Wickersham book discussion

[sb1]

So this is the play that Brady thought should have been a TD if the pass was there. I can see why. Wow

 

[PatsWSB47]

This is 100% spot on. But the Bradyites simply blame Bill for everything. Every loss that occurred...it's Bill's fault! Every win...it was all Tommy! Notice how quiet they are this week after Brady only mustered 1 TD drive the entire game. 6 super bowls require the GOAT QB and GOAT HC.

Who does that? Exaggerate much?

 

[condon84]

When Belichick reached Chad Jackson, a disappointing second-round draft pick from 2006, he said, "Chad Jackson, you haven't done s--- all year. You're not talking to the media the rest of the year."

Bill is ruthless.

 

[Tottie]

It's interesting to hear BB's enforcement strategy when it comes to the media rules. I always just assumed when you signed there a PR guy sat down with you and explained how it works in NE. Maybe at the start of every year they review the media rules or something of the sort. BB's method is a bit more direct, lol. No wonder guys didn't say anything most of the time.

 

[Koma]

So this is the play that Brady thought should have been a TD if the pass was there. I can see why. Wow

There are plenty of things to criticize Maroney about, but he was a great open field runner. If he caught that pass, he would have had 3 linemen around/in front of him to block plus 2 receivers downfield against 4 Giants defenders. If the blocking held up for a fraction of a second more, Brady is able to make a better throw and Maroney would have been gone. As Patriots fans, it's unfortunate, but a lot of Super Bowl or playoff losers can make similar claims about big plays just missing.

 

[sb1]

Wickersham released another excerpt just now.

Book excerpt: 'You say you're the guy. I see no evidence of that.'

On Oct. 12, ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham's book, "It's Better To Be Feared," will be published. This condensed excerpt is from chapters about the bumpy ride Pats quarterback Tom Brady had to the top -- and the man who believed in him from day one.

www.espn.com

Mike Riley was a Brady believer even before Bill.

 

[sb1]

"You (Brady) have the potential to be a very good player," Carr replied. "You need to go out there and compete and worry about the things you can control, and not worry about the things you can't." Carr reminded Brady that he had chosen Michigan for a reason. He could have gone to Cal and played earlier; he chose Michigan to test his own limits and to compete with the best.

Brady told Carr he would think over it that night. At a staff meeting, Carr thought Brady's mind was made up.

"Tom's going to leave."

That night, Brady spoke to Harden. Brady reiterated what both men knew: he was considering a transfer; Michigan wasn't the place for him. Maybe Brady expected Harden to react differently than Carr, with more empathy, or even more tough love. But Harden wasn't angry, or even sad. He thought the entire episode was funny.

"Who gives a f--- if you leave?" Harden said. "You ain't done s--- anyway. You want to leave? Go 'head."

Brady had no response. Harden was right. Carr later would be cast as a foil of sorts, the primary example of a failure to recognize untapped greatness. But Carr didn't miss the real Tom Brady, because the real Tom Brady had yet to be formed. Brady didn't want to be remembered as a player who couldn't cut it, and the next day, he surprised Carr by telling him he was staying -- and added a shot across the bow: "Coach, I'm not going to leave, and I'm going to prove to you that I'm the best quarterback."

 

[Steve102]

-------------------------
Really sounds like Bill was walking a fine line in the locker room and he wasn't far off from losing his players. It really is amazing BB could keep this exact same attitude for so many years and players still buy in to his way.

He knew what he had. Coach them hard and they responded because they were great.

Belichick, of course, knew it was hard. At one team meeting, he seemed to acknowledge the toll. "You guys have paid your debts. Your family is suffering. Your parents are suffering. Your bodies are suffering. Wanna know what cures it? Winning. Winning cures everything."

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Book excerpt: 'You say you're the guy. I see no evidence of that.'

On Oct. 12, ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham's book, "It's Better To Be Feared," will be published. This condensed excerpt is from chapters about the bumpy ride Pats quarterback Tom Brady had to the top -- and the man who believed in him from day one.

www.espn.com

Chargers HC Mike RIley wanted to draft Brady in 2000 with pick 184. The Chargers GM Bobby Beathard went in a different direction.

THERE'S AN UNWRITTEN rule among NFL general managers: you give the coach his quarterback. The rest of the roster is yours, but with the most important position, the coach gets to choose. And so, on April 16, 2000, early in the sixth round of the draft, Riley took it as a good sign when Beathard stopped by his office. The first of the Chargers' three sixth-round picks, number 184 overall, was coming up in the next hour.

"Who do you want to draft?" Beathard asked.

