Optum, Israel, and Mayo's Way: A Swindler's Journey.

[turkeyneck]

Edit: double post - caused by @Ian monkeying with things this AM ...

Or, in the words of a famous HC "It's not my fault"

 

[Tunescribe]

This is pretty much on target. I'd quibble about the one sentence about his qualities. If he was a leader he would have followers; I don't see anyone following him. The team seems more like a herd of cats (easy there , @SammyBlueCat ...). His big problem is he skipped too many steps coming into the coaching profession and now is in a position way over his head, not even knowing what he doesn't know.

Re. "leader," you might have a point. He carries himself as such but perhaps that rings hollow with the team.

One thing that has bugged me since his introductory press conference: Mayo spent most of it portraying himself as a "builder of character in young men and young women." I kept thinking to myself, WTF does any of this have to do with building a team to win the AFCE? I don't want a DEI seminar, I want to know his football philosophy. To this point it isn't apparent he actually has one.

 

[turkeyneck]

Re. "leader," you might have a point. He carries himself as such but perhaps that rings hollow with the team.

One thing that has bugged me since his introductory press conference: Mayo spent most of it portraying himself as a "builder of character in young men and young women." I kept thinking to myself, WTF does any of this have to do with building a team to win the AFCE? I don't want a DEI seminar, I want to know his football philosophy. To this point it isn't apparent he actually has one.

This is it. It's why, early on, I called him Chance the Gardener. He's just being there. There is absolutely nothing behind the facade that he puts up. His qualifications were entirely projected onto him by Kraft's wishful thinking.

 

[TomPatriot]

It's an exposition on his trayectory. I feel that it tells a compelling story of who the man is, and how he got here. And it's different from what is said in other threads, which focuses mostly on 2024.

My input is minimal. The quotes straight from Mayo and Kraft tell the tale clearly enough all on their own. Calling it bashing is saying Mayo and Kraft are bashing themselves.

If these quotes paint a different picture for you than me, I'll be glad to read your take. I don't come to the forum to fight anyone. 2.5k posts without any of that and I'm not going to start now. When I say I want to hear your take, I mean it genuinely with no anymosity.

Oh, innocent Bob Kraft was swindled. Please.

No one coaching this team has ever been an HC, DC or OC. The only guy with that kind of experience is Ban McAdoo and he seems nowhere to be seen.

No wonder the team lacks coordination.

This tells me either Kraft is cheap or he basically set up Mayo to fail or both. He should have hired a former HC to be associate HC to help Mayo. If you’re gonna DEI hire your buddy, do it right. Set him up to succeed. Don’t let him twist in the wind with this cluster****.

Nothing personal, though. It’s a thought provoking post.

 

[FCB02062]

Had not seen these excerpts before. Just cements the fact that outside of his playing career Mayo is a ****ing fraud in his professional life. Seems like everything has been handed to him.

 

[maust]

If you really meant to be neutral, you probably shouldn't have called the thread "...: A Swindler's Journey". Just saying.

I was going to post something similar. as in very similar. Like one word different, and one shortened similar.
When I saw your post, I was sorta 'WTF, it's almost word for word. The Bastid!' NGL, was taken aback a touch and borderline resentful. Then it occurred to me, while most people seem to have been put on this planet to add to my workload, there you are shouldering part of the load and my thought went from 'That Rat Bastid!' to...




...and all in the space of time it took to sip some coffee.

 

[Calhoun44]

Thanks. My conclusion is not neutral, or it'd be inconclusive. Just judging someone based on their own actions and spoken words. I see Mayo's journey as that of a major swindler at every step, and expressed my point the best I could using mostly Mayo's and Kraft's own quotes.

Would you refute that conclusion?

No, I don't refute the part of your statement that says, "My conclusion is not neutral".
My response was addressing your earlier post where you said "My input is minimal. The quotes straight from Mayo and Kraft tell the tale clearly enough all on their own. Calling it bashing is saying Mayo and Kraft are bashing themselves."

I think one can easily find the quotes, reasons, excuses, data, etc. to present information in a manner that fits one conclusion. The writing I respect/appreciate most is those that can see more than their personal bias and present as many sides of an argument as possible. Then let the readers decide and discuss. I honestly really do appreciate that you acknowledged that you are not neutral on this matter, and I am impressed by you passion for this topic, thanks for taking the time to present your perspective and being willing to hear feedback.
Go Pats!

 

[Force Zero Boomer]

Kraft was swindled, plain and simple.

For me, this just reinforces arch's point (and the sad fact) that Mayo will be here for next season and maybe even for all of 2026. A man with Kraft's enormous ego will have difficulty admitting he made a mistake, but swindled? It will take years for him to admit that, even to himself. The only wildcard here is Jonathan.

 

[borg]

For me, this just reinforces arch's point (and the sad fact) that Mayo will be here for next season and maybe even for all of 2026. A man with Kraft's enormous ego will have difficulty admitting he made a mistake, but swindled? It will take years for him to admit that, even to himself. The only wildcard here is Jonathan.

