Time to Give Chad Jackson Some Slack

[shmessy]

The infamous Fan's Night "Incident" involving Chad Jackson two months ago was finally detailed in print today by Tomase.

Much ado about nothing, folks:
_________
"Then there’s the nebulous issue of maturity. The 21-year-old made a minor spectacle of himself at the team’s Kickoff Gala, which didn’t do him any favors. He took the stage at the charity dinner with fellow rookie Laurence Maroney for a benign bit of hazing, the two singing their college fight songs for the few hundred fans there.

Jackson grabbed the mic and bellowed a quick Chris Berman impression. He followed by shouting gibberish, earning awkward laughter, before linebacker Tedy Bruschi briefly pulled him aside. Jackson calmed down and performed his song without incident.

He didn’t swear, act lewd, or get yanked off the stage, but it was enough to plant a seed."

http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=161779&format=text
__________

Was THAT what everyone was gossiping about??????? The kid was just trying (unsuccessfully) to entertain the fans. He wasn't swearing, offending or acting lewd. He was just trying to fit in with the spirit of the night.

When everything came down about this two months ago, I thought he must have really been acting like a pompous jerk. As it turns out, he was just trying to entertain and he went overboard in his enthusiasm. Once Tedy pulled him aside, Tomase writes, that he sang his college song without incident. I can only know whatTomase wrote on the subject. If anyone here was there that night, let me know if there was anything more, but based on just this......big deal!

The whole thing makes me feel sympathy for the kid, if anything.

 

[mtbykr]

Sounds like he was just "trying a little too hard" to impress everyone at his new home! I think he will be fine!

 

[SeanBruschi54]

If that is indeed what happened consider it another GREAT ARTICLE by Tomase!!! [/sarcasm]

 

[T-ShirtDynasty]

Nice piece. Thank god it came from Tomase and not Reiss, otherwise we'd have I'm Ron Borges and that other wannabe crying that it was a planted story from inside the Front Office.

 

[BelichickFan]

I had the same reaction when I read it (much ado about nothing). It does show what a tight ship the Patriots run, though, if a little messing around got him pulled aside by Brushi.

I'm glad the Patriots don't have the same standards for their fans (namely, me) when they're drinking at a party

 

[marty]

As frustrated as I am about the "gelling" of our offense, I'm very happy to have Chad brought along at a pace that will benefit him and the Pats. The spotlight can be a bit too glaring at times, and the media needs to back off and let this kid blossom!

 

[Brownfan80]

I'm glad to get some of the real story about Chad, but I'm slightly disappointed that his Agent appears to be taking it so personally. The last thing that Chad needs to do is give a crap what the papers say. Especially with Borges, Felger, etc running around up there. They'll LOVE to know that CJ (or at least CJ through his agent) cares what they say about him. They feed off of that stuff.

 

[shmessy]

By the way......

The people at Patriots Football Weekly who immediately started the whispering campaign on their radio show WITHOUT ACTUALLY GIVING OUT THE DETAILS should be ashamed of themselves if Tomase's article is correct.

If that is all that happened that night then they should have what happened to Chad happen to them in an arena where THEIR families and friends can read/hear about it.

 

[BelichickFan]

but I'm slightly disappointed that his Agent appears to be taking it so personally

His agent also needs to calm down on his English :

"let alone run a trickerization play like a reverse"

Sounds like he's trying a little hard to impress with his wording there

 

[RayClay]

A Chris Berman imitation? I'm sorry, that's unforgivable.

 

[Brownfan80]

His agent also needs to calm down on his English :

"let alone run a trickerization play like a reverse"

Sounds like he's trying a little hard to impress with his wording there

Yeah he really Maddenized that word. Big time.

 

[Oswlek]

The panic over Jackson has been absurd. Would I rather him be playing? Does it rub me the wrong way to see guys like Jennings (who was picked with he NE second rounder that was traded to GB) and Colsten playing well while Jackson hasn't made an impact on a team with a void at WR? Yes to both. But it is beyond asinine for any of us to reach any conclusion yet, particularly the whole "CJ is Bethel!" idiocy.

