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

[Ring 6]

it does effect lives though...I've seen many stoners who never did anything with their lives because smoking pot was all that mattered to them...Yes, some smokers can succeed, but don't try to say that smoking weed can't effect someone's life negatively.

Thats another story. But if the rumors are correct that is what he chose to do the night before the SB.
It’s not about how bad the drug is or isn’t its about making that decision when your team is preparing to play in the Sb.

 

[chris_in_sunnyvale]

@PatsDeb and others at the game:

Without the benefit of announcers pointing out Butler being benched, could you tell he wasn't in the game? When did you discover he hadn't taken a defensive snap?

I'm picturing myself walking out of that stadium after such a defensive letdown, then overhearing someone say, "Hey, I just heard Butler played no snaps on D," and being utterly confused.

Regards,
Chris

 

[Ring 6]

Bill plays favorites. At some point, Butler fell out of favor with Bill. He liked Welker enough not to bench him.

Because it was exactly the same situation

 

[mosslost]

Bill plays favorites. At some point, Butler fell out of favor with Bill. He liked Welker enough not to bench him.

That says a lot since he ended up hating Welker.

 

[Steve102]

It's strange that everyone is insisting that Butler must have been in the wrong when Belichick himself said it was not discipline related. By his own words, he preferred Jordan Richards and Johnson Bademosi over Butler, who played more snaps than any other Patriots defensive player this season, even when they were getting torched and missing tackles left and right.

BB is lying to us. He doesn't throw guys under the bus, and he's not starting now. He doesn't give a chit about lying to us. I wish he would tell us the truth, but he is respecting the locker room code and trying to keep whatever the transgression is in-house.

 

[Triumph]

Look, my point is that among the list of violations worth losing a superbowl over, it does not crack the top 100. But more importantly, it is a completely unsubstantiated rumor that people are latching on to as if it were fact.

I agree and am searching for confirmation.

Bit and pieces coming out here and there. If Schefter finds out then its gospel truth.

For the record, IMO Jack Daniels would only be a first half suspension and not the entire Super Bowl.

 

[Kontradiction]

Ivan, I’m a big fan of your posting from your knowledge to taking a dump on the chicken littles in amusing ways but honest question:

You really don’t think the domino effect of playing Malcolm Butler gets us one stop?

Butler bench to CB2
Rowe CB2 to slot CB (role he’s been playing all year)
Chung slot CB to Ertz

Comeon. You know that gets 1-2 more stops.

You are killing it in this thread. Thanks for being the voice of reason here and at least making an attempt to discuss the X's and O's portion of it. You'll get drowned out by the pointless insanity of discussing this when we have nothing concrete to go off of, but thanks for at least making the effort.

 

[PatsDeb]

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

Because the ultimate standard of the Pats is supposed to be, "for the good of the team." Bench him for the 1st half but put him in for the 2nd, then leave him at the stadium after the game, if you are that pissed. Don't throw away the Super Bowl for the rest of the team. Look at their faces and their heartbreak. Yes, Malcolm screwed up and needs to be held accountable (if you believe some or all of the reports) but this is the Super Bowl, not some regular season game against the Jets. This was not the time to apply your standards rigidly because it undermined your ultimate standard.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Could have been one quarter like Walker.

Sure assuming all Malcolm did was make jokes about Linda Holliday's feet

Belichick behavior basically had similar effect on the D side as Thomase Rams article SB 42 has on whole team.

Speculation. Iggles run the same O as KS which lit up a band dont break D.

Amazing Brady almost overcame his coach anyway.

Amazing Tom overcame Malcolm putting himself ahead the team.

 

[Horace's Ivories]

It's strange that everyone is insisting that Butler must have been in the wrong when Belichick himself said it was not discipline related. By his own words, he preferred Jordan Richards and Johnson Bademosi over Butler, who played more snaps than any other Patriots defensive player this season, even when they were getting torched and missing tackles left and right.

Exactly -what we do know is BB said - not discipline related, we know the pass D sucked and Butler still sat. So until Butler's "misdeeds" are truly revealed - how can one not be insanely pissed at BB.

