Jabar Gaffney, Austin Collie in for tryouts

Collie needs to do what he does best. And that is saving Timmy from drowning in the well.

Bravo777 said:

Collie needs to do what he does best. And that is saving Timmy from drowning in the well.

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If Collie wants to take some of the hits as camp fodder than I'm all for it.

If Belichick feels as though he can still play and produce, then so be it. It's not my brain

FWIW--I agree with primetime and others who state that he just probably just hang up his cleats, but it appears as though he doesn't want to do that.

I may be off base BUT...I think Bravo was making a sly reference to Timmy....and Lassie...the collie...

I'm all for signing Collie if he agrees to wear the following;

AndyJohnson said:

So you want to tell a football player he isn't allowed to play football even when Doctors have cleared him?
Perhaps bars should install breathalizers and not serve anyone who is at the legal driving limit since they can't be trusted to act in their own best interest.
Maybe we should go for sterilization of people with low incomes, IQs, or medical and psychological issues.
Not really busting your b@lls just pointing out that you can extend taking someones rights away from them because you consider it better for them a long way.

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Agree here. And there's no way for us to tell what's in Collie's best interest. Maybe braining himself to make a couple more million and finish setting his family up for several generations is worth it to him.

Plenty of people risk their lives to provide for their families, and plenty of people do it for way less money than Collie will get, even at vet-min.

primetime said:

In other words, we need to see much improved retirement pensions for players - especially those making the choice due to concussion problems or other quality-of-life-affecting injuries.

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The NFLPA has made it perfectly clear that getting money right now is more important than having a better pension plan (although the NFL pension is very good).

More money later would mean less money now, and the NFLPA wants nothing to do with that.

Joker said:

I may be off base BUT...I think Bravo was making a sly reference to Timmy....and Lassie...the collie...

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Ding ding ding! We have a winner!

Synovia said:

(although the NFL pension is very good)

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It's about a third of MLB pensions, depending on number of vested years. Most NFL players who play only a couple years on average don't see much benefit at all. There's also no early trigger for disability-style benefits for players like Collie who are essentially forced to retire due to massive, quality-of-life changing injuries.

Joker said:

I may be off base BUT...I think Bravo was making a sly reference to Timmy....and Lassie...the collie...

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I saw Lassie (or a reasonable collie facsimilie thereof) at the Show Bowl on Pleasure Island
in Wakefield MA during the late 60s. I doubt that Timmah was there, however.

I thought Collie looked really good before those injuries. Not sure if he should be playing though

primetime said:

It's about a third of MLB pensions, depending on number of vested years. Most NFL players who play only a couple years on average don't see much benefit at all. There's also no early trigger for disability-style benefits for players like Collie who are essentially forced to retire due to massive, quality-of-life changing injuries.

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NFL players make significantly less than MLB players, so its not surprising that their pensions are less.

Again, this is something that the NFLPA has continuously fought against. 22-35 year olds place much more importance on getting paid now vs getting paid 35 years from now.

Who are we to say thats wrong?

Bruins29 said:

But he wasnt healthy

And What does 2006 have to do with last year.

And how has Gaffney been a better fit in our system when Branch has put up much better numbers in this system.

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Branch spent his prime and more time as a whole in our system. As for 2006, just pointing out that you two were probably saying the same things before he broke out. I get why Rob is here. He was one of the people telling me that it wasn't a mistake to let a guy go that put up a good season and had experience in the system last year. Later on that year, Branch is nowhere to be found, Lloyd is diving all over the place when he doesn't need to, and Welker is the only guy that can get consistent separation for the offense as the team loses the biggest game of the season to a hated rival. Tell me again how we didn't need another experienced receiver. What I don't get is why you're here, completely misrepresenting everything I've said thus far such as...

I cant beleive you are cranking on the FO over last years decision about Jabbar f u k i n g Gaffney. Especially over Bradays all time fav receiver. Plus went to the Dolphins who had nobody for WRs. aff played 3 games and had 68 yards. So, either Gaff sucked or was hurt. Either way us not getting to the SB had nothing to do with Gaffney on this team.

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Again, Gaffney has always been more of a fit in the Ehrhardt-Perkins than in the West Coast. Further, I said absolutely nothing about blaming not reaching the Super Bowl on Gaffney. Just saying that he would have helped in the passing offense as a whole after healing up. There is no doubt in my mind that he would have been more effective here than Branch.

Rob0729 said:

Gaffney was a decent #3 receiver prior to 2006. Nothing special, but nothing horrible. Besides, his numbers with the Pats weren't significantly better than they were when he was with the Texans. It wasn't until he went to Denver until he had his first 500 plus yard season.

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He was the WR2 on the best offense in NFL history down the stretch of that season.

The guy had four catches in 3 games last year. He is also 32 years old.

Bringing back Branch was a waste , but I am not convinced keeping Gaffney would have produced any better results. By most reports, he was cut because he wasn't performing on the field as much as his injury.

