do with debacle at Mile High.

 

[Ring 6]

I think if we want to understand the BB offseason, we need to recognize that BB considers each seasons team entirely different than the last.
There tends to be a lot of talk about 'the missing piece' or we need this or that. While those conversations are probably insightful about the 2005 Patriots, they may not apply to the 2006 Patriots.
I didnt look it up, but I would imagine we have somewhere in the vicinity of 35-40 players that will be back next year.
The BB outlook is that we need 13-18 new players, and AS A GROUP they get added to whats here to form a team.

That may include Rodney and may not, we dont know yet. But to attribute team level attributes to a single player is very off base IMO

 

[ilduce06410]

rodney enjoys playing nfl football

I read that also, if anyone can come back from that injury it will be Rodney.

he has not adopted the attitude that it's a business. altho he has cause to feel so after the san diego stupidity, he doens't.
IMO rodney wants to come back, not only because his pride can't abide with his career ending this way, but because it's FUN for him. he wants to be out there, talking trash and delivering questionable hits, intimidating WRs whose patterns call for them to go inside, the whole deal.
IMO he's one of those guys who will be out there a year after he should heve retired.
meanwhile, enjoy his incendiary self.

 

[Fanfrom1960]

he has not adopted the attitude that it's a business. altho he has cause to feel so after the san diego stupidity, he doens't.
IMO rodney wants to come back, not only because his pride can't abide with his career ending this way, but because it's FUN for him. he wants to be out there, talking trash and delivering questionable hits, intimidating WRs whose patterns call for them to go inside, the whole deal.
IMO he's one of those guys who will be out there a year after he should heve retired.
meanwhile, enjoy his incendiary self.

You could say that about Ronnie Lott too. It pained me to see him in that last uni...the Jets, though. Most fun to watch DB ever, Ronnie, as a 49er. Harrison is in the top 3 for me (anybody remember Night Train Lane?).

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Disagree if you'd like, but if you'd read any of my posts after the game, you'd know that I don't 'blame' the refs, but they contributed.
And I don't think that Harrison being there would have magically changed the game. But I do know that Harrison makes plays. And we were one or two 'big plays in our favor' from still winning that game.
Call it 'blind optimism' if you'd like (which is funny that anyone would direct a sentiment like that at me, a notoriously negative poster), but I think that even with our turnovers and even with the refs, we were still very much in that game.
If we'd had a few big plays, which Harrison had in just about every playoff game he'd ever played in a Pats uniform, then I think we'd have come out on top. Sue me.
I know we lost, I'm not a moron, I just think that Harrison's impact has been understated and that his return will be huge (barring setback in his rehab).

Who are you and what have you done with the real BF80!

 

[Brownfan80]

Who are you and what have you done with the real BF80!

Honestly I've just undergone alot of changes in my life lately that have altered my outlook on a lot of things. Negativity in all it's shapes and sizes is something I'm trying to get rid of. Apparently it's even changed my outlook on football. Woo!

Life has a funny way of flowing, and I like this change in current.

 

[flutie2phelan]

Honestly I've just undergone alot of changes in my life lately that have altered my outlook on a lot of things. Negativity in all it's shapes and sizes is something I'm trying to get rid of. Apparently it's even changed my outlook on football. Woo!

Life has a funny way of flowing, and I like this change in current.

Welcome home to the sunny side, BF80!

 

[Brownfan80]

Welcome home to the sunny side, BF80!

haha i might never be as positive as some of the guys here, but i'm doing my best

 

[spacecrime]

none of this had anything to do with debacle at Mile High.

The Broncos would have scored 27 points whether Harrison was there or not. Okay.

Harrison wouldn't have made a difference at Denver.

Okay, so if we are the same team with him or without him, why did we bother signing him at all?

(If we are not the same team with or withouth him, then Denver would not have been the same game.Same coutcome,perhaps (loss) but it would not have been the same unless Harrison has no effect on the Pats)

 

[Bella*chick]

I look at the loss of Harrison last season with a much broader scope. Forget the Denver debacle...had Rodney been playing with us all season, could we maybe have eeked out a better position for ourselves in the playoffs where we wouldn't have found ourselves even in Mile High at all? Rodney is a leader on the field...players who played very well when he was out there looked like they had no idea what to do when he was not. I don't know, maybe he would have made no difference at all, but I do wonder. After all, during the season, it was our defense that was awful, and the offense was trying to get us by.

 

[mgteich]

Harrison might have made the difference in other games, especially earlier in the season. We are definitely a better team with Harrison than without. I think it unreasonable to judge a team and a player based on one game. We will sign any player that will help the team. BTW, Harrison is signed.

If you must continue to dwell on the Denver game, then what we needed to be competitive were different returners, and a much better OL.

