Malcolm Butler Mega Thread

chumpchange said:

Oh, my God! Thank you, thank you! I don't even have a speech prepared! But, I must decline this award, because since you're sincerely arguing that Bill was justified in throwing the Super Bowl because a superior player had a bad practice and was therefore disqualified from attempting to save our historically bad and humiliating defensive performance, you are the more deserving recipient. Can we make a banner for this honor and hang it next to our Super Great Practice one?

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I really think it would look much better beside all of your blue ribbons and participation trophies You know, the ones you are entitled to and don’t have to earn.

And don’t let all the times the coach wouldn’t play you damage your self esteem, that was all his fault.

Modest said:

Which I haven't seen one reputable source report on yet, just asshats with enough twitter followers to get a rumor started.

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Brandon Browner is an asshat now?

I kinda like Bill Simmons’ theory (not based on any inside info) that perhaps Butler was told they weren’t starting him because they preferred Rowe and Butler reacted poorly and Bill basically just said **** this guy and sat him the entire game.

DropKickFlutie said:

You have no credibility. Stop changing the goal posts

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Not sure what is more hilarious. You random fairweather poster telling him that @robertweathers has no credibility or you screwing up the idiom.

Froob said:

I kinda like Bill Simmons’ theory (not based on any inside info) that perhaps Butler was told they weren’t starting him because they preferred Rowe and Butler reacted poorly and Bill basically just said **** this guy and sat him the entire game.

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I agree that a scenario close to this makes the most sense to me. As much as Butler has acted a bit strange in this contract year I never thought he would be the one to just **** over team rules, smoke weed and stay out late during SB week.

I think being unavailable because of flu and then doing poorly during practice reduced his role in the SB and when he was told that he didn't take it well and that just triggered everything else.

Either that or that vague Reiss article about Butler from the start of the season everyone was ripping was actually based on some stuff that the Pats have been successful to keep under wraps and he really is the person to check out during SB week.

DaBruinz said:

Brandon Browner is an asshat now?

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I'm under the impression that Browner is going off that same stupid tweet everyone else is and is judging off of that. If he's going by something more credible than that, it changes alot.

Froob said:

I kinda like Bill Simmons’ theory (not based on any inside info) that perhaps Butler was told they weren’t starting him because they preferred Rowe and Butler reacted poorly and Bill basically just said **** this guy and sat him the entire game.

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I think this is the most likely scenario.

And if it is, it is completely unfortunate that BB didn't look at how the game was going by say, halftime and make a switch.

He put it all on Brady to provide enough offense to carry them to victory, as he has done in this spot before.

Unfortunately, the eagles were not the Jaguars.

luuked said:

Stop making strawman arguments and start making sense. Saying nobody cares about practices especially on this team is among those most ignorant statements you can make. Just watch DYJ 1 or 2 and see what players, coaches and team officials say about how important practices are and then reconsider what you said.

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I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but I know exactly what team we can get a good deal on your Super Great Practice Banner and our "I don't care, I can't stand it" Award.

Modest said:

I'm under the impression that Browner is going off that same stupid tweet everyone else is and is judging off of that. If he's going by something more credible than that, it changes alot.

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Hightower, a leader and Captain, liked Browner's post criticizing BB.

It was a stupid mistake and he's getting roasted everywhere. Idk what happened and we might never know but you play the guy if nothing's working.

fumbrunner said:

And that bademosi missed tackle on 3rd down was critical.

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No more critical than any of the missed tackles by Rowe, Harrison, Van Noy, Harmon, McCourty, Gilmore, or Roberts..

Ivan said:

I really think it would look much better beside all of your blue ribbons and participation trophies You know, the ones you are entitled to and don’t have to earn.

And don’t let all the times the coach wouldn’t play you damage your self esteem, that was all his fault.

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Don't be jealous; the race for the craziest and most out-of-touch-with-reality justification for Bill's indefensible decision was very close! You were all strong and deserving candidates.

fumbrunner said:

Eagles Assistant Coach Reacts To Patriots’ ‘Crazy’ Malcolm Butler Benching

"“To go after 25 (Rowe),” the assistant said of the Eagles’ game plan with Butler out. “We could get Alshon (Jeffery) out there against him. We had Rowe on our team here in Philly, we knew that was a mismatch.”

Man, that's such a good point that is overlooked. With Rowe being an ex-Eagle, they knew him well, and how to exploit him.

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The problem with coaches saying stuff like that about ex-players is that it gives no credence to the player having actually developed since he'd been gone. It's been nearly 2 years since Rowe was with the Eagles. He's gotten better, but still isn't a starter, imho..

luuked said:

Not sure what is more hilarious. You random fairweather poster telling him that @robertweathers has no credibility or you screwing up the idiom.

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We all know I have zero credibility. I'm a pissed off fan like everyone else.

I could certainly see the rationale for starting Rowe:

1. Rowe has been matched up versus larger WRs before and logic dictates he was the better corner to match up versus Jeffrey.

2. re:butler: minor infractions/bad practices/flu/aggressive attitude towards coaches

However, as soon as it was obvious that Rowe was going to struggle with Jeffery, and they had to make the switch to Gilmore in that spot, the coaches should have swallowed their pride and had Butler versus Agholor. Regardless of what transpired, he was the best option against a smaller, shifty WR, who killed the Pats all night versus Bademosi, Rowe, and others.

For a team that is reknowned for their adjustments, the decision to keep Butler out and assume that the Eagles would falter at some point, while Brady carried them to victory, was an unnecessary risk to take. Ultimately, this is the SB and you have to do what it takes to win. On the defensive side, the coaches did not do that.

Mike Reiss's .. article from this spring makes a LOT more sense now... Mike Reiss Apologizes to Malcolm Butler and Readers for “Awkward” Article – Off The Monster Sports

Boomer B said:

And you have no confirmation Butler missed a flight, a meeting, and blew up at his coaches.

You should probably sit the next few plays out. Your posts are laughable.

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Actually, it's been known since last Wednesday that Butler wasn't on the team flight..

DaBruinz said:

The problem with coaches saying stuff like that about ex-players is that it gives no credence to the player having actually developed since he'd been gone. It's been nearly 2 years since Rowe was with the Eagles. He's gotten better, but still isn't a starter, imho..

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The thing that doesn't really add up to me is that Rowe actually was not that bad and certainly not torched. He gave up that first third down on the same double move that regularly screwed Butler this year. The touchdown catch to Jeffrey was a perfect pass where he had good, tight coverage on AJ. He mistimed the jump but relying on that to happen and calling it a mismatch is a bit much.

You wanna know what a real mismatch looked like ? Checkout Gronk against Derby.

yopats said:

Mike Reiss's .. article from this spring makes a LOT more sense now... Mike Reiss Apologizes to Malcolm Butler and Readers for “Awkward” Article – Off The Monster Sports

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Yep. I mentioned it a few posts before as well. This entire situation puts a new spin on that Reiss article from last summer. While it was vague back then when you look at it with the added context of what has been rumored to have happened during SB week it all slowly starts to make more sense.

This is the original Reiss article: Making sense of how Malcolm Butler and Patriots are on verge of a split

robertweathers said:

We all know I have zero credibility. I'm a pissed off fan like everyone else.

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You know that Butler being an UFA played a major part in not playing him. This was BB's worst coaching move. He's the greatest coach of all time, but he lost us this SB