OT: Tomlinson retires

[Wolfpack]

LdT has publicly said that he would rather be in the HOF than have won a SB. That kind of says it all. And not surprisingly, Tedy Bruschi prefers the rings.

Bruschi: I'd rather be a champion - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

Tedy Bruschi is doing little but pandering and it's easy for him to say because he is a phenomenally well known and popular player with 3 rings.

Fact is there isn't a single athlete in the world, Tedy Bruschi included, who wouldn't rather be a ringless HOFer over being Rohan Davey.

 

[Wolfpack]

Thanks to Jets supporters, I'm seriously starting to question Darwin's Theory of Evolution. I can't fathom the collective stupidity of everything Green Bean. Winning the Superbowl is the Holy Grail of the NFL. How anyone can put anything about that accomplishment is clearly, above my level of comprehension.

It's easy to sit here and be fanboys about how winning is the only thing that matters, but fact of the matter is that these athletes we alternately worship or condemn based on the laundry they wear Sunday afternoon are paid professionals with families and responsibilities and actual lives.

I'd say there's something more important than winning the Super Bowl, and that's being the type of man who provides a comfortable life for my family and can afford to send my children to nice schools. So call me crazy but I'd rather be an LdT walking away with tens of millions of dollars than Jim Miller, 3rd string QB of the 2004 Patriots.

 

[Ring 6]

It's easy to sit here and be fanboys about how winning is the only thing that matters, but fact of the matter is that these athletes we alternately worship or condemn based on the laundry they wear Sunday afternoon are paid professionals with families and responsibilities and actual lives.

I'd say there's something more important than winning the Super Bowl, and that's being the type of man who provides a comfortable life for my family and can afford to send my children to nice schools. So call me crazy but I'd rather be an LdT walking away with tens of millions of dollars than Jim Miller, 3rd string QB of the 2004 Patriots.

Of course Tomlinson walks away with more money than Jim Miller, but thats quite a strawman argument.
Tomlinson isn't being asked whether he would rather be a backup for a few years and have a ring, or have been as good a player as he was. He was asked, given his career, would it be more important to him to win a SB or get inducted into the HOF. No one asked him to give back what he was paid for the ring.

 

[Wolfpack]

Of course Tomlinson walks away with more money than Jim Miller, but thats quite a strawman argument.

I don't think you know what a strawman argument is because my response is a perfectly valid one.

Tomlinson isn't being asked whether he would rather be a backup for a few years and have a ring, or have been as good a player as he was. He was asked, given his career, would it be more important to him to win a SB or get inducted into the HOF.

No, you're lying here because that's most certainly not what he was asked. The fact that you have to deliberately distort what was actually said proves the bankruptcy of your contention. He was asked:

"Would you rather be a Hall of Fame player without a ring or a guy that won a ring, but wasn't good enough to get in the Hall of Fame?"

I don't like Tomlinson all that much, but I refuse to criticize a guy for simply saying what 99% of the players in the league are thinking.

Some guy at Shutdown Corner at Yahoo! Sports said it best: "For the overwhelming majority of players that have rings, they don't have them because of how great they were individually. They have them because they ended up in the right mix of players, in the right place, at the right time."

 

[Wolfpack]

It's a tricky question... are we talking about championships while you were a regular contributor or warming the bench? I would probably take Troy Brown or Tedy Bruschi's career over LT, but not Damon Huard's.

That's an easy thing to say sitting here in some fan forum, but LdT made about $70 million during his career whereas Troy Brown made about $20 million (I did the best I could at finding the actual numbers but stuff from over 10 years ago can be tough to find). Of course, those figures say nothing about endorsements or other sources of income, so the actual earnings difference between those 2 players is even greater.

It's easy to talk about how Troy Brown's career is preferable to LdT's, but if any one of us was honestly, truly faced with the decision of $70 million with no rings versus $20 million with rings, I doubt terribly many of us would turn down the $70.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

What a professional humble athlete in this situation and career over SHOULD say is

"I will hopefully be inducted into the HOF soon and when it happens I will have had the proudest moment in my football career and will be very honored about receiving accolades for all my achievements in this game but there forever will be one thing missing in my life and my career...that is a SB ring,but otherwise I am leaving this game a very satisfied player knowing that I gave it all for the teams I was on and made a difference in many games that I played in"

Unfortunately LT doesn't have this intellect because it's all about him.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

It's easy to talk about how Troy Brown's career is preferable to LdT's, but if any one of us was honestly, truly faced with the decision of $70 million with no rings versus $20 million with rings, I doubt terribly many of us would turn down the $70.

I for one would take Troy's rings and $ which include the memories of the satisfaction earning them . Could not care less about big tens of millions lifestyle.

 

[Frezo]

Tomlinson to call it quits after 11 NFL seasons - Yahoo! Sports

 

[Wolfpack]

I for one would take Troy's rings and $ which include the memories of the satisfaction earning them . Could not care less about big tens of millions lifestyle.

Like I said, it's ridiculously easy to make on out-of-hand comment like this on a sports forum.

 

[Bill B.]

of course this would still be an active thread on a patriots forum.


WAAAAAAAAA LT cried once about the Patriots and called Belichick classless or something. Get over it.

And what kind of threads will they have on the Jets boards when Brady retires? Other than "Allelujah" and "Praise the Lord" and "Now we finally have a chance" I think the Jets fans will slam TB pretty hard.

 

[Bill B.]