The Broncos would have scored 27 points whether Harrison was there or not. Okay.

Harrison wouldn't have made a difference at Denver.

Okay, so if we are the same team with him or without him, why did we bother signing him at all?

(If we are not the same team with or withouth him, then Denver would not have been the same game.Same coutcome,perhaps (loss) but it would not have been the same unless Harrison has no effect on the Pats)

 

[lobster]

Harrison has the most interesting lines of any of the Pat's - his quote today was perfect: “The only two things you can control are your effort and your attitude. So that’s what I’m working on.â€

 

[MoLewisrocks]

I'm in the camp that believes that Rodney Harrison's value to this team over the last 2 seasons can almost not be overstated. I know there are some here like mg and AJ who cringe at the concept because they have long preached the scheme is the thing. And while it is, it requires a handful of key personnel along with sufficient base talent in order to operate effectively. The bedrock of BB defensive scheme is smart and physical safety and LB play. Early in the season the plug and play scheme folks took a big hit with the collapse of the defense. While Seymour's return solidified the rebound from a physical perspective, the gradual turnaround began once Tedy returned. The secondary gradually improved once Starks was replaced with Hobbs (it almost couldn't not from a sheer talent standpoint) and Hawkins was inserted at SS, but it never really returned to 2004 levels even though secondary play gradually improved and in the final game Asante seemed to have personally re-located his 2004 individual level of play.

There are good leadership guys on this team on both sides of the ball. But there are only a handful of core leaders. And they are the ones that allow BB to scheme and plug and play in part because they think for an entire unit. Harrison jumped to the head of that list when took the leadership point position almost from the day he replaced Lawyer - which to some extent lightened the load for every other leader on the team. That allowed them to focus more attention on unit leadership. Tedy and Tom are the other core leaders who are now both vocal spokesmen for the team as well as inspirational playmakers on the field. Rodney gave them both a cushion and some time go grow into their up front team leadership roles.

There are others who are playmakers who lead by example like Seymour and Willie and Vrabel. None of them however are the vocal out front leadership types nor are they the field generals who not only take responsibiity for calls and decisions on the field, they embrace and relish that role. (Vrabel may be that guy one day but he's just not there yet. Colvin is certainly vocal enough to become a leadership spokesman, but his play until the second half of this year has limited his playmaker leadership viability.) Willie is the elder statesman whose leadership in the locker room is more understated. Seymour is a bit of an enigma whose talent commands his teamates respect, but who unfortunately has some lingering issues with management that impact his effectiveness as a true system core leader. To be one of those you have to be (as young Theo so aptly put it) all in, and he isn't. He has both financial issues and apparently at times scheme issues. Much like Lawyer did - which is the real reason why BB was not willing to retain him.

Lots of other veteran guys lead by example in the way they approach the game. But if you're not a starter (Brown, Fauria, Izzo and say TJ before he retired) your voice and impact as a team leader is or can be fairly muted at least outside your unit. Don Davis is a leadership guy, but he's also a backup on the bubble guy. Great guys, but not impact players at this stage of their careers (some never were) and certainly not impact leaders. Rodney, Tommy and Tedy are the impact players who are also impact leaders on this team. They are the guys who can (and will) cross lines in the locker room, privately call a guy out while publicly supporting him, grab a talented youngster by the ear and say come with me son, always have their HC's back in public, deal with individual personal and professional concerns ouside of the locker room and not expose them to media glare, take a little less to play here and win, etc. Lose any two of those guys and the system built around them will flounder. Lose and one and it will struggle (although if the one was Tommy it's likely back to flounder at this stage, though with a solid running game and better pass protection a developing backup could potentially engineer a survivable short term struggle). Have all of them and the system can survive other losses seemingly without struggling (like say Seymour and Law and Poole and Branch in 2004).

I think after this season most of us now accept as reality that the system is still dependent on the core players. Which is why some of us are so intent on seeing that fortress be built around Brady. It detracts nothing from BB's genius - it simply is one facet of his system which revolves around a small core of talented leaders who go all in, a larger solid middle class of football players who follow their lead, a strategic smattering of hungry FA veteran players and the requisite young developing talent - some of whom will hopefully buy all in and develop into future members of the elite leadership core. The core is what keeps the team from imploding when occasionally (for reasons beyond BB's control - and there are such things) the system alone ain't working. That's why he's so careful in selecting talent that not can play at a high level but that will play well within his system.

He put Rodney's value into perspective best when he embraced him after the 2003 AFCC game when he said good thing we got you. Just because BB won't overpay for his core players or make excuses in their absence doesn't mean he doesn't fully appreciate their immense individual value when it comes to this teams failure or success. Sometimes Pats fans struggle reconciling that concept within the concept of system.