I don't care what anyone says, the kind of #### Palmer has had to put up with this year and last makes him the best in the NFL. Name one QB who puts up the kind of #### Palmer does and I'll show you a liar.
I'm not gonna spit out stats, I don't need too, Palmer is better than Romo, Garcia, Favre, Hasselback, Eli, and whoever else is having good years. And yes Palmer is better than Manning and Brady. So there I said it. I'm so tired of Palmer getting overlooked because he plays on a horrific team. Manning has undying respect from his players and Brady has the ultimate team. What does Palmer have? Chad Johnson and T.J. What else? Levi sucks, Willie's hurt, Henry is an ####, and Rudi is finally breaking down. And don't even get me started on the defense. They couldn't stop my 90 year-old Greek grandmother who can't speak English. The defense has looked worse than wet toilet paper. So tell me again why Palmer isn't mentioned with the top 2 anymore?
He's my hero, he stands up for himself doesn't let ego maniacs run him and he's not afraid to take the game into his own hands because the coaching staff has their heads so far up their a$s their picking #### out of their teeth. It's amazing how a guy can go from being on his way to the Hall to not even being mentioned as a top QB. Did you know that Palmer, even with a 2-4 record, can still go to the Pro-Bowl? I mean that's freakin amazing.
Look I'm not saying he doesn't need to pick his game up, but what I'm saying is that Palmer went from top 3 to underrated. How? He's easily the most talented and the most strong willed QB in the league given the circumstances. Nobody plays with a group of malcontents like he does. Carson Palmer is the best QB in the league. Period.
As I page through the new NFL preview mags and the many, many NFL websites I can’t help but feel something special in the air this year. Most of the time I’ve said this in all previous years, but this year seems different and the excitement is almost to a boiling point within me. The stories and the drama that will make up this years NFL season will be like a super reality series that will come to a volcanic climax on Super Bowl Sunday eight months from now. But when the season unfolds on September 6th in Indianapolis when the Saints take on the Colts we as the typical football fan will be in utter bliss. This year more than ever will be some of the most interesting and intriguing plots and sub-plots the NFL and their respective fans will have ever seen. Every team except Oakland, who should be picking in the top five of the 2008 NFL Draft, will have an appealing story line. And even they have an interesting plot going into the ’07 season.
One of the more interesting, actually probably the most fascinating stories that will be followed this year will be the play of the New England Patriots. With the huge free agent signings of Adalius Thomas and Donte Stallworth along with the subsequent trade for Wes Welker that cost the Pats 2007 2nd and 7th round draft choices. Not to mention the Pats only having one pick on the first day of the draft that landed them Brandon Meriweather, the troubled safety from the U. And easily one of the most immense stories of the past few years was the gigantic draft day deal that sent Randy Moss to the Patriots for a 4th round pick. This consequently could be the most important and the most closely watched stories of the entire year. How could you not be completely fascinated with the New England Patriots this year? This story line will yield how Bill Belichick can rope in the wild and ego eccentric Moss, who could quite be the most talented wide out to ever put on the pads, but not necessarily the hardest working. Most non-Moss fans will say that the Pats sold their soul for another run at the Super Bowl and that Moss is going to be Moss no matter where he goes because he’s going to bring himself along. But to the entire nay Sayers against Moss apparently Belichick, Tom Brady and even Brett Favre all think he is something special or they wouldn’t have made such a fuss to garner him. And as far as I’m concerned Belichick, Brady and Favre all carry a little more weight than any fan or any NFL analyst. But I regress. The story of the 2007 New England Patriots is going to be a highly watched one even more so than the Dallas Cowboys of last year, because unlike Dallas, New England actually has an excellent chance of winning their forth championship in the past six seasons.
