Peyton Manning: Patriots fans, VERY CLASSY

[Off The Grid]

Half a million dollars a year.

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.

Well said, sir.

I honor the right of my fellow fans to hate Adam Vinatieri for making that move.

But I cannot condone it.

2 Mill IS an enormous pile of money, and it's not like he was choosing between $13.5 Mill a year and $14.0.

***

Were I running things, I never would've let'm hit the Market in the first place.

 

[BradyFTW!]

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.

100% agree. Pats fans have absolutely no reason to boo Vinatieri. Without him, we have at least one SB less than we do now, probably more. Maybe 3 less.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

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.

I've addressed the "trivial amount of money" in another response just above.

I am truly impressed by the wealth implied in many of these posts. The 1% must be alive and well in this Forum.

Half a million dollars a year is not "trivial" in my book. We're not talking an eight figure annual salary or a nine figure deal here. We're talking $500k out of a total package of $2.5 vs. $3.0. That's a 20 percent difference.

Look me in the eye and tell me you'd take a 20% pay cut tomorrow out of "loyalty" to your employer, when this pay cut would extend over the remaining span of your entire career and maybe I'll see your point.

 

[BradyFTW!]

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, and I don't get why anyone would boo Asante either. He and Vinatieri were both valuable members of SB-winning teams.

 

[Snake Eyes]

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.

I don't remember asking you about your book, I was explaining why many fans boo him and the reason I gave is the truth.

Too add insult to injury he also threw the Pats under the bus when all that Spygate nonsense was going on.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I don't remember asking you about your book, I was explaining why many fans boo him and the reason I gave is the truth.

Too add insult to injury he also threw the Pats under the bus when all that Spygate nonsense was going on.

That's not the way your post was worded. It sure sounded like your opinion. But, for the sake of argument, I'll accept that I misread what you said. My bad.

So, if that's "why many fans boo him," what do you think? Are they right to boo him?

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Agreed, and I don't get why anyone would boo Asante either. He and Vinatieri were both valuable members of SB-winning teams.

Well said. I just don't understand why folks can't accept that these guys moved on for deals that they thought were in their best economic interests over short-lived careers,

We're not talking here about careers where people build to their maximum earnings potential in their 40's and 50's, nor are we talking careers where people expect to earn an income over a 30 year period.

We're talking a field of endeavor where the average career is 3.5 years long and ends between 30 and 35, if someone is fortunate to be kept on a roster that long.

I really don't understand how people can begrudge these athlete/entertainers the right to maximize a short-lived window of opportunity that can end abruptly because of a perceived loss of skills or because of injury.

I am sincerely open to being shown why I am wrong on this.

 

[Snake Eyes]

That's not the way your post was worded. It sure sounded like your opinion. But, for the sake of argument, I'll accept that I misread what you said. My bad.

So, if that's "why many fans boo him," what do you think? Are they right to boo him?

I woudnt boo him but it's every sports fan's God given right to behave like a tribalistic 8yr old when it comes to players, who are essentially willing combatants. I do think the Indy fans who boed the 12yr old Patriots fan years back crossed the line though.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I woudnt boo him but it's every sports fan's God given right to behave like a tribalistic 8yr old when it comes to players, who are essentially willing combatants. I do think the Indy fans who boed the 12yr old Patriots fan years back crossed the line though.

I agree with you on both points; one doesn't have to pass a "class" test to get a ticket to an NFL game. Peace.

 

[JDot]

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!

Real recognize real...

Not going to lie, this is game game I look forward to every year. It is a shame Payton was not playing.

I think Bill Simmons summed up this rivalry best in a fantastic article from last year...


Bill Simmons: Tom Brady and Peyton Manning -- the rivalry - ESPN

 

[drew4008]

Trust me, I'm not part of the 1% and I understand how enormous an amount of money $500,000 is.

But Vinatieri is a wealthy man. He's been an elite kicker for awhile and has been paid like it. I think it was something like 3.5 mil a year versus 4 mil a year. What I mean is... in the grand scheme of things (how much has he made over the last decade in total?), it was a pretty small amount of money considering what his status here was.

The only saving grace he has is that maybe he felt it was a slap in the face that "for all he's done for the Patriots", they didn't want to reward him and match the money. And I guess I get that, but it just seems very petty.

