ESPN hitpiece on Patriots (Rift with Brady/Belichick/Kraft) - Merged

[nowayback]

Successful people have egos????

Do yourself a favor and skip this garbage. Taking a dump is far more productive and the turds are more valuable than the network.

Done ! thanks for the advice

 

[Uncle Rico]

Is that really in there? Someone claiming Brady asked to be called "Sir"?

Yeah*, as predicted it's all soap opera stuff.

I mean, it leads off with the heated Brady-McDaniels sideline exchange, during which - -eek! -- McDaniels's father was in the front road and heard Brady say 'F-- You!" Can you imagine? What drama!

*Brady didn't ask to be called "sir." New players often did so. For crying out loud, the guy's the GOAT. A legend. Can you imagine being a 22 year old and meeting Tom Brady as a teammate? Heck most of us at any age would call him sir if we met him.

 

[Kontradiction]

Before I give this story a click and read it, did any sources actually lend their NAME to the report or is this all on the anonymous source? Because I don’t believe for a second that:

1) Brady is the kind of diva that would demand a trade of his back-up

Or

2) that Belichick would stick around long after the owner started meddling in his decisions.

 

[jboston19]

I eagerly anticipate reading ESPN'S obituary sometime over the next few years. Until then, those 4 letters on an article tell me I can safely avoid taking the time to look at it.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Before I give this story a click and read it, did any sources actually lend their NAME to the report ...?

No. All "some staffers" and "some coaches."

 

[maineman209]

******** like this makes me ill.

There's no way for any rational counterpoint to gain traction because...
1) BSPN has been cultivating a bias among NFL fans against the Pats for more than a decade, so ******** like this is swallowed whole as "The Gospel Truth" by the vast majority of NFL fans - it confirms that bias. Very few people will even listen to any fact-based, context-based counter argument. "La-la-la-la-la! I can't hear you!"
2) BSPN owns the biggest megaphone, so there's no real opportunity for any rational counter argument to reach a large enough audience to make an impact. And there is no other "reputable source". BSPN is "big", therefore, they must be "reputable."

 

[Nunchucks]

The article is quite plausible and a lot of it makes a ton of sense. Folks have their head in the sand if you think Belichick broke with everything we know about him to trade Jimmy for pennies with no backup QB on the roster with a 40 year old starter.

Belichick always gets rid of guys early and likes to have a plan for the next guy up. This only makes sense,.

 

[supafly]

I hate this article. I don’t know how much to believe, but I hate it anyway.

 

[supafly]

The article is quite plausible and a lot of it makes a ton of sense. Folks have their head in the sand if you think Belichick broke with everything we know about him to trade Jimmy for pennies with no backup QB on the roster with a 40 year old starter.

Belichick always gets rid of guys early and likes to have a plan for the next guy up. This only makes sense,.

Some of it makes more sense than I had anticipated last night, but a lot of it reeks of exaggeration and possibly even some desperation.

 

[Deus Irae]

The article is quite plausible

 

[resdubwhite]

And yet espns man on the ground reiss stays quiet.
I'm smelling something

 

[Nunchucks]

Some of it makes more sense than I had anticipated last night, but a lot of it reeks of exaggeration and possibly even some desperation.

Some parts don't seem accurate. I know that Brady doesn't insist on being called "sir," that goes directly against everything we ever hear about him. He goes and interduces himself to new players all the time.

 

[luuked]

Belichick always gets rid of guys early and likes to have a plan for the next guy up. This only makes sense,.

I love how people think they can read BB only to write misinformation like that. Everytime BB did the so-called "a year early" trade or cut it was mostly about player value relative to his cap number.

Brady is making less money than Dalton and the same amount as Glennon this year. How much does he have to decline to be worse value than those?

 

[dburgwin]

The article takes already known events—the Brady-McDaniels sideline blow-up, the limits put on Guerrero by Belichick, and the Garoppollo trade—and weaves a massive interfamilial conflict, all sturm and drang, supported by the off the record whispers of "staffers". Each incident is probably true, more or less, but the overall narrative of the split among Kraft/Brady/Belichick is far too overdetermined towards the purpose of making it seem that there is some new, revelatory story here.

 

[luuked]

And yet espns man on the ground reiss stays quiet.
I'm smelling something

You can only report what you know and not what you think. This is what distinguishes real journalists from hacks.

 

[Charlotte Pats Fan]

Some parts don't seem accurate. I know that Brady doesn't insist on being called "sir," that goes directly against everything we ever hear about him. He goes and interduces himself to new players all the time.

How exactly do you know this? You wouldn't be speculating now, would you?

 

[Uncle Rico]

My take:

First, there's nothing jaw dropping here. I've written some headlines in my life and this headline — "For Kraft, Brady and Belichick, is this the beginning of the end?" -- is more typical for an opinion than a news story. Here, it speaks to the fact that there really is no "x-happened" headline, which is the foundation of actual news.*

What the story does is soothe one very large group of fans (non-Patriots) and agitate others (us).

Fans around the country will read that headline and say "god, I hope so."

As a Patriots fan reading the story, my main feeling is "well, of course, we all know this will end some day and it's going to suck."

If that's what's happening here, there's never been a guarantee it will be pretty. The coming together of Brady-Belichick has been something that can't be duplicated -- two fiercely competitive men, best ever (arguably) at what they do, working their tails off and sublimating ego (and in Brady's case, I'd say base income) for the glory of winning.

Really, the one thing I get from this -- other than the dread that the end of this amazing run will come eventually -- is ... there's really nothing unique happening here, not in the bigger picture of the NFL, with it's fiery personalities and fierce competitiveness. It's only a story because, well .. it's the Patriots.

*The one thing that I could see getting traction: It says Kraft stood by Brady during deflategate "even though many staffers in the building believed there was merit in the allegation." Um, really? Kind of a throw away line that comes with some responsibility for accuracy, and makes you wonder why neither editors nor headline writers jumped on that for more. ....

 

[supafly]

Some parts don't seem accurate.

Some parts seem to be downright ridiculous. I’m guessing that there’s a ton of misinformation in there—like 70 or 80 percent, but I still don’t like any hint of possibikity that some small bits and pieces could be true.

Much like spygate, I need an announcement of a BB extension to make me feel better.

 

[Nunchucks]

How exactly do you know this? You wouldn't be speculating now, would you?

If you bothered to read any player interviews, you would know that he is super nice and friendly to everybody on the team.

 

[Deus Irae]

I love how people think they can read BB only to write misinformation like that. Everytime BB did the so-called "a year early" trade or cut it was mostly about player value relative to his cap number.

Brady is making less money than Dalton and the same amount as Glennon this year. How much does he have to decline to be worse value than those?

Not to pick on the poster you responded to, because he's certainly not alone in his position, but:

The guy who, pretty much every offseason, signs players who are all but dead (career-wise) always gets rid of guys a year early. The same guy who brought back Bruschi, only to see that he was completely shot, and who had guys like Harrison and T. Brown in for their last years, always gets rid of guys a year early. The guy who just added a 39 year old linebacker to the team always gets rid of guys a year early. How people don't realize that the "year early" thing just doesn't work as an absolute is a testament to the ability of people to ignore reality even when it kicks them right in the stones.