The Patriots aren’t the only team that has a story line raising eyebrows this coming season. The San Diego Chargers who probably have the best all around team on paper even have questions that must be answered. Can Norv Turner who has failed at his last two coaching jobs, Washington and Oakland, succeed in San Diego? Will LaDainian Tomilinson add to his MVP performance of 2006 with another MVP showing? What about the departure of Donnie Edwards? Will the Chargers be affected by the absence of Edwards or will Matt Whilhelm be able to take over and the defense not miss a beat? Also, what about Philip Rivers? Will Rivers be the quarterback that we all saw at the beginning of the 2006 season or will he be the QB we saw struggle at the end of last year? Will Shawn Merriman repeat as the sack leader in only his third year after missing time to substance suspension? Lastly, what about rookie Eric Weddle? The safety from Utah was the most coveted player the Chargers drafted giving up multiple picks this year and next year, will he be the safety the Chargers have been in so desperate need of or will the Chargers be regretting the fact that they didn’t sign a veteran during the off-season? These questions and more will be answered this upcoming season.
The Chargers and the Patriots along with the Indianapolis Colts all have the best chance of taking home the crown, but the teams to watch will be the teams challenging for the other three playoff spots in the AFC. Will the Jets be able to build on last years amazing turn around? Will Chad Pennington be able to survive another full sixteen game schedule? What about Thomas Jones? Will he be able to carry the rushing work load that Eric Mangini will install and more importantly succeed?
The Baltimore Ravens were two games away from the Super Bowl last year. Will they be able to get over that hump this year with aging players Ray Lewis, Jonathan Ogden, and Steve McNair? And how much does the aging Raven defense have left? Will they be able to duplicate their success this year and be one of the stingiest defenses in the league? Will Willis McGahee live up to his title of being the best running back in the league behind the Raven offensive line, or will he flop and be just as much of a distraction this year as he was last year when he played in Buffalo?
Will the Cincinnati Bengals ever live up to the hype? Will Carson Palmer be able to propel his team over the good mark and turn them into elite? Will Willie Anderson continue to be the standard for offensive right tackles at his age? Will Andrew Whitworth be able to fill the massive shoes left by OG Eric Steinbach? Will the defense ever get it? Will Justin Smith finally live up to his lofty 4th overall draft selection and produce like a franchise defensive end? How well will Leon Hall play in his rookie year? Will Jonathan Joseph along with Leon Hall be the new Antoine Winfield and Nate Clements? Will David Pollack ever be able to come back from his horrendous neck injury he suffered in week 1 of last year? And speaking of linebackers how well will Ahmad Brooks do as the starting MLB? Will Brooks be the star everyone says he can be? Will Ahmad Brooks be able to be the leader of the Bengal defense that Coach Marvin Lewis so desperately needs?
What about the Denver Broncos? Will they be able to completely forget about the wasted year that was 2006? Will Coach Mike Shanahan ever be able to return to the promise land with a QB not named John Elway? Will Jay Cutler live up the expectations of being the next great gunslinger, a la Brett Favre? How will the rushing attack be once Travis Henry becomes familiar with the Bronco kind of running style? Will Travis Henry be the missing piece they haven’t had since the loss of Clinton Portis? Will the offensive line hold up for one more run at Super Sunday? How will the defense react to the loss of long time leader Al Wilson? Will D.J. Williams be able to take over the Mike duties with the tenacity that Wilson did? How much does superman John #### have left? Will Dre Bly be content with being the number 2 corner, or will his ego and mouth be more trouble than its worth?
The Chiefs are another team at a cross roads and their story line will be interesting from the stand point of how will Herm Edwards react to not having Trent Green? Or how will Larry Johnson hold up to another pounding that Herm will inflict on him by having Larry carry the ball 400 plus times? Will the Chiefs’ secondary with 10 plus year veterans Ty Law and Patrick Surtain be able to play up to their high standards and the live up to the fans’ expectations? Will Jared Allen and Tambi Hali become one of the best young defensive end duos in the NFL? Does Tony Gonzalez have another Pro-Bowl year in him or will the constant focus of the defense give way to the decline of the aging superstar? Can Damon Huard be legit QB, or is Kansas City just buying more time for Brodie Croyle? Will MLB Donnie Edwards resurrect his career in Kansas City as a WLB? But most importantly can the Kansas City Chiefs finally break into the playoffs after a 5 year drought and will Herm Edwards be the coach that everyone expects him to be? Or will the Kansas City stop on the Herm Edwards express be yet another failure and more evidence that Edwards isn’t NFL coaching material.
