Ted Johnson: “Mac maybe saved Bill’s legacy”

[sb1]

What is his overall record? He must be just a few games below .500 right?

36-44 in Cleveland so that’s 8 games below overall without Brady.

 

[pats99]

Ted really hates this guy. What’s the backstory on why he’s got so much beef with Bill? I’ve heard something to do with an injury.

There’s also some other funny quotes in the article.

He was one of my favorite LB’s back in the day, but he’s been really bitter for some time.

Ted Johnson: Mac Jones has 'maybe saved Bill Belichick's legacy'

Former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson has a hot take on Mac Jones and the rookie quarterback's impact on Bill Belichick's legacy.

sports.yahoo.com

"When I first was being coached by Bill and had my first kind of issue with my contract, Bill reached out to me personally which usually does not happen. I was like, 'Woah, okay, I have an agent.' He was like, 'Yeah I was going to call him.' He wanted to gauge my interest and see how I reacted by him calling me.


Bill will nickel and dime. There was a year that I had -- I played 15 percent of the plays the year before, and he came to ask me for a pay cut. He said, 'Well Ted, you only played 15 percent of the plays.' 'Yeah, Bill, did you know I broke my foot in Week 1 so I missed the next 10 games?' He doesn't care about that stuff. So it is hardball, he doesn't care, he will use the stats against you, and won't factor in all the things that went into those poor stats.


He's not going to blow you away with an offer. He's going to make you sweat it out and make you think, 'Do I really want to leave what I'm comfortable with, or stay here and take less than what other people would offer? "

Heh, Bill is just doing his job as a GM. As a player you need to do yours. If you are fortunate enough to have leverage, then use it.
if not then thats on you !! Its all business, so put on your big boy pants and deal with it.

 

[pats99]

As tough as it is to hear, I don't think he's wrong. If the Patriots don't draft Mac at 15 it's hard to imagine they'd be on the same trajectory. BB has obviously long since earned his Hall of Famer status, but if the Pats continue(d) to have several seasons like last year it would diminish his legacy some

What if the Jets drafted Mac Jones instead of the Patriots. Would we be seeing the same Mac Jones that we are saying now. What if Bill drafted Trevor Lawrence instead would he be as bad as he is in Jacksonville. Tom Brady in his first year playing looked nothing like Tom Brady today. Doesn't the team and situation these rookie quarterbacks go to affect their career development ?

 

[BigPeteG]

What if the Jets drafted Mac Jones instead of the Patriots. Would we be seeing the same Mac Jones that we are saying now. What if Bill drafted Trevor Lawrence instead would he be as bad as he is in Jacksonville. Tom Brady in his first year playing looked nothing like Tom Brady today. Doesn't the team and situation these rookie quarterbacks go to affect their career development ?

Agree.

BB and Josh can clearly coach guys some guys up. Brady would be the first to admit that BB made him a better player. I think people don't realize that Tom wasn't really a football guy and didn't know the game perfectly by the time he was in college. He was a baseball guy who switched to football because fascinatingly it was less painful then playing catcher..

We will never know but there are probably dozens of QBs that didn't make it because they were a bad fit - and tons more that would have done a lot more if they were on the Patriots. Its the same for guys like Mahomes. Would he really be known as being so talented without Kelce and Hill and Reid? I doubt it.

QBs need a lot more training and support from the team then other athletes in other positions, IMHO. In basketball or baseball you can easily be a superstar on a ****ty team and you don't really NEED any coaching to shine. But football is the ultimate team sport. To really maximize your talent you need good coaching and good players around you..

 

[‘Mondre]

Whew, folks gonna be falling over each other to make their grand “takes” cause we don’t suck no more

 

[‘Mondre]

Belichick's legacy was already set as the greatest coach of all time in professional sports no matter what. Anything else he accomplishes just further enhances it

I feel it, but Phil Jackson’s personality I gotta say gives him a liiiiitle edge. The type of dude you’d want to smoke one with.

 

[Guts]

I feel it, but Phil Jackson’s personality I gotta say gives him a liiiiitle edge. The type of dude you’d want to smoke one with.

Phil is up there but it's harder to win in football. One game and you're done the best team sometimes doesn't win. In basketball you have 7 games to determine the winner and usually the best team always wins.

 

[VJCPatriot]

What if the Jets drafted Mac Jones instead of the Patriots. Would we be seeing the same Mac Jones that we are saying now. What if Bill drafted Trevor Lawrence instead would he be as bad as he is in Jacksonville. Tom Brady in his first year playing looked nothing like Tom Brady today. Doesn't the team and situation these rookie quarterbacks go to affect their career development ?

LOL the Jets are the Jets. They wouldn't draft Dan Marino if he fell into their laps... Jets draft blunders article.

And the Jags were never going to pass on Trevor Lawrence at #1.

So the real question is, what if Denver hadn't pass on Mac Jones at 9, what if the Bears had traded up for Mac Jones instead of Justin Fields, and last but most importantly, what if Shanahan hadn't second guessed himself and taken Mac Jones at #3 as the QB he originally was reported to target?

