Content Post Dear Bill - Thanks for Giving Away the Super Bowl.

[Ring 6]

Since we are going to light belichick up under the assumption butler did no wrong how about we look at the other side.
If butler was smoking weed the night before the game, goofing off in practice, showed up late to Minnesota (the flu story could be cover) and spent the week actingblikd he didn’t give a crap and letting down his teammates then how in the world does belichick look his team in the eye and say he is going to put butler in the game because next man up is a bunch of crap and the other players suck.
Does it not strike anyone that not a single player on the team has come out in defense of butler?
Maybe all this anger is directed at the wrong man.

 

[Ring 6]

Marijuana is legal in Massachusetts and many other states.

It’s illegal in Minnesota and a banned substance in the nfl.

 

[Steve102]

It is clear to me BB felt what Malcolm did of had been doing was conduct so egregious he would not be in a position to help the team.

**** he'd allow Lawrence Taylor to walk in hungover with panties on his head the Sunday before a game. Difference...he knew Lawrence knew the gameplan and was going to produce. Same thing with Chandler Jones.



I don't care what they think. Their performance was not impacted.



Don't act like a Steelers fan. If you want Mike Tomlin to coach this team then just say so.

Right on the money, brother. 100%.

@PatsDeb I know you're pissed off and hurting. We all are. A big part of the frustration is BB's policy of not bus driving the players to the media. He could have simply said "He sat for violation of team rules" and everyone would have lost their minds at Malcolm. He simply doesn't operate like that. However, I think you're coming from this with a Parcellian slant, that BB did this to make it about him. I believe that BB is much more of a disciplinarian than we are all giving him credit for. He sent Randy home for being late in a snow storm, if you remember correctly. Whatever Malcolm did, it was such a violation that BB had no choice. If he wavered, the foundation of everything he's built is rendered useless.

I coach HS football. We have rules for a reason. Malcolm is a grown man, and he has to understand that his actions have consequences. He's not bigger than the team. Could BB put him in and say "to hell with my system?" Sure. He could say f**k it and put him in. But I don't believe he's capable of that. He, like Brady, have a singular focus that allows them to stay at the top of the mountain for an unbelievable 17 years. He MUST stay the course and do what must be done.

I would rather that BB didn't lie to us about it. It's not a football decision. Clearly, Butler was good enough to play 98% of the snaps this season. He suddenly, on the eve of the Super Bowl, couldn't play a lick? Sorry, not buying it.

I put it squarely on Butler. You're a man, you need to take care of business. There has to be accountability.

Just my thoughts, @PatsDeb .

 

[Ring 6]

That’s nonsense.

He was ACTIVE on the field. Belichick could of played him at any freakin point in a sixty minute game where his defense was getting embarrassingly lit up in the Super Bowl of all games.

Telling me that keeping Butler glued to the bench becuase he was late once or had a little weed on him is proving the OPs point that Belichick literally threw the game. Who the hell cares if he was late? You play him and after four quarters, he’s a free agent and you never have to see him again.

To not play him is literally the worst coaching decision, arguably in the history of the Super Bowl and it cost this team a championship.

Malcolm Butler makes at least one stop that Bademosi or Rowe couldn’t.

Tom Brady only needed one stop to win that game. He never got it.

To get himself benched is the worst player decision arguably in the history of the Sb.

 

[FCB02062]

When we were watching the game, watching Philadelphia target Eric Rowe 4 or 5 consecutive times, I said "where the F is Malcolm Butler?" I didn't pay attention to any pregame crap so I had no idea he was "benched".
I just cannot fathom the level of Belichick's arrogance to make him think that sitting down your #2 corner, who played 100% of the snaps in the AFC Title game, was a good thing and "in the best interest of the team".
Folks are saying this decision divided the locket room. The last "in game" decision that supposedly divided the locker room - that I can remember anyway - was the 4th and 2 call in 2009. We can only look at the results, and the team was 6-2 going into that Indianapolis game and stumbled 4-4 the rest of the season and got spanked at home in the WC round.
We obviously don't have anymore games this season to determine how this decision effects the team, but I hope it doesn't cast a pall over the club going forward.
We all know the media won't let the Butler benching go away, so it'll be there through the off season.
I just can't let this loss go - Brady was awesome, overcame some odd playcalls, Gronkowski, Hogan, Amendola all great...but that defense, oh my Lord, that defense...
Such a shame, and all we can do is wonder what would've happened if Butler subbed in for Rowe or Bademosi....they scored 33 (should've been 37) and LOST a super bowl....

 

[condon84]

FWIW, and I am backtracking slightly from my initial anger towards Bill regarding butler’s benching, but michael kay in NY was reporting that he heard that Butler got caught with weed on saturday and this has been a problem for quite some time now. apparently butler was previously given an ultimatum by the team. hard to blame Bill for benching him, but i would have sat butler and put him in when the team needed him most (i.e., the second half). It seems as if Bill did not want to reward Butler’s bad behavior. If this is the case, most of the blame goes to Butler for being stupid the day before the super bowl (can’t he smoke weed the following night?). Part of the blame goes to Bill for not thinking about 52 other players.

If this is the case then he should have been inactive.

