This is really a tempest in a teapot. He didn't tell a coach to sit on it. He didn't flunk a drug test. He didn't show up at the Foxboro police station in his underwear. For whatever reason he showed up AFTER the appropriate time for players to be there for departure. He DIDN'T miss the flight, so it wasn't he was hours late, but rather minutes.
This is what Bill (and I) would call a "teachable moment". He was late for an appointment, and is being held accountable for it. That is what is supposed to happen in a well run organization.
And don't think for a moment that the punishment isn't harsh enough. First he will now have to deal with the blowback since part of the punishment is that the Pats made this public, very public. They could have just as easily done this in house and no one would have known the difference. Secondly, while his absence on the field for a quarter is unlikely to make much of a difference in this game, he now has to rebuild the trust he has worked so hard to build with his teammates. Believe me, on a well run team, how your teammates look at you is very important most players. If he cares as much as he seems to about the team, then this is going to hurt.
Also lets remember that this isn't the first time Bill has dealt with players who were late for something. Snowstorms, traffic, and other rather innocent reasons for being late never mattered to this organization. (see Richard Seymore) So before this gets blow out of proportion (though its probably too late for that), it wouldn't matter to Bill if his tardiness were completely innocent. He was late and this is the punishment.
