The you-know-what hit the fan yesterday after Patriots offensive lineman Logan Mankins fired the shot heard around New England when he declared his desire to be traded late yesterday afternoon.
There is plenty of reaction around the media this morning, with Tom Curran of CSSNE.com taking a look at the lucrative deal that Mankins turned down.
Rich Garven of the Worcester Telegram has 5 questions worth looking at, and notes that Mankins never missed a practice or a game - but that streak will come to an end today as the team returns for their mandatory minicamp.
The Boston Globe also has a good report on the subject, noting that Kansas City, Dallas, Green Bay, and St. Louis are among teams in need of offensive line help should New England end up sending Mankins on his way.
Len Pasquerelli of ESPN takes a look at the use of exercising the right to lower a restricted free agent player's salary 110%, and the fact that although it was once a hollow threat - it doesn't seem to be this season.
Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald feels that Logan Mankins is out of line, and "should have kept his mouth shut".
Christopher Price of WEEI.com feels that if Mankins is out of the picture, that Dan Connolly will be in the spotlight as his potential replacement.
Jeff Howe of NESN.com feels that this whole situation with Mankins puts the Patriots negotiation principles in jeopardy.
Lost in the Mankins debacle was the Leadership Blitz golf tournament that took place yesterday, and Ian Rapoport gives everyone a good look at a day that opened with a motivational speech from head coach Bill Belichick.
Meanwhile also overshadowed by all the Mankins news was the fact that former Patriot Sam Cunningham was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame yesterday, and Glen Farley of the Patriot Ledger has a great feature on the former Patriot runningback. Mark Farinella also has another terrific article in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle. Jeff Howe of NESN.com also files a story on the event.
Christopher Price of WEEI.com offers the full Q&A Session with Cunningham from yesterday.
You may be worn out hearing about wide receiver Wes Welker, but Ian Rapoport of the Herald spoke with Welker's trainer Jeremy "Troll" Subin, and the article in today's Herald is quite revealing about what Welker has been through during his recovery.
"His approach to what he's doing, let's say, is unconventional and unorthodox compared to most people," Subin said in a phone conversation. "He's aggressive and assertive. He's been doing things on a timetable that most people would not be able to keep up with."
As much as it pains me to post this, I guess anything having to do with Tom Brady would technically be news - so the Herald has a story on Gisele Bundchen and her struggles as a working mom. Since the same applies to Belichick, the Herald also has a story about his girlfriend Linda Holliday that also appeared in today's paper.
Ugh...now that that's over.....
Moving on, as Chris Price of WEEI.com points out, an article in the Dallas Morning News reports this morning that former Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who is an investor in Ecosphere Technologies' Ozonix water treatment system with former Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman, is looking to get involved in helping clean up the oil spill going on off the coast of Louisiana.
"That region has been through a tough period with Katrina and now this coming in fairly rapid succession," Bledsoe said. "You get the sense down there that people are resilient and going to fight through it, but they've been knocked down hard a couple times. We can bring jobs to the area, but also help clean up the ecosystem so hopefully the fishing, shrimping and all of the other businesses can begin again as well."
That's it for this morning. Hope everyone has a good day, and we'll have updates throughout the day as they become available.
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