Or maybe I'm just overvaluing what I'd call the "Bruschi mentality"... that is, what is the dollar value of being so hyped up and loved in a sports town? Personally I'd think it's worth quite a bit, but clearly that isn't so for everyone.

 

[robbomango]

Trust me, I'm not part of the 1% and I understand how enormous an amount of money $500,000 is.

But Vinatieri is a wealthy man. He's been an elite kicker for awhile and has been paid like it. I think it was something like 3.5 mil a year versus 4 mil a year. What I mean is... in the grand scheme of things (how much has he made over the last decade in total?), it was a pretty small amount of money considering what his status here was.

The only saving grace he has is that maybe he felt it was a slap in the face that "for all he's done for the Patriots", they didn't want to reward him and match the money. And I guess I get that, but it just seems very petty.

Or maybe I'm just overvaluing what I'd call the "Bruschi mentality"... that is, what is the dollar value of being so hyped up and loved in a sports town? Personally I'd think it's worth quite a bit, but clearly that isn't so for everyone.

I'm with patsfan74 on this one, who can judge someone else's financial situation from a far? Calling adam greedy or saying he has enough money is a bit ignorant and naive IMO. Not you, just that mentality. lol

 

[Mogamedogz]

Well... I guess we can safely assume that he has never read these forums.

 

[Mogamedogz]

But Vinatieri is a wealthy man.

Robert Kraft is a wealthy man. Adamatic?? Not so much...

 

[NEPatriot]

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

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

Agreed. I remember all of the "bolt neck" posts. Unfortunate.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I've had it with this all this oh-so-trendy 1% crap and whining about Vin having to take a half mill less. Although I made nowhere near what Adam made, I several times took considerably less money for jobs. So did Tedy Bruschi. There are at least some of us to whom squeezing the last nickel or half mill out of a situation is subsumed by more important life considerations. Screw the Vinitrator for leaving a great legacy and a region where he was worshiped.

I agree with those here respecting Manning for his excellence in career achievements and I join those wishing him good health.

 

[Armchair Quarterback]

I've had it with this all this oh-so-trendy 1% crap and whining about Vin having to take a half mill less. Although I made nowhere near what Adam made, I several times took considerably less money for jobs. So did Tedy Bruschi. There are at least some of us to whom squeezing the last nickel or half mill out of a situation is subsumed by more important life considerations. Screw the Vinitrator for leaving a great legacy and a region where he was worshiped.

I agree with those here respecting Manning for his excellence in career achievements and I join those wishing him good health.

Ever take $500,000 less?

Why wouldn't you at the very least, give Vinatieri the same respect you reserve for Manning, including career achievements?

The Snow Bowl and SB 48 yarder should have given Vinatieri a lifetime free pass from being booed in Foxboro, sadly it didn't.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

As I recall it Adam left because they didn't offer him any guaranteed money. And the Colts offered him a 5 year $12M deal with $3.5M in signing bonus and $7.5M over the first three seasons. NE was offering him a basically a series of one year deals they claimed would have kept him the highest paid kicker in the league but there was no guaranteed money... He experienced some difficult times with the Colts almost out of the gate, but they hired backups and fill-ins and paid him the entire $12M and have recently signed him to a 3 year extension so... He never got more than a 3 year deal here and he played under the tag the season before he left and they knew what he wanted was some security. Indy offered him more money, lont term security and a dome to kick in, the traiterous bastid...

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Ever take $500,000 less? Why wouldn't you at the very least, giveVinatieri the same respect you reserve for Manning, including career achievements? The Snow Bowl and SB 48 yarder should have givenVinatieri a lifetime free pass from being booed in Foxboro, sadly it didn't.

Nothing you ever do here will give you a lifetime free pass when it comes to fans from this region booing anyone they percieve as ruining their spring, summer, fall or winter passtime, sadly. They like to pat each other on the back and call it passion...

 

[PatsDeb]

I don't begrudge Adam (now - way back when I was PO'd at him) & I don't think the boo birds were a big deal. I went down to use the ladies room at the game during the time he kicked and I knew nothing about the boos until I came home and read about it here. So, it wasn't very loud in the stadium and certainly wasn't a lot of the stadium. I also think it was interesting that they didn't show Peyton once on the Jumbotron (or if they did, I didn't see him). Just chill people - he's moved on and we might as well too.