It's a tricky question... are we talking about championships while you were a regular contributor or warming the bench? I would probably take Troy Brown or Tedy Bruschi's career over LT, but not Damon Huard's.

Funny that you bring up Damon Huard. Belichick once said Damon Huard being the practice team QB and emulating Peyton Manning was a big help in defeating the Colts in the playoffs. If BB mentions you then you did something special. I somehow don't think we will hear of anything Tomlinson ever did off the football field that hlped his team.

 

[Bill B.]

I feel the same way about the Patriots path to perfection.

lol 18-1 baby

Still been to the SB 7 times, winning 3 of them. Troll.

 

[Bill B.]

Tomlinson was also lucky enough to be on a team with a great offensive line and also being in a division that was one of the weakest in the NFL. If Tomlinson got drafted by the Lions or Bengals, he most likely wouldn't have put up the numbers he did.

Super Bowl championships are forever. Individual glory is fleating. 20 years from now every one will remember who won the Super Bowl. No one remembers 1000 yard rushers anymore. I bet the average fan couldn't name 5 running backs who were great in the 70s or 80s.

 

[Ron Sellers]

That's an easy thing to say sitting here in some fan forum, but LdT made about $70 million during his career whereas Troy Brown made about $20 million (I did the best I could at finding the actual numbers but stuff from over 10 years ago can be tough to find). Of course, those figures say nothing about endorsements or other sources of income, so the actual earnings difference between those 2 players is even greater.

It's easy to talk about how Troy Brown's career is preferable to LdT's, but if any one of us was honestly, truly faced with the decision of $70 million with no rings versus $20 million with rings, I doubt terribly many of us would turn down the $70.

If I made $20 million and set aside just $5 million of that to invest, I could live on $500k per year with a 10% ROI. That' without earning a single additional penny from a new career.

Granted, once I made 20 I might not be satisfied and want 70, but it's not like comparing an annual income of 20k to 70k. Somewhere there is a tipping point where additional income becomes less important than earning that ring.


Back to the original point: as a fan I think it is pretty sad to think a player on a team sport without hesitation places individual achievement over team goals. Who would want someone that thinks that way as a teammate? What fan would want a player that thinks that way on the team he roots for?

 

[Ron Sellers]

i will state again..SO glad he never got a ring

I feel the same way about the Patriots path to perfection.

lol 18-1 baby

You conveniently overlooked those three other super bowl victories.

Thanks to those three Lombardis it really wasn't that big of a deal, despite the attempt by people like you to try and make it so.

Of course as a fan of a team that has never won a championship in your lifetime, you wouldn't understand the difference.

 

[Wolfpack]

If I made $20 million and set aside just $5 million of that to invest, I could live on $500k per year with a 10% ROI. That' without earning a single additional penny from a new career.

And if you made $70 million and set aside the same percentage of that amount, $17.5 million, and invested that with the same ROI, you'd have $1.75 million annually to live on.

Pretty big difference in lifestyle between earning $500,000 per year compared to $1.75 million. You enter a whole new level of luxury for yourself and your family.

Granted, once I made 20 I might not be satisfied and want 70, but it's not like comparing an annual income of 20k to 70k. Somewhere there is a tipping point where additional income becomes less important than earning that ring.

I agree with this. I actually think the tipping point is probably a percentage instead of a dollar figure. If someone made $70 million, would they sacrifice 10% of that for a ring? Yeah probably. Would they sacrifice 70% of it? Probably not.

Back to the original point: as a fan I think it is pretty sad to think a player on a team sport without hesitation places individual achievement over team goals. Who would want someone that thinks that way as a teammate? What fan would want a player that thinks that way on the team he roots for?

If you don't recognize that LdT is saying what 95% of the league already thinks, then you're just fooling yourself.

 

[Ron Sellers]

If you don't recognize that LdT is saying what 95% of the league already thinks, then you're just fooling yourself.

Perhaps that may be true.

But if I ever reach a point where I believe that players don't care about winning then I will stop watching the game immediately.

 

[ausbacker]

It's easy to sit here and be fanboys about how winning is the only thing that matters, but fact of the matter is that these athletes we alternately worship or condemn based on the laundry they wear Sunday afternoon are paid professionals with families and responsibilities and actual lives.

I'd say there's something more important than winning the Super Bowl, and that's being the type of man who provides a comfortable life for my family and can afford to send my children to nice schools. So call me crazy but I'd rather be an LdT walking away with tens of millions of dollars than Jim Miller, 3rd string QB of the 2004 Patriots.

What's the comparison of the NFL's minimum wage and the median household salary in the USA? Your argument is pointless given the assumption that LdT is/should be a multimillionaire. For players at the bottom end of the spectrum, I tend to agree with your position.

I'll take winning over money. Money can always be earned, memories cannot.

 

[Wolfpack]

What's the comparison of the NFL's minimum wage and the median household salary in the USA? Your argument is pointless given the assumption that LdT is/should be a multimillionaire. For players at the bottom end of the spectrum, I tend to agree with your position.

I'll take winning over money. Money can always be earned, memories cannot.

Oh really? "Money can always be earned"..? So then, continuing my example where LdT made about $50 million more during his career than Troy Brown, how do you think Troy Brown could even dream of bridging even 25% of that gap?

Money can always be earned, so I guess a Super Bow ring is worth $50 million dollars!

 

[Joker]

one thing for sure...no matter how manly millions of dollars he has or will have, LaTurdington will NEVER have even 1/1,000,000th of a chance of possessing 1/1,000,000,000th the class that Troy Brown has....