 

[mcmurtry86]

The coach who has built the best, most successful NFL franchise of all time (taking into account salary cap/free agency) all of a sudden decided to intentionally throw a Super Bowl due to his ego?

GTFO with that crap. Belichick has had unparalleled success due to an unwavering commitment to his rules and his method of everyone buying in 100%. That unwavering system has given you a lifetime of great memories and the best team of the modern era.

Now, all of a sudden, that methodology and coaching style is inconvenient for you because the other 20 some odd defensive players who got snaps all crapped the bed?

Furthermore, it's nice to say "the Pats D would have gotten more stops with Butler because he's better than Bademosi, Rowe or Richards" but that's just your speculation. The same type many mock other team's fans for. "We would have won if...." means nothing and is entirely unprovable. Putting Butler in changes many things which alters the entire sequence of the game. Maybe for the better, maybe for the worse. Just because his replacements performed poorly doesn't mean Butler would have been the difference between a win and a loss.

You want a system which churns out AFCCG appearances yearly? Then you should be backing the idea of benching a guy your HOF coach deemed unworthy to play.

The idea that Belichick "gave the game away" or "blew it" is laughably entitled and stupid sounding. None (or very few) of the Butler apologists whined about Belichick cutting or benching other guys for various performance or disciplinary issues as long as the team won. You want the wins but you want to pick and choose when Belichick should stick to his methods. It's ridiculous.

 

[Ring 6]

You’re right I don’t know how he would’ve performed and that’s EXACTLY the issue. We never saw what he could or couldn’t do. And that’s totally on Bill.

Why isn’t that in Malcolm?

But we did see scrubs like Rowe, Bademosi and Richards crapping their pants all game long. If you seriously think you’re convincing anyone that Malcolm Butler, whether he looked good or bad in practice, doesn’t improve the team’s chance of winning you’re full of ****.

It depends on why he didn’t play.

 

[mosslost]

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.

Horseshit

 

[Todd Bradley]

Why isn’t that in Malcolm?


It depends on why he didn’t play.

Because Belichick is the head coach and Malcolm doesn’t decide when he wants to play. Is that a serious question? My god man.

Belichick has already said it had nothing to do with behavioral issue. So if he voluntarily sat him, it looks even worse.

 

[mosslost]

Sure assuming all Malcolm did was make jokes about Linda Holliday's feet



Speculation. Iggles run the same O as KS which lit up a band dont break D.



Amazing Tom overcame Malcolm putting himself ahead the team.

Brady almost overcame Belichick stupidity

 

[luuked]

Good for you, thankfully we don't live in America where people prefer to make decisions on tax dollars from weed than the safety of its citizens.

Boy am I happy that this country also has the safety of its citizens in mind with all those drunk drivers and armed psychos.

 

[zimmy]

************. I think our head coach has earned the benefit of the doubt on this. It's not like he hasn't delivered the greatest run in the history of the nfl.

Is Bill immune to mistakes? No. But lets wait to pass judgment when the whole story has come out.

 

[mosslost]

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.

Imagine if the 85 Bears benched their players for crap like this in New Orleans. We would have been playing second stringers. Lol ... Belichick dumb azz

 

[makoute]

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.

If this is all true he should have been sent home. He had no business being at the game.

 

[Trycked]

Winner

Not one of these poster’s saw Butler practice, or even knows why Belichick made his decision, yet all are certain Belichick didn’t know what he was doing. And they want to talk about his arrogance and hubris? Seriously?

The only issue I have with this is based on what is coming out about how there were other COACHES and players who were not happy with Bill's decision just hours before the game. So if Butler did kick Bill's dog, then the other coaches wouldn't have an objection to his benching, but again almost everyone on the staff was surprise and shocked by the move. If I had to go down further into this rabbit hole and pull a Wickersham, this is probably why Brian Flores, unfortunately, may not get the DC position...

It would've been better if Butler was just injured and couldn't play. But to make that type of divisive move at that time, it probably added to the defensive woes when several players were upset and weren't playing all out.

There were stories about Belichick complaining about Parcells being a distraction for taking Jets phone calls before the SB, well this ranks right up there if not worse. That was the one thing that I always love about Belichick, he was always able to maintain order, use his head and keep emotions in check, however this one time I felt he faltered.