Remember all the fans that wanted to keep Cassel and let Brady go?

[aluminum seats]

Ahhh, but you're wrong. you see, it really was worth posting. You were spouting nonsense. It was worth posting to point it out.

Discussions about the future of the team, and the QB position, weren't the problem, and there was no "frantic hysteria most akin to Islamlic fundamentalists from those posting then". Really stupid discussions about things that had no shot to happen were the problem, and there were people pointing that out in thread after thread after thread, pre merger, and then again in the merged thread.

Take some of your own advice, because your posts on the subject back then weren't worth making, and your attempted defense of that in this thread wasn't worth posting, either.

Ahhhh, but you're wrong. But that's inevitable with your posting frequency.

I do concede I may have understated the hysteria on the board at the time though.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Read the post again. Or don't. All of what you're saying (and saying and saying) completely misses the point.

I read the post. You still think that, in 2008, that was a discussion worth having. You were wrong then, and you're still wrong now. Not surprising that you didn't learn from your egregious mistakes, though. People who learn from being wrong eventually start being right every once in a while, and you clearly haven't turned that corner.

Might as well claim that dumping Vince Wilfork in favor of Ron Brace (he's younger and cheaper!) is a 'discussion worth having', while you're at it.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Every village had a few idiots. When one of them starts a thread it can become an idiot party, with non-idiots generally opting out.

Without skimming those old threads, I remember many people saying the whole idea of Brady being replaced by Cassel was so laughable that it was not even worth discussing, so they didn't participate further.

Sometimes idiotic opinions are shot down and ridiculed (such as people whining about referee calls in the 2007 Super Bowl, starting a goofy online petition, and not giving the Giants any credit) but others are ignored. Whether I challenge stupidity or not often depends on my mood. Sometimes I just say "why bother" and pay attention to those posting sensible or thought-provoking ideas.

 

[aluminum seats]

Every village had a few idiots. When one of them starts a thread it can become an idiot party, with non-idiots generally opting out.

Aw, somebody taught you the word idiot! That's cute.

OK, let's try to recap calmly (I know, that's not likely with the hysterics).

The post led by saying that I sadly had missed many Pats’ games that season. Nobody anywhere had really seen Cassel play. So for purposes of the discussion, he was essentially quarterback X. With me so far? OK.

Next, I made clear for any idiots—I mean, for some of those reading—that Brady was super-duper awesome. One of the best quarterbacks of all time. OK? OK.

Now, the question was, what do we have here in QB X?

Add to that the possibilities in what the Pats might get in return for trading Brady. A running back once brought back:

LB Jesse Solomon
LB David Howard
CB Issiac Holt
RB Darrin Nelson (traded to San Diego after he refused to report to Dallas)
DE Alex Stewart

Minnesota's 1st round pick in 1990 (21) (traded this pick along with pick (81) for pick (17) from Pittsburgh to draft Emmitt Smith)
Minnesota's 2nd round pick in 1990 (47) (Alexander Wright)
Minnesota's 6th round pick in 1990 (158) (traded to New Orleans, who drafted James Williams)
Minnesota's 1st round pick in 1991 (conditional) - (12) (Alvin Harper)
Minnesota's 2nd round pick in 1991 (conditional) - (38) (Dixon Edwards)
Minnesota's 2nd round pick in 1992 (conditional) - (37) (Darren Woodson)
Minnesota's 3rd round pick in 1992 (conditional) - (71) (traded to New England, who drafted Kevin Turner)
Minnesota's 1st round pick in 1993 (conditional) - (13) (traded to Philadelphia Eagles, and then to the Houston Oilers, who drafted Brad Hopkins)[1]


So, Tom Brady? If traded, the cornucopia of draft picks and players would have been overwhelming. Team stocked everywhere. And Belichick doing the dealing? Multiply the picks by 10. By this year, the Patriots would have owned the rights for every single pick in the draft.

The post ended NOT by saying the Pats should keep QB X, or anything of the sort. It ended with “my question to the board is…” See that? Question, as in, looking for thoughts/feedback: had the Pats lucked into a diamond in the rough here? Did we maybe have something here in the previously unseen (in the regular season, actually playing games that counted) QB X? Has there been a miracle? Think of the untold riches that would come back in trade! (Here's a hint: a reasonable post in response would have been: "Nah. Despite flashes, QB X sucks." Among hundreds of other reasonable responses.)

But apparently posing the question was, and is, simply too much to bear.