Because, as Sam Cooke put it many years ago, another Saturday night and I ain’t got nobody.
But seriously...
Anyway, at Patriots minicamp Saturday afternoon, Tom Brady was asked about a certain radio appearance from last month. Thanks to Griddertom for passing this along.
Q: There was a radio interview a few weeks back where someone said you didn’t respect the Jets or something like that. Could you just clarify that?
TB: "I have a great deal of respect of the Jets. They’re my favorite team in the league other than the Patriots. I love those guys. They’re the best.”
Here is the link. Is this news? No.
But if nothing else, it gives me an excuse to put up another picture of Gisele and, as we know, there is value in repetition. Football? I did a short story – a very short one - that will appear in Sunday’s paper on Eric Smith, who has been starting at safety along with Kerry Rhodes throughout the preseason. I talked to Rhodes about Smith after Friday’s practice and he’s seen some big strides from the third-year safety.
And these non-football thoughts just because: Watching Big Brown trainer Rick Dutrow Saturday – before and after the race – and overall since the Preakness, reminded me of the Jim Murray line about Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes. “He was graceless in victory and graceless in defeat.”
And RIP Jim McKay. His perfectly chosen unobtrusive three-word summation of the breaking news of the tragedy at Munich during the 1972 Olympics became one of the most famous on-air utterances in television history: “They’re all gone.”
As are, it seems, the national broadcasters who see themselves as mere storytellers, like McKay, instead of showmen.
Comments (37)
One of my favorite documentaries is One Day In September...really moving...if you're bored, maybe give it a watch sometime. Most libraries have it for rent and it was on youtube a while back.
erik, do you need a hug?
Mike, not yet...
If you're gonna post a pic of Gisele, at least put one out there you don't need a microscope to view.
But thanks for trying, EBoli. Neil Best would be proud of you.
Gridderbob, can you post a link to the Brady video? Thanks.
Big A:
This should be the one:
http://www.patriots.com/mediacenter/index.cfm?ac=podcastdetail&pid=32232&pcid=81
I figured Boland would have posted it, but he was probably distracted with pic of Gisele.
:)
Gridderbob, thanks for covering for me. Distracted doesn't even begin to describe it
Erik, Its seems Smith does have a leg up on Elam right now but its way to early to give him the job right now. Smith seems like a cerebral type of player and it will be interesting to see how he plays this summer. I believe he too missed some time last summer due to an injury. As for Brady he can't take back those earlier comments and he will pay for it on 9/14. Of course they need to take care of the Dolphins 1st. GO JETS!!!!
Sorry guys, the link is for the audio. I'm searching the web for the video now. In the meantime I came across this description from the Boston Herald.
In comments laced with sarcasm, Brady feigned love for the Jets when asked about comments he made about the Pats’ archrivals.
“I have a great deal of respect of the Jets. They’re my favorite team in the league other than the Patriots,” he said with a laugh. “I love those guys. They’re the best.”
http://news.bostonherald.com/sports/football/patriots/view/2008_06_08_Brady_opens_up_at_camp/srvc=home&position=recent
IRA, I'm hoping the Jets will teach Brady some real respect. I want to see his arrogance replaced by some real humble pie.
Boland, training camp can't come soon enough so I can make you earn your money by answering my daily question.
Ira, (THE Ira?), agreed on Smith and it can't be overstated that Elam, because of circumstances beyond his control, was behind all preseason. That will be one of many good training camp battles to watch.
Bryan, my man, you make it sound like all I have planned between now and training camp is relaxing on my futon with the occasional round of golf thrown in. There's contract negotiations, maybe a signing or two, the, um,......ok, well, you might be right. Ask away.
Big A, you seem fired up.
EB - What happened to my post from this morning? I got a message saying it was being held for review, and then nothing.
Marty, I didn't know that "held for review" message existed. Seriously. I don't see comments until they're up on the site so if there's a "big brother" that sees comments first, I'm not involved in or aware of it. (I am aware of comments that have been deleted once posted if they cross the "line," whatever that is). I will say sometimes when I've posted responses to questions, I have gotten a "comment rejected" message or something like that, and I get confused and just post it again. Sorry you had trouble.
I really liked Elam from last year. He loves to hit which gets those wide receivers to alligator arm the catches. Saw him at the draft party in West Nyack and he's solid. If he's permitted to fly around and lay the wood it will effect the fear factor of the D.