Did Bob ever concede he was swindled by the Chinese when he bought a plane full of knockoff face diapers during covid?

 

[Real fan 02]

Blow it up, Jonathan. ALL of it.

Time is of the Essence.

He will blow up his blow-up doll before this current staff.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Mayo speaks as if he’s Valley girl.

 

[JohnJH]

For me, this just reinforces arch's point (and the sad fact) that Mayo will be here for next season and maybe even for all of 2026. A man with Kraft's enormous ego will have difficulty admitting he made a mistake, but swindled? It will take years for him to admit that, even to himself. The only wildcard here is Jonathan.

Which is bad enough, but worse that we have a QB like Maye now. His first few years are going to be wasted (if he survives).

 

[The Gr8est]

I don't see Mayo as intentionally out to deceive others as much as deceiving himself into believing he's more than he is, Others enabled that, giving us the proverbial emperor with no clothes.

Like many star athletes Jerod Mayo never has lived in the real world, forced to learn firsthand that emotional willpower is no golden ticket. He is charismatic, inspirational and has leadership qualities. He is smart, to a degree, but has not demonstrated the wide-ranging/multifaceted football acumen required of an NFL head coach. How could he, with such limited coaching experience?

Right now, Mayo should be learning under an experienced HC how to be a good defensive coordinator. No way in hell should he be within miles of actually running a program, ESPECIALLY one that needs rebuilding from the ground-up.

And the entire Pats fan base needs to suffer because Mayo schmoozed himself into a position that he is not qualified for?

 

[Tunescribe]

And the entire Pats fan base needs to suffer because Mayo schmoozed himself into a position that he is not qualified for?

To me, the BIG question going forward: who are the Krafts more loyal to -- Mayo, or the Patriots fan base?

In selecting Mayo to run the program, Kraft either went soft in the head or knows far less about football than we give him credit for.

 

[turkeyneck]

To me, the BIG question going forward: who are the Krafts more loyal to -- Mayo, or the Patriots fan base?

In selecting Mayo to run the program, Kraft either went soft in the head or knows far less about football than we give him credit for.

Or it was to serve some other need than football success.

 

[Tunescribe]

Or it was to serve some other need than football success.

What are you thinking? For instance: hiring a minority head coach to further enhance his profile for Hall of Fame consideration?

 

[turkeyneck]

What are you thinking? For instance: hiring a minority head coach to further enhance his profile for Hall of Fame consideration?

I don't know. I just see him acting in a way that he thinks will ingratiate himself to the ruling NFL families, the Maras and the Rooneys. He wants social equality with them and he doesn't feel like he has it. It's sad.

 

[Force Zero Boomer]

To me, the BIG question going forward: who are the Krafts more loyal to -- Mayo, or the Patriots fan base?

In selecting Mayo to run the program, Kraft either went soft in the head or knows far less about football than we give him credit for.

Perhaps, after two decades at the top of the league, both BB and Kraft thought that their **** smelled like roses. Kraft thought he had the Midas touch. If the team doesn't return to the playoffs within the next 2-3 years, he's not getting into the HoF.

 

[borg]

To me, the BIG question going forward: who are the Krafts more loyal to -- (A) Mayo, (B) the Patriots fan base.............

or.....................(C) ...........

 

[Brotherblues]

I think one can easily find the quotes, reasons, excuses, data, etc. to present information in a manner that fits one conclusion. The writing I respect/appreciate most is those that can see more than their personal bias and present as many sides of an argument as possible. Then let the readers decide and discuss. I honestly really do appreciate that you acknowledged that you are not neutral on this matter, and I am impressed by you passion for this topic, thanks for taking the time to present your perspective and being willing to hear feedback.
Go Pats!

Thanks for the feedback. I did not redact or keep away other connected sides of the argument. I found no examples that contradicted the themes I showed-- only more examples that corroborated the same themes. Also, I searched for quotes only from puff pieces, not hit jobs.

Things I kept out were:

* Mayo's politics, except for a snippet. The snippet was significant because it's the only instance I found of him or anyone else saying he had a contributing moment at Optum. Also, completely redacting politics would be dishonest because Mayo openly talks about it being a core priority in his personal and work life. In one interview he talked himself in circles about not wanting to be hired because of politics but also that his main focus at work was politics. It was the most Mayo thing ever. I kept all that out because politics would quickly become the only point people see, and that's not my focus.

* Impostor syndrome, which he also openly talks about struggling with, and says he compensates for it by constantly trying to put himself through uncomfortable situations. He talks about taking on big tasks that he may not be ready for so he can learn. It's a good trait, admirable even, until the big tasks are actually huge jobs where incompetence has a harmful ripple effect well beyond himself. At that point it's not a good trait but something more selfish born of too much ambition. Or so I'd assess it. I kept this all out because exploring complex psychology issues would entail too much guesswork with various interpretations.

The main point of this exercise was to see him without the lens of this year's Patriots. Optum, the Kraft dinners, and Israel give us a great view of Mayo's mode of operation without any excuses about the "situation he inherited." That's why I chose that timeframe and what I think separates it from most Mayo talk on this forum.