"Tom Brady," Riley replied.

"Okay," Beathard said.

Finally. Riley had closed the deal.

Brady was in the living room with his family, anxiously watching the draft. At Pick No. 184 the Chargers seemed like a lifeline. But, before the pick, Beathard rewatched 20 minutes of Brady's film. He decided that two quarterbacks, Florida A&M's Ja'Juan Seider and Stanford's Todd Husak, were good enough that the team could hold off on selecting one. He walked down to Riley's office.

"We made a different decision," Beathard said.

That decision was a linebacker from Virginia named Shannon Taylor, who would start all of two games in a four-year career. Riley knew another chance had slipped away. He would later suggest that a piece of him died in that moment. By the end of the day, Tom Brady was a New England Patriot.

 

[TheRainMaker]

So this is the play that Brady thought should have been a TD if the pass was there. I can see why. Wow

They scored a TD on the first drive anyways. He should be more mad at all the dropped INT’s his D had and Bill not challenging the clear Pierre Woods fumble recovery.

 

[gobesmug]

Belichick had once said of Brady, "We're not talking about John Elway here."

WTF Bill

Context is fully needed for such a quote, if such a quote is accurate.

Like if Bill was talking about the ability to run in open field, or the ability to crumble under pressure it would be an accurate statement.

Or if Bill made that comment in regards to his draft location and expectations.

Or, the fact the Elway was whiney and demanded to be traded or play baseball when he was taken #1, because Brady would never be like that so again such a comment makes sense

 

[TheRainMaker]

With 39 seconds left and the ball at the 14-yard line, the Patriots called one of the worst plays of Bill Belichick's career: a blitz, sending Seau and Harrison and leaving the secondary in zero coverage -- man-to-man across the board with no safety help. It isolated 5-foot-9 Ellis Hobbs on 6-foot-5 Plaxico Burress, a fatal mismatch, even though the height difference didn't matter in the end. Harrison recognized the problem and tried to call off the blitz. "What are we doing?" he yelled to Seau before pleading with him to audible to a better pass defense. "Check two! Cover two!" Seau waved him off. Harrison later said it was the "biggest regret" of his career that he allowed Seau to overrule him.


Wow

Yeah we’ve talked about this before on the board. Dean Pees actually called the play and I believe every time it was called during the season, it backfired on them. Harrison had said he looked at Seau as an older brother and trusted him, so he went with the play.

 

[Ice_Ice_Brady]

Book excerpt: 'You say you're the guy. I see no evidence of that.'

On Oct. 12, ESPN senior writer Seth Wickersham's book, "It's Better To Be Feared," will be published. This condensed excerpt is from chapters about the bumpy ride Pats quarterback Tom Brady had to the top -- and the man who believed in him from day one.

www.espn.com

Chargers HC Mike RIley wanted to draft Brady in 2000 with pick 184. The Chargers GM Bobby Beathard went in a different direction.

The ****ing Chargers. I can understand the GM doing this in round 1 or 2. Imagine the level of dysfunction to overrule a coach on his QB in round 6?

 

[TheRainMaker]

In 1996, before Modell fired him, Belichick had planned to draft Ray Lewis, a star at the University of Miami, and later, as an assistant in New England under Bill Parcells, wanted to draft him, but the Ravens picked him first.

Huh.

Maybe he’s referring to Lewis possibility dropping into the 2nd round as he was the 26th pick in the 1st round. Pats had an early 2nd round pick and took Milloy.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

They scored a TD on the first drive anyways. He should be more mad at all the dropped INT’s his D had and Bill not challenging the clear Pierre Woods fumble recovery.

The pierre woods recovery happened with under 2 mins to go the 1st half. I don't think you can challenge at that point.

 

[TheRainMaker]

The pierre woods recovery happened with under 2 mins to go the 1st half. I don't think you can challenge at that point.

I’ll have to torture myself and check.

 

[sb1]

Google has published previews of some of the book content.

https://books.google.com/books?id=T...UXF1kFHeEdBVMQ6AF6BAgPEAM#v=onepage&q&f=false

Gonna read it now. LOL

 

[sb1]

There is a deflategate chapter called "Makeup call" but that's not in the preview

 

[TheRainMaker]

The pierre woods recovery happened with under 2 mins to go the 1st half. I don't think you can challenge at that point.

It didn’t occur under 2 minutes, but I’m still searching for when it happened.

I did see Amad Bradshaw at it again with illegal batting of the ball as he and Vrabel were going after a loose ball from a strip sack of Thomas. He was penalized.

 

[sb1]

That's cool Bill did that for Tom.