I hate to devote any more time to Chris "No-Leverage" Baker, but he was back on Sirius NFL radio over the weekend (and they were only to happy to have him on), griping again about how unhappy he is about his contract situation.
I'm sick of the way he is repeatedly trashing the organization and flat out calling Tannenbaum a liar. Call me crazy, but could this be a Neil Schwartz issue? Schwartz coincidentally represents Pete Kendall also, and I think he is providing Baker with the blueprint for what he sees as a successful method of either getting a new deal or shipped out of town to another team willing to pay up.
I think the Jets should just let him sit there and either decide to shut up finally and play under his current contract, or decide not to play at all. At the end of the day, as Erik pointed out in an earlier post, he is the 20th paid tight end in the league and was 19th in production...seems fair to me.
Is today a holiday or sumthin'? Surely you don't go out looking for a job dressed like that... on a weekday, do you Boland?
Rich R, I don't think there's any questions that there's a calculation to Baker's actions seeing how well, in the end, they worked for Kendall last year.
Darrell, Gisele wears that outfit much better than I do.
JETVET,
Gotta agree with you on Elam last year. He was vicious on special teams. Man, i can't wait for training camp! Go Jets!
The site is trying to censor me for posting too much?
The true measure of the quality of a woman's outfit, the one Giselle is wearing or any outfit for that matter...
...is it's "crumple factor".
I.E., how well does it crumple up at the foot of a bed, or hang haphazardly from a bedpost.
I'm guessing Brady gives it high grades. (Although the wings could be an issue for an Irish Catholic boy).
Mr. Green T, I've gotten that same message, too, when I've tried to post responses. I think it's just a random "error" message that doesn't mean much, other than the fact that it's annoying and you have to close the site, then get back on it to post.
Islander505, uh, yeah. And that's about as far as I can go with that.
Understood, Eric, thanks. I'll try to rewrite, but I don't know if I can recreate the subtleties and eloquence of my first effort.
Regarding Jim McKay, I was always fond of his Wide World of Sports opening. "Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport… the thrill of victory… and the agony of defeat… the human drama of athletic competition…" Great stuff.
Also, I had asked what your take on the O-line is, specifically D'Brick. I know there was little or no contact in the OTAs and mini-camp, but how did his footwork look? I think that was his biggest problem last year. At times, his feet looked like they were nailed to the floor as defensive ends ran around him like horses around a barrel in a rodeo. I think he tried to depend too much on his reach, and not enough on his feet. Any good O-line coach will tell you, blocking starts where the rubber meets the road - with your feet.
Thanks for the tremendous amount of camp info. Nothing against T-Rock - he really is a great writer - but you've already given us more Jets "meat" to chew on in just a couple of months of the off season than he did in a whole season last year. Thanks for that, and keep it up.
Marty, I think you recreated your eloquence just fine. I'm still looking for mine...
As for you question, I'm going to post an overall OTA/minicamp "recap" tomorrow where the O-line and Ferguson, and a variety of other things, are covered. Glad you're enjoying the blog.
Hey eric, quick question thats non-play related. I was wondering if you have heard anything, in light of the recent team trips to NJ, about Personal Seat Licenses and the new stadium. I know the cowboys are introducing them, and I have heard speculation the Jets will as well. Any information would be much appreciated.
Eric,
Great job getting info out to us. You are making the others look bad. A couple of questions for you.....
If the Jets trade Baker for a lower round draft choice and he goes to a team that gives him the contract he wants, aren’t they just writing a script for any Jet player that’s unhappy with his contract. The script would read 1) play a couple of years under a maket value contract 2) ask for money 3) make a big fuss to the media, citing that your contract is under value, conveniently forgetting the huge signing bonus you got 4) say the Jets broke verbal promises to renegotiate 5) skip some off season workouts 6) the Jets trade you to a team willing to give you a big contract. Sounds like they’d be setting a bad precendent to me. I think they’re better off in the long run foregoing the late round draft pick in lieu of setting that precedent.
Also, can you comment on Chad’s throwing motion. It looks different than any other QB in the league and I don’t remember if its always been like that or only since the operations. It seems as though he’s all shoulder and little to no elbow, making it look like he’s pushing the ball instead of throwing it. Is that just my imagination?
Thanks again for your insight.
John, while no decision has been officially made, I'm told PSL's are almost a foregone conclusion. For both Jets and Giants fans. Wish I had better news for you on that one. But until those announcements are formally made, one can always hope.