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Why, in your opinion, is the team showing any level of interest in him whatsoever this time around?

Also, people forget Branch only really came back because Edelman got injured. He was mostly being a shadow roster guy. If Edelman didn't get injured, probably neither Branch nor Gaffney would have played with the Pats last year.

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Branch was back for the first Ravens game. Edelman got injured IN that game, so this is not true.

KontradictioN said:

\ There is no doubt in my mind that he would have been more effective here than Branch.

Why, in your opinion, is the team showing any level of interest in him whatsoever this time around?

.

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I cant agree and I am sure many here feel the same way. The Dolphins had really nothing a WR. If Gaff was healthy he could have been a solid 2 in MIA and a big factor. He was not healthy so it dosent matter what you "think" he could have done here. I dont know, maybe you think the Pats have the ability to heal players faster?

Where have the Pats shown interest in Gaffney this year?

Bruins29 said:

I cant agree and I am sure many here feel the same way. The Dolphins had really nothing a WR. If Gaff was healthy he could have been a solid 2 in MIA and a big factor. He was not healthy so it dosent matter what you "think" he could have done here. I dont know, maybe you think the Pats have the ability to heal players faster?

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Now they do
NOW they do.

PatsWickedPissah said:

Now they do
NOW they do.

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KontradictioN said:

He was the WR2 on the best offense in NFL history down the stretch of that season.

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Which offense was that. He was never WR2 on the Pats' offense. He went from WR #4 to #3 when Stallworth regressed over the season, but he never made to an actual starter except when the Pats came out in a three WR set to start the game.

Why, in your opinion, is the team showing any level of interest in him whatsoever this time around?

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Because they aren't. He never was in Foxboro yesterday. The press thought Chaz Schilens was Jabar Gaffney. The Pats trying out Gaffney was an erroneous report.

The Pats have shown zero interest bringing back Gaffney thus far. In fact, no team has shown any interest in Gaffney at this point.

The Patriots had former New York Jets wide receiver Chaz Schilens in for a tryout on Tuesday, according to ESPN.com, closing our search for the elusive 84. Schilens, 6-foot-4 and 225 pounds, was initially mistaken for popular veteran and former Patriots receiver Jabar Gaffney, who checks in at 6-foot-2 and better than 200 pounds himself. So, it’s a pretty reasonable mistake, which befell most of us on Tuesday.

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Read more at: Report: Patriots Worked Out Former Jets Wide Receiver Chaz Schilens | New England Patriots | NESN.com

Branch was back for the first Ravens game. Edelman got injured IN that game, so this is not true.

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I may be wrong, but Branch was never supposed to be a permanent fixture on the roster. He was going to be brought in when needed. He might have been brought in because of the Hernandez injury and the need for another receiver to replace Hernandez.

Bruins29 said:

I cant agree and I am sure many here feel the same way. The Dolphins had really nothing a WR. If Gaff was healthy he could have been a solid 2 in MIA and a big factor. He was not healthy so it dosent matter what you "think" he could have done here. I dont know, maybe you think the Pats have the ability to heal players faster?

Where have the Pats shown interest in Gaffney this year?

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Not sure Gaffney was as injured as you make him out to be. He was originally put on the injury report in Week 11 and was off the next week. But, he was competing with two guys in Hartline and Bess that had more experience with the Dolphins in their system than he did. Not to mention he didn't exactly get a head start. Again, Gaffney has always been more successful in our system throughout his career than any other one.

As for the last sentence, mea culpa. I thought the Pats were bringing Gaffney in for a tryout ALONG with Schillens.

KontradictioN said:

Again, Gaffney has always been more successful in our system throughout his career than any other one.

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Can you post the numbers to back it? I thought I looked it up. I dont remember that. Gaffney more successful than Branch in the Pats system - all time???

The floor is yours.

Rob0729 said:

Which offense was that. He was never WR2 on the Pats' offense. He went from WR #4 to #3 when Stallworth regressed over the season, but he never made to an actual starter except when the Pats came out in a three WR set to start the game.

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Well, for one, the Pats usually came out in 3WR sets throughout the game in 2007. For another, Gaffney was lining up at split end at the end of the season, effectively making him WR2 for the Pats during that season.

I may be wrong, but Branch was never supposed to be a permanent fixture on the roster. He was going to be brought in when needed. He might have been brought in because of the Hernandez injury and the need for another receiver to replace Hernandez.

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As well he shouldn't have been. He was done. Toast. Anybody that watched him at the end of the 2011 season would have seen that. There were a lot of receivers in the league that would have been better options than Branch last season. Gaffney, free of injury, would have been one of them.

Bruins29 said:

Can you post the numbers to back it? I thought I looked it up. I dont remember that. Gaffney more successful than Branch in the Pats system - all time???

The floor is yours.

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Try reading my post again, buddy.