The only thing I expect of him is to perform on the field. Outside of that it is none of mine or your business on how he acts. The only people who seem to have a problem with this NON CRIMINAL stuff are self righteous Pats fans. They are humans and are allowed to make jokes.
I don't honestly agree with this, I think the majority of those who have a problem with it have the same concerns that I do in terms of being leery about how the front office may perceive it.
It isn't the "self righteous" fans who seem to have the problem with it, it's the fear that the organization as a whole doesn't tend to agree with these kinds of things, based on their positive role in the community and the way they like their reputation upheld.
That's my concern anyway...Personally I couldn't care less about it, but I worry what the front office/ownership think, since it's been a reoccurring theme with Spikes. These are his issues and this is only his 3rd year here, arguably from least important to more important:
1. Drug use in college
2. Self-made porno movie + comments on the chat roulette social media site
3. Drew negative attention to himself during the holidays with his borderline stupid decision of bringing up cocaine and Santa Claus (really, Brandon?)
4. Twitter feed that has suggested his displeasure with the team as a whole, as current as last year/offseason, although this is also pure speculation to be fair
5. PED suspension for 4 games
6. Has shown signs of having poor judgment as a whole, and arguably even a poor atttitude at times
prior to this season
One must also remember that prior to this season (which he's dramatically improved his on field performance and leadership) he had poor numbers statistically with 0 sacks, 1 INT, 0 fumbles forced, and 0 recovered in the regular seasons of 2010 and 2011. He also had major durability issues too, as he only played in about 60% of the games in his first 2 seasons.
Is this the kind of player that you give a major long term deal to? Is this the kind of player who is "irreplacable" in the mind of Belichick and Kraft?
I love what Spikes brings to the field, and I love his progression this season. I think he has really stepped up and acted as the player we thought he could, but next season will surely point to which Spikes is the real one...2010 and 2011? Or this season of 2012?
His off-field maturity issues may very well come into focus from right now through the period where he is offered a potential long term deal, but as of now there are still too many question marks to throw big money at him in my opinion. Many have felt that he'd get a new pact this coming offseason, but I think that the 2013 season will go a long way in determining his true value to the Krafts + Belichick...not before.
I would love to see Spikes continue to be a major factor in this defense moving forward, and my hope is that the 2012 season was the start of something great. If he has another good season next year in 2013 I would guess that it would go a long way in helping his cause for remaining here, although I also think that someone in the organization will certainly be having some open communication with him about his off-field decisions, and that probably has already happened at this point.