Milo, I'll answer your question on Pennington - and obviously have Clemens stuff too - in the OTA/minicamp summary I'm posting tomorrow, but I'll give a short response here: in the practices we've been able to see thus far, I'd say Pennington's motion has been "tweaked" rather than outright changed. I think this has been an overblown story to some degree.
As for Baker, the Jets are in a bind, no question. Baker has made it clear he'll be a distraction if need be to get his way -- 'his way' meaning either a redone contract or a trade. It, as you say, would create a horrible precedent if the Jets capitulate here but if they do nothing, they face a possible locker room cancer for the entire season. Neither choice, at this point, is a good one for the Jets.
Erik, I can't stand Brady because he is way too smug for my liking. I don't think that he is a great QB as portrayed by the media, which apparently has gone to his head.
IMO, he is only a good QB that happens to have benefitted greatly from his offensive line keeping his body from getting continually pounded like some other good QBs in this league and Belicheat's suspect coaching legacy.
Apparently, he thinks that because he has all day to throw and a good set of receivers, that he can act all smug and disrespect the Jets. I think that this is all quickly coming to an end this year as his offensive line faces increased competition from other teams like the Jets and Bellicheat has to now play on a level field.
The pendulum starts to swing...
By the way, Erik, tell your techies that they must have changed the session time out settings on the web servers because that is why you're probably getting submission errors.
Too much time is passing between typing your response and the validity of your security code. If it happens to you again, click the "Back" button on the web browser, hit Ctrl+A to select all your writtten comments, Ctrl+C to copy your comments, F5 to refresh the web page and receive a new Security Code, and Ctrl+P to paste your comments back in. Type your new code in and submit... Hope that helps.
Erik,
If it's not too much trouble, the next time you talk to Chris Kendall, I mean Baker, could you just smack him upside the head and tell him to knock it off? If not, do you hear any rumours of interest in him by another team?
I blame the Baker situation on the Jets FO because they should have learned from Kendall last year and not let this one go the same route. I personally think Baker is worth about another million a year and I'll repost my reasons from Sunday.
They asked Kendall to take a paycut and then didn't want to negotiate upwards one million in base salary when he had a good year. Sounds like the same scenartio here. They had to pay quite a bit more for Faneca, although I think he is a better fit for where they want to go as an offense (run). However, I think that Baker fits in anyway they are going because you can't have 2 Kellers and be effective in the run game.
Reposts...
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I think that if Baker was on a team that featured the TE in the passing attack (read strong offensive line play here), then he could easily be a top 10 TE in the NFL.
A couple of years ago, he had a monster game when he got featured and went for something like 7 catches - 122 yds. After that, they didn't go back to him. He knows that he is not in the best financial situation with the Jets.
Baker is a key ingredient in the Jets offense which will emphasize the power running attack. He is the best blocking TE they have.
That being said, the Jets FO should not have let this get out of hand. They should have given this guy an extra million which would better reflect his value to the team or traded him/let him work out a trade before it got ugly in the newspapers and it starts to affect the team.
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few comments…
The Jets don’t feature the TE in the passing game like SD, CLE and KC to name a few, so the opportunities will be less for Baker to put up numbers.
Second, the Jets offense seemed to run very few plays compared to our opponents last year due to their inability to sustain drives, which would indicate that Baker’s “carreer stats” he put up last year DO reflect a much better year than one would suspect.
Third, when looking at his % of completions that went for 1st downs (read clutch factor and drive sustaining), Baker did very well. He was ranked fourth behind Billy Miller, Antonio Gates & Randy McMichael out of 33 TEs with more than 25 catches.
This illustrates his value to the Jets offense as a receiver especialy to CP with his weaker arm. He should really get more money for his play in that he is also the best blocking TE they have and didn’t mail it in last year compared to others…
The Jets FO needs to fix this by either putting something in writing now, reworking his contract or trading him to get some value, and to put a stop to the PK show - Part II starring Chris Baker…
Big A., you are nothing if not prolific. (and thanks for the computer advice).
Mr. Green T, you want me to do what exactly to Baker?? As for other teams' interest, nothing yet but this circus is still in the early stages. Remember, Kendall wasn't dealt until late August last year, though one way or another I don't think this situation will stretch that late.