So between the likes of Trey Lance, Justin Fields, do I feel like any of those two would do a LOT better than Mac Jones has done so far? I don't think so. I feel like Trey Lance is way too raw and the hitch in his throw is real. There's a reason the 49ers stuck with Jimmy G, they fell in love with the 'upside' word when watching the film but found out Lance wouldn't be ready once he got into camp.

As for Fields does anybody else get the feeling like he would just be a younger less talented Cam Newton in our system? I mean he's throwing for 59%, only 6.9 YPA, and 4 TDs to 8 INTs. If you hated Newton under center last year, Fields would have literally been ROASTED by the fans as he just doesn't seem to have the same processing speed, decision-making, and uncanny accuracy of Mac Jones.

To be fair, ,the biggest losers out of the draft has to be considered the 49ers. They passed on the most NFL ready Quarterback in the draft because they fell in love with buzzwords like 'upside', 'athleticism', 'off platform throws', blah blah blah. 90% of the Draftniks absolutely hated Mac Jones.

Hell the so called 'Quarterback school' guy said he preferred Kellen freaking 'zero snaps' Mond over Mac Jones!!

It was just the perfect confluence of the idiocy of other teams and the anti-hyping of Mac Jones by draft nerds draft and so called experts that led to Mac Attack making it to 15. We were DAMN LUCKY cos the kid dropped into our lap and we haven't looked back since what, week 7 when the Pats started that 5 game win streak?

 

[PF_SU]

As for Fields does anybody else get the feeling like he would just be a younger less talented Cam Newton in our system? I mean he's throwing for 59%, only 6.9 YPA, and 4 TDs to 8 INTs. If you hated Newton under center last year, Fields would have literally been ROASTED by the fans as he just doesn't seem to have the same processing speed, decision-making, and uncanny accuracy of Mac Jones.

At this stage Fields' processing speed is clearly not NFL ready. Does not only show up in his passing numbers, but also the insane number of sacks he is taking.

He's got 31 sacks in 229 dropbacks. That's a sack rate of 13.5% and David Carr-level.

 

[Ivan]

As tough as it is to hear, I don't think he's wrong. If the Patriots don't draft Mac at 15 it's hard to imagine they'd be on the same trajectory. BB has obviously long since earned his Hall of Famer status, but if the Pats continue(d) to have several seasons like last year it would diminish his legacy some.

Don Shula won his last Super Bowl 22 years before he retired.

 

[Ivan]

LOL the Jets are the Jets. They wouldn't draft Dan Marino if he fell into their laps... Jets draft blunders article.

And the Jags were never going to pass on Trevor Lawrence at #1.

So the real question is, what if Denver hadn't pass on Mac Jones at 9, what if the Bears had traded up for Mac Jones instead of Justin Fields, and last but most importantly, what if Shanahan hadn't second guessed himself and taken Mac Jones at #3 as the QB he originally was reported to target?

So between the likes of Trey Lance, Justin Fields, do I feel like any of those two would do a LOT better than Mac Jones has done so far? I don't think so. I feel like Trey Lance is way too raw and the hitch in his throw is real. There's a reason the 49ers stuck with Jimmy G, they fell in love with the 'upside' word when watching the film but found out Lance wouldn't be ready once he got into camp.

As for Fields does anybody else get the feeling like he would just be a younger less talented Cam Newton in our system? I mean he's throwing for 59%, only 6.9 YPA, and 4 TDs to 8 INTs. If you hated Newton under center last year, Fields would have literally been ROASTED by the fans as he just doesn't seem to have the same processing speed, decision-making, and uncanny accuracy of Mac Jones.

To be fair, ,the biggest losers out of the draft has to be considered the 49ers. They passed on the most NFL ready Quarterback in the draft because they fell in love with buzzwords like 'upside', 'athleticism', 'off platform throws', blah blah blah. 90% of the Draftniks absolutely hated Mac Jones.

Hell the so called 'Quarterback school' guy said he preferred Kellen freaking 'zero snaps' Mond over Mac Jones!!

It was just the perfect confluence of the idiocy of other teams and the anti-hyping of Mac Jones by draft nerds draft and so called experts that led to Mac Attack making it to 15. We were DAMN LUCKY cos the kid dropped into our lap and we haven't looked back since what, week 7 when the Pats started that 5 game win streak?

It’s not “ lucky” when other teams make a conscious decision to pass on a prospect. It may be stupid, but it’s not luck.

 

[1960Pats]

Belichick's legacy was already set as the greatest coach of all time in professional sports no matter what. Anything else he accomplishes just further enhances it

Red was as great as Bill as a HC and possibly better as a GM. The fact that we got both of them here is a blessing.

 

[1960Pats]

Don Shula won his last Super Bowl 22 years before he retired.

