Re: Take to task 4 some, have a little chat with others
Patjew said:
salepeople can sometimes be volatile and difficult to control- basically pain in the butts prima donnas. Sometimes you need to lay the smack down on these folks and sometimes you need to let them be them because their superb performance make their antics bearable.
Agree 100% with this line of thought...I just wouldn't apply it here.
This wasn't a case of "antics"...not a guy running amuck, stirring the pot, causing trouble. You're confusing our guy for Shockey
(wonder if Caughlin had a little talk with Will Demps before he took J's head off the other day?).
That interview actually served a very constructive purpose from an organizational perspective...not saying it was ordered up by Kraft, but the net impact will pay dividends for the franchise. I'm sure Kraft is shrewd enough to deal with it...even admire him for it, even if it was unauthorized.
the FA/cap era is indeed ruthless and cutthroat -- this is inarguable.
We can call it a "business" and say that "side of it" doesn't interfere, but fundamentally it's still a team game and that "side of it" causes some violent friction between not only the club/player, but also creates strong divisions among the players (this angle is almost never illuminated because most reporters have ZERO team sports experience). The reality is that, Tom was indirectly addressing the ENTIRE TEAM (as he always does when he dials up an interview like this)...he was not, in my opinion, speaking as much to the FO (I realize I may be in the minority on this, and this again, just my lame ass opinion).
He already had built up a lot of respect on the team, but I'm telling you he just took it to a totally new universe with that interview. The "L-quotient" just went up about 1000% (if this is even possible).
Though there are significant differences between them I'm going to make an analogy here to try to bring some perspective to this. It was easy to watch old Miami games and criticize Marino because he seemed to cross the line into abusive behavior at times, but like Tom, Dan was a perfectionist and a pretty intense fighter on the field. QBs are indeed on-field coaches and we often forget that the responsibilities of a QB and an HC have significant overlap..."analysts" often call these "intangibles" but there are three generic things every QB MUST do to make his team great:
1. set and strive for a standard of execution that exceeds the expectation of every other player on the team.
2. immediately and consistently express intolerance for execution that falls short of this standard (this is only possible when your QB is actually good enough to meet said standard himself -- also, this should be done directly with players and not via a postgame press conference ala Peyton).
and 3. never take sides in player-player disputes and ALWAYS side with team against outside criticism or other agencies...unfortunately in the modern NFL, there's no getting around the contract carousel.
-- to a man, his players will tell you Dan ALWAYS had their back. When NFL films inevitably catches Tom tossing teh Evian and calling out the spirit of "his men," just remember this interview. Things that happen during an NFL season often have hidden context which we fans can’t possibly understand...it's one thing to get in another man's grill when you have his back, and another to just march up and down the sideline chucking paraphernalia and screaming obscenities that fall on deaf ears.
As far as facilitating a split between players and FO, that's less a product of Tom's comments and more the unavoidable reality of the NFL that all players must deal with -- you can either sweep it under the rug and pretend it isn't there, or you can try to deal with it (forget Borges, tom's not selectively campaigning for raises here, the bigger picture is that he's taking up for his guy -- he's "mad as hell" at the SITUATION because his guy is being ostracized and victimized by the logistics of the process, by extension, he's mad at the implications of the CBA, in no instance did he single out our FO other than to say he trusts them to do the right thing).
I write this with the disclaimer that I have absolutely no inside knowledge and am basing this solely on my own lame ass opinion...but I'd honestly be shocked if Tom didn't go to Bill beforehand -- not necessarily for his blessing or marching orders, but to give him an idea of the kind of tone he was going to set.
remember: when it comes to chemistry, bill consults the captains, not the other way around.
I realize none of this is profound, it's just easy to forget this stuff.
btw, I was a bit surprised this got almost zero coverage on either ESPN or Total Access...those guys really dropped the ball on this...just because SI comes up with a scoop doesn't mean ESPN should be allowed to get away with ignoring it.
peace