Kendall didn't get a paycut, he received 2.5 million up front on top of his 2.5 mil. salary on his FRONT loaded contract, then wanted to renegotiate when his pay dropped off the next year. Same as Baker. Baker got his contracted amount PLUS part of this years amount last year, now his pay is smaller and he wants more. Both got paid up front and wanted more.
I like Baker, but am tired of the whiney crap both of those guys spewed with the blessing of their shared agent.
Big A, you seem to be giving Baker too much credit. I'll take Franks blocking over Baker any day. However, you've got a point that I've been puzzled with over the past few seasons; why aren't TEs utilized anymore? If Shockey were utilized by the Giants, not only would we have seen a more standout Giant team last year, but we would've probably seen some records broken by Shockey who, IMO, is one of the best TEs in the game. LBs are actually afraid to make an openfield tackle of him. The guy looses his helmet and STILL shoulders guys. Why don't teams pay attention to the Chiefs or the Chargers who seem to have realized the weapons that can be attained and utilized at the TE slot? TEs are more than just a Goal Line option, these guys can, in some cases (Keller's as well as Baker's) run incredible routes and break 10+ yard receptions off of a simple crossing route.
I can understand Baker's frustrations with the team, but lets be honest, he signed a legal binding contract...simple as that. If the Jets could let loose their passing game by utilizing the versatility that Mangini seems to draft each year, we could see some more ridiculous games from players like Baker, Keller, etc. I'm close to being tired of this trot down the field BS that the Jets have used for years and has failed us for years. Where's the deep ball? Where's letting our TE or our slot guy flat out burn the coverage and land a 50+ yard TD? It has disappeared from our playbook and every team has noticed it. How can we have a running game, like the power game that Mangini wants, if we don;t have the ABILITY to keep the secondary/lbs honest? There's only 2 backs in the league that seem capable of facing 11 guys and beating them all; here's a hint, they're not on our team. It's impossible to expect that the Jets can get 5-6 1st downs in a row every possession....its just not gonna happen...as much as I hate to say it, having Baker with us would be golden...we could have a solid set of TEs for a change...
That being said, kill whitey.
Erik, thanks for the complement. It's a pleasure to be part of you're blog. You've done a great job. Anything I can do to help promote it, I will.
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Mr. Green T, points taken. I would normally agree that a contract is a contract, but in the NFL, I think it's weighted toward the team (not guaranteed). If you get hurt, sometimes they keep you around til you're cleared to play and then they cut you. Many players never recover because they won't get a chance with a team again.
In a time of escalating salaries, there is no reason not to re-evaluate your position on the proverbial ladder of success and ask for more $$, if you think you deserve it. Kendall's play told him he should be making more. Ultimately, someone (the Skins) agreed.
I didn't like how it went down with the Jets or the results, but 10 - 20 yrs from now, his family will be glad that he got the extra dough. If there was a better method of distributing wealth to all players instead of the ridiculous salaries that are payed to the minorities, I think stuff like this wouldn't happen as much.
From personal experience, if your employer isn't looking out for you and is reaping the benefit of your hard work, then it's time to move on. Life supercedes football and many families have been wiped out by catastrophic loses, so why not get more $$ in the few years you'll play this game, if you're able.
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Cliff, I guess we'll have to disagree with regards to blocking. I do agree with your take on the use of the TE. Many times a players success is dictated by the philosophy and scheme of the offense on his team and not necessarily his talent.
Big A, Are you sure that the Jets aren't featuring Baker enough. Or, might the problem be that Baker can't get open consistently for him to be featured?
Eric, With the plethora of running backs now in the Jets stable, and given the Bears waiving Benson, do you think we could trade him back to the Bears and get back the second round pick we gave up for him (I know we got back a third, but in the draft pick calculator, it netted out to a mid to late second round pick)?
Erik, what's the latest on PSLs?
Peter, sorry I'm just seeing this now after posting some other entries today. Your questions is being asked with more frequency now - for obvious reasons - and all I can tell you is this: no official decision has been made but I've been told it's more than likely going to happen. Wish I had better news for fans on that one.
Milo, I don't know if Baker is getting consistently open, but it has been generally accepted that he has spent a lot more time blocking than one would expect due to the less than stellar offensive line play last year.
In my personal observation, it seemed to me that he performed in spite of the Jets being in an inordinate amount of 3rd and longs for the amount of offensive plays they ran. This is when the D knows you're going to throw, yet this was his best stat.