Shula and the Fins cheated to get that SB and their undefeated season. That's why when Shula started the asterisk talk about the Pats in 2007 his former players quickly shut him up. They knew.

 

[1960Pats]

Red Auerbach says Hi!
Why do so many think that history began circa 2000?

Red was a great HC but he was even better as a GM.

 

[Ivan]

Shula and the Fins cheated to get that SB and their undefeated season. That's why when Shula started the asterisk talk about the Pats in 2007 his former players quickly shut him up. They knew.

By today’s standards that is absolutely true. Shula, Parcells, Al Davis, George Allen and many of the other great coaches were lauded for their cunning ,savvy, and “ gamesmanship for plugging the drainage system in Miami, opening the big end zone doors at the Meadowlands, stealing signals, and anything Al Davis could think of that he deemed cheating, and was proud of it. Belichick on the other hand was tarred and feathered for “ spygate,” which was complete crap, as Jimmy Johnson and any other coaches acknowledged they had been doing exactly the same thing for years, and Howard Mudd, who had done it for Johnson, and later for the Colts was considered the master of “stealing signals.”

 

[1960Pats]

I love Red but I highly doubt that he would have been as successful if he had to manage a salary cap like they do today.

Any discussion of what Belichick has done needs to have that in bold - salary cap era. That is one of the craziest things about his success.

How do you know Red wouldn't have been successful with a salary cap? That could have given him more of an advantage for all we know. He was a masterful GM who made some incredible moves and did it over many years. He likely would have been very good with a salary cap.

The thing about the salary cap era argument that's weak is that every coach had the same rules, yet Red and Russell won 11 titles in 13 years. If not having to deal with a cap is so much easier then why didn't anyone else win anywhere near as much? There was also the fact that the salary cap also came with free agency, which makes it easier to fill any of a team's holes, like Bill did in 2001 and 2021.

 

[1960Pats]

By today’s standards that is absolutely true. Shula, Parcells, Al Davis, George Allen and many of the other great coaches were lauded for their cunning ,savvy, and “ gamesmanship for plugging the drainage system in Miami, opening the big end zone doors at the Meadowlands, stealing signals, and anything Al Davis could think of that he deemed cheating, and was proud of it. Belichick on the other hand was tarred and feathered for “ spygate,” which was complete crap, as Jimmy Johnson and any other coaches acknowledged they had been doing exactly the same thing for years, and Howard Mudd, who had done it for Johnson, and later for the Colts was considered the master of “stealing signals.”

I saw one of those top ten videos about the Raiders a few years ago and George Atkinson, a former Raider, was proudly claiming that the Raider's motto was "if you ain't cheatin' you ain't tryin'." For a team that wants to claim that they're tough the Raiders sure do cry a lot. They've been crying about calls for decades.

 

[scout]

I feel it, but Phil Jackson’s personality I gotta say gives him a liiiiitle edge. The type of dude you’d want to smoke one with.

Phil Jackson couldn't carry Red's jockstrap.

 

[seven]

Astericks and Blowhard Asstricks*

Brady winning in TB erased any arguable BB 'astericks' next to his name.

So we saw the quick shift, new blowhard asstrick
'ha ha, it was about Brady, BB only won because of Brady ha ha."

...BB creates a SB contender in an impossible one year rebuild.
So we proceed to The Blowhard Panic Attack Asstricks:
"BUT HAHA BB HAS TO WIN A SB"

In the end, no matter what, they will always have
the eternal fallback position
The Consummate Blowhard AsstriX:
"THEY CHEATED"
*
The only insight we get, the truth we can know
is that all of this is absolutely killing them.

Its great.

 

[bresna]

How do you know Red wouldn't have been successful with a salary cap? That could have given him more of an advantage for all we know. He was a masterful GM who made some incredible moves and did it over many years. He likely would have been very good with a salary cap.

The thing about the salary cap era argument that's weak is that every coach had the same rules, yet Red and Russell won 11 titles in 13 years. If not having to deal with a cap is so much easier then why didn't anyone else win anywhere near as much? There was also the fact that the salary cap also came with free agency, which makes it easier to fill any of a team's holes, like Bill did in 2001 and 2021.

I think you need to do a little research on this. Not only did Red didn't have to worry about a salary cap, there was no free agency. Due to the option or reserve clause in all of their standard contracts, NBA teams basically owned a players' rights for as long as they wanted.

Read this: Oscar Robertson Rule and note where it says, "the Oscar Robertson Rule, eliminated the "option" or "reserve" clause in the NBA's uniform player contract (which bound a player to one team for life at the team's option), and was the first step toward unrestricted free agency in the NBA".

Red could build a team and hold those players as long as he wanted and they had to take whatever contract he offered. As author David Halberstam once noted, "Red Auerbach went after the players of the highest intelligence and character, and then of course paid them horribly. They had great coherence as a team, great personal loyalty to each other, great respect and love for Auerbach, who had created this unique institution and honored each of them by making him a part of it, and then of course great anger at him for paying them so little.”