Quote of the Day

[Robdude]

Come on. The Jets already had their roster in place, with 6 WR's, when Caldwell was cut. Why else would they bring Caldwell in? It's been well documented the levels in which Mangina will stoop to in order to defeat his superiors. Even Reiss suggests Caldwell's only purpose in visiting New Jersey was to give up valuable information.

but why would he? It didn't make him any money nor would it make teams want to sign him to a contract. Maybe that was Mangini's goal but why would Caldwell do it for nothing? This is a business and he has an agent at least who is thinking about what is best for Recjhe. How would this be the best thing for him to do?

 

[Christopher_Price]

I personally thought it was out of character for Vrabel to say something like this honestly. I was actually hoping for Vrabel's sake that he was joking because otherwise it is kinda classless to do. Even joking it isn't all that classy to jokingly kick a former teammate as he is going out the door.

You probably know better than I that Vrabel is known as a jokester. It just seems like in his nature to jokingly make fun of Caldwell than seriously trash the guy. When has Vrabel ever made negative comments about any player on the record?

I didn't mean to make it question your integrity although looking back at my post, it looks that way. Sorry.

No worries. It's certainly out of character for the Patriots to offer up something like thatm, either on or off the record (and either in a joking manner or even semi-serious). That's what makes it such an interesting piece of information. Vrabel has been known to have some fun with the media, and this certainly looks like one of those cases.

 

[marcus]

Vrabel is a true Patriot.

He probably is sick of the Jets pulling these BS spying acquisitions

 

[Seymour93]

but why would he? It didn't make him any money nor would it make teams want to sign him to a contract. Maybe that was Mangini's goal but why would Caldwell do it for nothing? This is a business and he has an agent at least who is thinking about what is best for Recjhe. How would this be the best thing for him to do?

This was the question I was asking earlier. My best guess is it was a combination of him being misguided, somehow he thought that if he gives up the Pats preseason playbook then he'll get signed no matter what, and him trying to spite BB for cutting him.

 

[Robdude]

No worries. It's certainly out of character for the Patriots to offer up something like thatm, either on or off the record (and either in a joking manner or even semi-serious). That's what makes it such an interesting piece of information. Vrabel has been known to have some fun with the media, and this certainly looks like one of those cases.

Either way Chris it is a great quote and definitely worth sharing with everyone else

 

[Christopher_Price]

What context did you post...

from your 'more' link...

Maybe I'm missing something, but I can't find any context -- not the question asked or whether he was kidding or serious. No knock on you -- I read you regularly -- but this feels like a tease to me. I don't think a fan should give the Jets bulletin board material, and I don't think Vrabel would. I'm just suggesting people should relax until we see a clip of the quote.

Traditionally, the question provides the context of how the quote was delivered. I have always been a big believer in providing all the information possible on this blog ... which means in this case, the question AND the answer.

It sounds like the problem was the fact that at the end of the post, it says "More," which is something generated by my blog feeds--it usually provides the first few sentences of the blog post. In this case, it simply listed the whole thing. (By listing "more," it's a way to get people to click through to the blog, something generated by the software. In the future, if that's all I have, I think I'll just tack something on the end of the post on the messageboard saying "That's it--no need to click through...")

Hope this clears up any confusion...

 

[Christopher_Price]

Either way Chris it is a great quote and definitely worth sharing with everyone else

Thanks! As always, I appreciate the kind words, and hope everyone keeps reading...

 

[BWareofDWare]

I'd imagine there was some friendly trash-talking after Caldwell's Gators dominated Vrabel's Buckeyes in the national championship. This was probably nothing more than Vrabel's receipt.

 

[shmessy]

Those points you've made really don't have much to do with the issue here. The issue is does Vrabel have a reason to be pissed because one of his former teammates is going around, without preconditions, giving rivals our preseason playbook? I say yes. What does Caldwell gain from it? Nothing. He left without a contract. He's still a FA.

Can you show me where it's been reported that Caldwell shared the Pats playbook with the Jets?

 

[dryheat44]

Frankly, I don't see the problem with Vrabel's quote as-is.

Tom Brady knows the offense.
Matt Cassell knows the offense.
Dan Koppen knows the offense.

Reche Caldwell knew what Reche Caldwell was supposed to do on any given play. It's NOT the same as knowing the offense, and that's not a bad reflection of Reche.

It's also of limited value to the Jets.

 

[RayClay]

I think a little sabre rattling is allowable against the Jets. Vrabes would be the hatchet man on this team with quotes.

It's not like they're the evil empire, more like an evil little city-state.

 

[Nitro]

Was Caldwell stupid?

From Reiss's blog(q&a w/Vrabel):

How much of an advantage can a former player help the opposition by visiting them, like Reche Caldwell did with the Jets?
"Reche barely knew our offense, so I know he doesn't know our defense [tongue in cheek; media laughter]. That's the end of that question."

Maybe BB wasn't pissed about the drops in the AFCCG, he just didn't learn the offense after a year in it.

 

[TeamPats]

Re: Was Caldwell stupid?

I think that's a bit of a stretch. Say what you want about Reche, but last year whenever Brady needed to find his receiver exactly within the route he expected it was always Caldwell (well or Troy Brown of course). He may not be the most taleneted WR, but he seemed to have a grasp on the offense. Better then most 1st year Patriots.

 

[Seymour93]

Can you show me where it's been reported that Caldwell shared the Pats playbook with the Jets?

Why would the Jets coaches or Caldwell disclose if that happened or not? Common sense tells you that the most likely reason for the meeting was for Caldwell to share info, as suggested by Reiss.

 

[Va_Pats_Fan]

Exactly.

Useless without context.

He could of had a huge smile on his face, and just giving a well liked ex teammate a good ribbing...

 

[PromisedLand]

=====================================

I think his fate was sealed when he kept droping pass after pass in the Colts game. Rumor has it that BB has a long memory and can hold a grudge.

That certainly didn't help his cause. Certain players (Brady, for example) play better under the intense pressure of big games, others choke. Since you can't really simulate that pressure to see how a player will react when it happens, you must assume that the past is prologue when you see a player do what Reche did in the AFC Championship Game. BB knows that it may have been a fluke, but given the information he has and the stable of other quality receivers he now has in the stable, he did what all good leaders do and made a decision based on incomplete information. That incomplete (based on the tiny sample size) information said that Reche couldn't handle the pressure.

It is not stretching the truth one bit to say that had Reche held onto either one of the two outrageous drops he had in the second half of that game, that there would probably be a 4th Lombardi in Foxborough today.

 

[BadMoFo]

He was kidding.

 

[shmessy]

It is not stretching the truth one bit to say that had Reche held onto either one of the two outrageous drops he had in the second half of that game, that there would probably be a 4th Lombardi in Foxborough today.

Actually, it IS a stretch. The first one was moot. Gaffney caught a TD on the next play.

 

[SoCal Bong]

Chris - any idea when we should expect to see the injury reports come out?

I'm setting the over/under on "probable" at 15 and total listed at 17

 

[Wotan_the_Wanderer]

Can you show me where it's been reported that Caldwell shared the Pats playbook with the Jets?

If he does share the playbook, he'll share it after he's been signed and not during some interview process.

And what is the big deal about this anyways? Have the Pats not signed former Fish, Jest and Stiller players midseason and gained some insight into these teams' playbooks and terminologies?