 

[Observer]

Every single bit of this is on Butler. He was an immature jerk. He played below his potential all season because he was pissed he didn't get traded or get a huge contract. Then when it came to the biggest game of the season he decided he was more important then the team. He put the coaching staff in a no win position. There are team rules, there are consequences if you break them. He broke them, he was punished, end of story.

Go cry somewhere else about BB following rules and benching a player that didn't care, until he got on camera and could cry for national tv. Hopefully he will grow up, probably he won't.

Excuse Me? Way to go with all sorts of unsubstantiated claims just to justify a moronic decision by our esteemed head coach. You should join ESPN and spread this crap along with Brady takes PEDs.

 

[Ring 6]

What good are standards if at the time they are most important you throw them out the window?

 

[The Brandon Five]

Every single bit of this is on Butler. He was an immature jerk. He played below his potential all season because he was pissed he didn't get traded or get a huge contract. Then when it came to the biggest game of the season he decided he was more important then the team. He put the coaching staff in a no win position. There are team rules, there are consequences if you break them. He broke them, he was punished, end of story.

Go cry somewhere else about BB following rules and benching a player that didn't care, until he got on camera and could cry for national tv. Hopefully he will grow up, probably he won't.

Then why was he active?

 

[Huckleberry1]

That’s nonsense.

He was ACTIVE on the field. Belichick could of played him at any freakin point in a sixty minute game where his defense was getting embarrassingly lit up in the Super Bowl of all games.

Telling me that keeping Butler glued to the bench becuase he was late once or had a little weed on him is proving the OPs point that Belichick literally threw the game. Who the hell cares if he was late? Who the hell cares if he had weed on him? These were clearly isolated incidents that could’ve been handled in-house with a small reprimand and nothing more.

You play him and after four quarters, he’s a free agent and you never have to see him again.

To not play him is literally the worst coaching decision, arguably in the history of the Super Bowl and it cost this team a championship.

Malcolm Butler makes at least one stop that Bademosi or Rowe couldn’t.

Tom Brady only needed one stop to win that game. He never got it.

This is complete and utter crap. The defense allowed 41 points, Malcolm Butler isn’t Lawrence Taylor, his presence wouldn’t have changed that performance.

 

[Ring 6]

If this is the case then he should have been inactive.

He couldn’t be inactive because there were no corners left if there was an injury. If it happened Saturday night it was to late to add a player from the practice squad.

 

[Ring 6]

Then why was he active?

Numbers. We couldn’t go into the gane with no backup corners. If he showed up drunk for the game he would have had to be active in case of emergency.

 

[upstater1]

Deb has earned the right to blast Belichick with her money and devotion. If Butler did something really wrong, I can't get on Bill for his consistency. Still, if it were Belichick's last year, let your code be damned and win the SB. I can only imagine he wants to coach another decade.

Finally, I thought benching Welker for the feet press conference was beyond ridiculous. Cmon man! So I have to admit I don't have much faith in Belichick in these instances given the Welker incident.

Let me say: I am very confused.

 

[Todd Bradley]

To get himself benched is the worst player decision arguably in the history of the Sb.

Except he was Active and played a snap. Don’t move the goal posts to try and fit your narrative.

Belichick had 60 minutes to analyze the situation and make adjustments by playing his probowl corner. He sat on his hands and his decision was the ultimate factor in winning and losing a title.

You people defending Bill can spin this any way you’d like, the facts remain that this team lost a very winnable game and Malcom Butler could’ve helped decide it.

 

[The Brandon Five]

What team rules did he break

Apparently they implemented a new rule that players that can actually tackle can't play.

 

[Observer]

I feel sorry for high school athletes who break team rules and get booted off the team for having a drink. They are kids and don't know any better. I feel zero sympathy for a professional athlete signed to a huge contract that won't follow the team rules and gets benched for the biggest game in the world. He let his team down, he let the fans down and he should be ashamed.

Exactly what team rule did he break?

 

[Huckleberry1]

Utter bollocks, my missus is a psychiatric nurse and sees every day the damage done by weed, she sees many people whereby they try weed once and have there life's destroyed when the chemical balance in there brains are altered by such drugs. Several are 20+year cases.

What a complete load of garbage. Complete fantasy.

 

[Ring 6]

Excuse Me? Way to go with all sorts of unsubstantiated claims just to justify a moronic decision by our esteemed head coach. You should join ESPN and spread this crap along with Brady takes PEDs.

you prefer to spread the story that belichick benched him for no reason?

 

[VectorPrime]

If Bill didn’t have the resume he has he would deserve to be fired. Simple as that.

 

[patsinthesnow]

If Brady played as bad as the defense and/or as BB & co. coached that game, it may never be lived down. He would have had to have thrown 4 INTs and scored 7 pts for there to be an equivalent.

It’s not just Malcolm Butler:

• Barely playing Wise/A. Butler, the two rookies responsible for 25% of our sacks this season. All we needed was one play.
• Playing Jordan Richards in the Superbowl.
• Not having one of the elite TE cover men in the entire NFL in Patrick Chung on Zach Ertz. Instead, expose him at CB on Agholor.

It goes without saying BB is a legend, HOFer, etc. This game was a colossal F-up that belongs on his resume forever & should be criticized 36 hours after the game.