 

[Sporin]

I just want him on the field. I

2 weeks into the season, I traded useless Randy Moss for him in my 20-team Keeper Fantasy League and I'm hoping he turns into a stud at some point and I can keep him for afew seasons.

 

[Brownfan80]

The panic over Jackson has been absurd. Would I rather him be playing? Does it rub me the wrong way to see guys like Jennings (who was picked with he NE second rounder that was traded to GB) and Colsten playing well while Jackson hasn't made an impact on a team with a void at WR? Yes to both. But it is beyond asinine for any of us to reach any conclusion yet, particularly the whole "CJ is Bethel!" idiocy.

The thing that people seem to ignore about Colston and Jennings is that A) They're playing across from very good WRs in Horn and Driver and B) They aren't part of an 80% WR Corps overhaul in a very complex system.

 

[Oswlek]

By the way......

The people at Patriots Football Weekly who immediately started the whispering campaign on their radio show WITHOUT ACTUALLY GIVING OUT THE DETAILS should be ashamed of themselves if Tomase's article is correct.

If that is all that happened that night then they should have what happened to Chad happen to them in an arena where THEIR families and friends can read/hear about it.

I totally agree. I can't understand why they felt the need to hide the details. Did they feel that they were somehow protecting CJ, because it seems to me that common sense is all that is required to know that people will likely imagine worse that reality.

 

[shmessy]

The panic over Jackson has been absurd. Would I rather him be playing? Does it rub me the wrong way to see guys like Jennings (who was picked with he NE second rounder that was traded to GB) and Colsten playing well while Jackson hasn't made an impact on a team with a void at WR? Yes to both. But it is beyond asinine for any of us to reach any conclusion yet, particularly the whole "CJ is Bethel!" idiocy.

Exactly. And you can thank the "Journalists" at the Patriots Football Weekly radio show for starting the whispering campaign. They were there that night, saw what happened and reported WITHOUT CHOOSING TO GO INTO DETAIL. That is simply Character Assassination against a 21 year old kid.

 

[BelichickFan]

A Chris Berman imitation? I'm sorry, that's unforgivable.

And Belichick may have been amused as he and Berman are good friends.

 

[Oswlek]

The thing that people seem to ignore about Colston and Jennings is that A) They're playing across from very good WRs in Horn and Driver and B) They aren't part of an 80% WR Corps overhaul in a very complex system.

Yes, and neither of them have been injured either.

I am not saying that Jackson won't prove to be a bust. I have no idea. But those fans proclaiming that he is until further notice are no better than the "analysts" that continue to pick against NE until they are eventually proven right.

 

[shmessy]

I totally agree. I can't understand why they felt the need to hide the details. Did they feel that they were somehow protecting CJ, because it seems to me that common sense is all that is required to know that people will likely imagine worse that reality.

Which makes it seem that the three people who were there and who spoke about it on the Patriots Football Weekly radio show were practicing a very malicious form of misinformation. Getting ratings at the expense of truth and at the unfair expense of a 21 year old rookie far from home.

 

[Brownfan80]

Yes, and neither of them have been injured either.

I am not saying that Jackson won't prove to be a bust. I have no idea. But those fans proclaiming that he is until further notice are no better than the "analysts" that continue to pick against NE until they are eventually proven right.

Very good point about the injury factor, and one that I should have included.

90% though, so hopefully he can use this bye week as a way to get healthier. Maybe we'll see a 95% Jackson against Buffalo. 100% would be too much hopeful thinking.

Yeah, I think the people that are worried about the bust factor are tossing CJ into the Bethelboat wayyyy too fast. This kid has hands and explosion that Bethel NEVER had.

Bethel was fast. Bethel had the size where he should have been able to play 'big'. But Bethel was a wuss in traffic so it never developed and he ran bad routes and had bad hands.

CJ made a better catch (adjustment, body placement and ability to snare the ball in traffic and take it away from a defender) against the Jets (the sideline catch, not the TD) than Bethel ever made. Bethel's one huge catch against the Seahawks is one that people remember Bethel by, but that one catch required only two skills: Speed and extension. The extension came without the added factor of a defender closing in.

He did a great job hanging onto the ball when he hit the ground, but Chad showed more promise skillwise on his sideline catch, IMO.