E. RUTHERFORD, NJ — With his team sitting at 7-5 and now deep in the playoff hunt, it’s time for wide receiver Terry Glenn to stop and realize what’s more important.
He’ll need to decide whether it’s his teammates, or his own agenda that he values most. Judging by his comments last Sunday on WBZ’s Sports Final where he said he no longer wants to play in New England, it may be the latter that he’s more concerned with.
But Glenn needs to think back and realize that there have been many guys in the locker room who have known and liked him during his days with the Patriots, who have stepped up and stood up for him this year when it looked like no one else would. He needs to realize however that those same players don’t want anything to jeopardize their chances for not only a shot at the postseason, but also a chance to go deep into it in a year where it looks like it’s anyone’s game.
Glenn needs to realize now that he needs to put his problems aside and get back on the field and prove that it’s the people who care about him that matter, and not anything else.
He needs to forget how he thinks head coach Bill Belichick and owner Robert Kraft may feel about him, whether it’s good or bad. He and Belichick need to forget about whatever “words” were exchanged last week when Glenn was suspended. He needs to forget about any nonsense his agent has told him regarding football.
He needs to get back on the football field.
Glenn is free to re-join his team on Monday after serving a one game suspension following his refusal to participate in practice last Wednesday after the Patriots medical staff reportedly cleared him to play. Belichick announced on Thursday that Glenn had been suspended, which lead to the receiver cleaning out his locker all the way down to his name-plate.
The suspension also resulted in him losing his $30,000 game check for Sunday’s game against the Jets, a move that he has responded by filing yet another grievance with the team. It makes for a total of five since training camp began.
But if Glenn truly wants to do himself any good, he can show the world that he really cares about the game of football and that he values his teammates as much as they appear to value him. Throughout all the tumultuous events that have occurred for the star receiver since his troubles began back during training camp where he was suspended by the league for the first four games of the season, they have stood by him and talked about how much they need him and what a difference he can make when he’s on the field.
He backed those statements up by returning against San Diego in week five of the season and had a big game, finishing with over 100-yards receiving and a touchdown, but a pulled hamstring has since sidelined him, and his apparent desire, whether it was caused by he or his agent for his contract may or may not have kept him out since them. He told WBZ last Sunday, “my hamstring hurts and I’m not getting paid, you do the math.”
The only math he needs to stop and figure out right now is how many games his team needs to win to make the postseason, and how quickly he can get back on the field to make a difference. Quarterback Tom Brady certainly thinks his team could use him, and feels that he’s still part of the team, whether Glenn believes it or not.
“I talk to Terry all the time,” said Brady after Sunday’s game against the Jets. “Terry’s part of the team. We’re just hoping that when he’s ready to play, whenever that may be, we could always use his help. Believe me, we could always use his help.”
Glenn needs to realize his teammates need him. It’s time for him to set his differences aside with the organization and come take care of the guys who have stood behind him all season. Careers in the NFL are short, and playoff appearances for most teams are pretty rare. The window of opportunity for both he and his teammates isn’t open forever, and there are plenty of them who want to W-I-N while they still have a chance.
If they could, they would probably tell him one simple thing: Terry, forget about the money and get back on the field. The rest will take care of itself.
Now it’s up to him to make it happen.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
