Peyton Manning: Patriots fans, VERY CLASSY

[Mike the Brit]

I didn't wish to offend anyone: I just think it'd be a shame if a Thread dedicated to a moment of respect and kindness between our fans and our arch rival disintegrated into a "Let's Hate Vinatieri" thread. I rescind the "clowns" appellation, Mike. My apologies.

No problem! (If you'd have been at our Christmas -- sorry, "holiday" -- party, you'd realize that calling me a clown would have been a compliment. "Failed clown" -- now that would have hurt!)

Without Adam Vinatieri, there was no dynasty. Period.

True -- but that's not the point.

 

[robbomango]

What this says to me is that Peyton himself is a classy guy.

Our fanbase, like all fanbases, is a mixed bag.

good point, probably a miss qoute.

correction

Peyton "your defense is Glassy"........:confused2:

 

[Fball]

That's pretty cool...

Aside from tossing his O Line under the bus, back in the day, I've always liked Manning, enemy or not, even though I've always considered attempts to paint him as Brady's equal ~ or superior!! ~ rather ludicrous.

And I've always wondered about that O Line bit: Was it just "Our O Line didn't Block and they suck", or something like that...Or was it one those long "I sucked, our O Line sucked, we all sucked" rants that got clipped for a sound bite??

Anyone know or recall?? I'm genuinely curious.

It wasn't a full rant. He said something along the lines of "I'm trying to be a good teammate, but we had some protection problems today." Kind of an anomoly in his career - he was clearly frustrated & PO'd, but he did say it. I'd be surprised if he didn't regret that soundbyte.

 

[Raymond]

It wasn't a full rant. He said something along the lines of "I'm trying to be a good teammate, but we had some protection problems today." Kind of an anomoly in his career - he was clearly frustrated & PO'd, but he did say it. I'd be surprised if he didn't regret that soundbyte.

I actually felt a bit bad for him that day. His team was favored and his O-line did struggle. He was beaten, and the elephant in the room at the post game presser was his O-line. He finally answered as above after numerous references and questions about it by the media.

 

[robbomango]

It wasn't a full rant. He said something along the lines of "I'm trying to be a good teammate, but we had some protection problems today." Kind of an anomoly in his career - he was clearly frustrated & PO'd, but he did say it. I'd be surprised if he didn't regret that soundbyte.

true, that's the only time i remember him doing that as well.

he was on a pic throwing spree last year and could have easily blamed it on a number of things which the media was suggesting of course. He didn't let the mediots make excuses for em, just said "it's my problem and I have to work on it"

i believe he stopped throwing pics galore shortly after that, peyton definitely deals with frustration but who doesn't. over all he's a class act, it's been great watching him and TB over the years.

 

[DocHoliday]

Unrelated, but in many ways I root very hard for Peyton Manning to return and have a successful career, if only to ease my fears that this generation of pocket passers can successfully compete at an elite level into their late 30s.

I want to see Brady win another Superbowl on his arm playing elite ball, rather than like Elway after his prime.

 

[NEP4Life]

Manning: 'Fans couldn't be nicer' - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston


Im not sure if this was posted or not. If it was, sorry for reposting!

As Manning was in the middle of his remarks, he was interrupted by quarterback Tom Brady, who was leaving the game with his wife.

Gisele's gonna be p1ssed.

 

[Off The Grid]

That's pretty cool...

Aside from tossing his O Line under the bus, back in the day, I've always liked Manning, enemy or not, even though I've always considered attempts to paint him as Brady's equal ~ or superior!! ~ rather ludicrous.

And I've always wondered about that O Line bit: Was it just "Our O Line didn't Block and they suck", or something like that...Or was it one those long "I sucked, our O Line sucked, we all sucked" rants that got clipped for a sound bite??

Anyone know or recall?? I'm genuinely curious.

It wasn't a full rant. He said something along the lines of "I'm trying to be a good teammate, but we had some protection problems today." Kind of an anomoly in his career - he was clearly frustrated & PO'd, but he did say it. I'd be surprised if he didn't regret that soundbyte.

I actually felt a bit bad for him that day. His team was favored and his O-line did struggle. He was beaten, and the elephant in the room at the post game presser was his O-line. He finally answered as above after numerous references and questions about it by the media.

true, that's the only time i remember him doing that as well.

he was on a pic throwing spree last year and could have easily blamed it on a number of things which the media was suggesting of course. He didn't let the mediots make excuses for em, just said "it's my problem and I have to work on it"

i believe he stopped throwing pics galore shortly after that, peyton definitely deals with frustration but who doesn't. over all he's a class act, it's been great watching him and TB over the years.

Terrific!! :rocker:

Thanks for thoughtfull and considered answers to my question, Gentlemen.

And Props to all of you for your follow up comments.

Frankly, I've allways like Peyton, and found this Sound Bite to be decidedly contrary to his Character.

Unrelated, but in many ways I root very hard for Peyton Manning to return and have a successful career, if only to ease my fears that this generation of pocket passers can successfully compete at an elite level into their late 30s.

I want to see Brady win another Superbowl on his arm playing elite ball, rather than like Elway after his prime.

Well said, Sir.

I still see General Tom playing at an high level for another 5 years or so.

May The Gods Grant It.

+++

 

[The Brandon Five]

No it isn't.

As I watched Gostkowski miss a 29 yarder a few weeks ago and as I thought back to the Pats game in the Superdome two years ago when he missed a kick from the identical spot on the field from which Adam won SB XXXVI and when I think back to BB not trusting him to kick a 48 yarder (on fourth and 13!) in a dome in SB XLII, I honestly can't understand the animosity towards Vinatieri.

The 45 yard, line-drive kick into the teeth of a blizzard in the Snow Bowl to send the game into OT was, without dispute even among haters, the greatest kick under pressure in the history of the NFL.

Without Adam Vinatieri, there was no dynasty. Period.

Surely we could have found someone else to miss two field goals in SB XXXVIII? (I kid).

The reluctance to go for the field goal on that 4th and 13 is still mystifying. Looking back at that series it would have been a 42 yard attempt if Brady hadn't been sacked on the previous play (a 3rd and 7 on the 25).

 

[PatsFanSince74]

No problem! (If you'd have been at our Christmas -- sorry, "holiday" -- party, you'd realize that calling me a clown would have been a compliment. "Failed clown" -- now that would have hurt!)



True -- but that's not the point.

And, what is the point. Why is it not classless to boo Adam Vinatieri when he returns to Foxboro?

 

[strngplyr]

Without Adam Vinatieri, there was no dynasty. Period.

Not that I would have booed Adam were I there, but insinuating that he is the only kicker that could have possibly made those kicks is just crazy.

 

[Snake Eyes]

And, what is the point. Why is it not classless to boo Adam Vinatieri when he returns to Foxboro?

Manning was never on our side, which just makes him a respected adversary, Vinatieri was on our side but then went to theirs, which makes him a traitor.

 

[Mike the Brit]

And, what is the point. Why is it not classless to boo Adam Vinatieri when he returns to Foxboro?

Adam Vinatieri was a local hero who left for an essentially trivial amount of money. The fact that his kicks were essential to the dynasty is irrelevant to whether or not you think that is a reason to boo him when he returns.

 

[Deus Irae]

And, what is the point. Why is it not classless to boo Adam Vinatieri when he returns to Foxboro?

He ran for the money when the team had been willing to pay him handsomely, and that doesn't sit well with some fans. I assume that, if you're good with Vinatieri, that you're fine with Samuel?

I've got no problem either player moving on, and I wouldn't boo them any more than I'd boo a random member of an opposing team, but fan bases are made up of all sorts.

 

[drew4008]

People are misunderstanding. Vinatieri was a playoff (and championship) hero multiple times over... we know that.

But the way he left was deserved of every boo he gets. He left over what, something like half a million? And when he was a freakin' rockstar here (guess that meant nothing), right in the middle of the Pats-Colts bitter rivalry... he jumped ship.

Lots of people can look back and say oh well, just another guy who walked for the money, can't blame him. But it wasn't like that, it wasn't a David Givens scenario, or even something as bitter as the Branch or Asante feuds (where the Pats were offering considerably less than they wanted). It was absolutely mind-blowing how he just walked away from this organization for basically no reason whatsoever... I just don't and won't get it.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Not that I would have booed Adam were I there, but insinuating that he is the only kicker that could have possibly made those kicks is just crazy.

Whoa! Talk about a "hypothetical" wrapped in a "maybe" surrounded by an "if" and topped off with a "perhaps."

Sure, it's possible that "someone else could have possibly made those kicks," but Adam actually made them...made all four of them. Not only did he send the Snow Bowl into OT with the greatest kick under pressure in the history of the NFL, but he also won that game in OT and kicked the first and second walk off FG's (actually, there were four seconds left in SB XXXVIII) in the history of the SB.

Sure, somebody else might have done that...but, Number Four actually did.

And if you don't think that's a big deal four times over, ask someone in Buffalo or New York City how they feel to this day about "Wide Right." It's such a part of sports lore that all you have to do is Google the words Wide Right to find the article.

Otherwise, there is truly nothing that can be said in response to your comment other than to observe that Adam Vinatieri is the "only kicker" of his generation, and actually for several generations, for whom a strong case will be made by observers, even outside of New England, that he be admitted to Canton five years after he retires.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Manning was never on our side, which just makes him a respected adversary, Vinatieri was on our side but then went to theirs, which makes him a traitor.

That's something I'd expect to hear from my eight year old. A traitor? For pursuing his own economic self interest? Not in my book.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

People are misunderstanding. Vinatieri was a playoff (and championship) hero multiple times over... we know that.

But the way he left was deserved of every boo he gets. He left over what, something like half a million? And when he was a freakin' rockstar here (guess that meant nothing), right in the middle of the Pats-Colts bitter rivalry... he jumped ship.

Lots of people can look back and say oh well, just another guy who walked for the money, can't blame him. But it wasn't like that, it wasn't a David Givens scenario, or even something as bitter as the Branch or Asante feuds (where the Pats were offering considerably less than they wanted). It was absolutely mind-blowing how he just walked away from this organization for basically no reason whatsoever... I just don't and won't get it.

Half a million dollars a year is "basically no reason whatsoever...????"

You must be one wealthy dude to talk about that kind of money as inconsequential. These are guys who have careers with very limited life expectancies. Why in the world shouldn't they get as much as they can?

$500,000 over four years is two million dollars. Even after taxes, that will turn into another five or six million more, if properly invested, by the time a guy reaches his later years.

Yet you're saying he should just have tossed that kind of money onto the floor. For what? For some fantasy about the "loyalty" that we fans think these guys should have?

Loyalty to what? To a team and management that would cut them in a nanosecond if they got hurt or it otherwise suited their purposes?

I'm sorry, I just don't see it that way. These guys should all get what they can when they can get it, because their careers can end on a practice field tomorrow.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

He ran for the money when the team had been willing to pay him handsomely, and that doesn't sit well with some fans. I assume that, if you're good with Vinatieri, that you're fine with Samuel?

I've got no problem either player moving on, and I wouldn't boo them any more than I'd boo a random member of an opposing team, but fan bases are made up of all sorts.

Agreed, Deus.

And, yes, I was fine with Asante as well, though the two cases are different. I though Adam was more valuable relative to his position, but I thought that the Pats should have ponied up what it would have taken to keep both of them.

These guys have short-lived careers that can end not just on any given Sunday on the playing field but on any day of any week of the year on a practice field. If we understand anything about the "time value of money," we should understand that every buck these guys give up in their very short careers is another five or six bucks by the time they reach old age.

 

[sly24]

I think fans were mostly booing Vinatieri in hopes that he would miss the field goal..