What about the other AFC teams that is on the cusp of playoff contenders? Are the Pittsburg Steelers, a team that is only two years removed from being Super Bowl champs, back to there 2005 form or are they back to the drawing board? Is Big Ben Rothlisberger back to his Super Bowl, Pro Bowl form or is the quarterback that led the league in interceptions last year the guy behind center? What about the new regime? Will Mike Tomlin be able to have the more than ten years of success and respectability that Bill Cowher demanded? Will Willie Parker be able to duplicate the Pro-Bowl form of last year or will the Pittsburg brass be regretting not taking a bruising tail back in this past April’s draft? What does the future hold for the Pittsburg defense? Will they stay the same using a multiple 3-4 base defense? Or will they now incorporate Tomlin’s base 4-3 scheme into their repertoire? What will the future hold for first ballot Hall of Fame, All-World guard Alan Faneca at the end of the 2007 season? Are the Pittsburg Steelers building from square one or will they pick up were they left off after their improbable run to the Super Bowl in the 2005 season?
If there was ever a team that could duplicate a repeat of a championship it would have to be the Indianapolis Colts. Can they do it? Can Peyton Manning do the unthinkable and follow up his Super Bowl MVP with another run to Super Sunday? Can Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne be as reliable as ever and provide Manning with one of the most consistent receiving duo in the league? Can Joseph Addai be the running back everyone in Indy thinks he can be? Can Addai fill the huge void left by Edgerrin James and be the primary back? Will the defensive line ever be able to be a force against the run or will the run defense be the Achilles for the Colts’ defense? But most importantly will Peyton only win one champion?
The Jaguars, once a team on the ascension, have been struggling with a QB controversy the past year and are at the end of the line with former top 10 draft pick Byron Leftwich. Will the 2007 season be Byron’s last year in Jacksonville? Will his backup, David Garrard, be the quarterback of the future? If not Garrard or Leftwich where does this team turn? They passed on Brady Quinn in this past April’s draft and I truly don’t believe that the Jags will be bad enough to pick atop the 2008 NFL Draft to get a shot at top QB prospect Brian Brohm. The good news on offense is that the Jags have two quality running backs in 9 year veteran Fred Taylor and second year man Maurice Jones-Drew. You can’t really talk about the backs without asking the question of can Fred Taylor stay healthy for the full year? If he can’t can Maurice Jones-Drew be the feature back? Will Jones-Drew be able to carry the ball 20-25 times a game like Taylor? Another major
Impact player that needs to come back from his injury last year is Greg Jones. Jones, one of coach Jack Del-Rio’s favorite go to guys, has to be the player he was before his season ending injury. Can he be that player? Can the receiving corps live up to their lofty expectations? Can Reggie Williams build off of a solid 2006 and finally become that impact player that Jacksonville envisioned when drafting him with their 2004 top 10 pick? Will Matt Jones be able to finally learn the nuances of the wide receiver position? Will Matt Jones be more of an offensive down the field threat instead just a big red zone target? Although there are many questions on the Jags offense, the defense is more than capable of playing at a high level and shutting down opposing offenses. The only questions I can even think of is there a DE on this team that can consistently get after the quarterback? Can Reggie Hayward be that guy? Or is he just another high priced free agent bust? And can FS Reggie Nelson take over for fan favorite, Deon Grant? The defense is more than playoff and Super Bowl worthy, but the real question for the Jags is can there offense finally come together and lead this team into contention?
The Tennessee Titans were one of the Cinderella stories of the 2006 season and Vince Young solidified himself as the next big thing. Will the off the field issues of Pac-Man Jones still be a distraction or is this team finally through with their former top 10 pick? Will the absence of Travis Henry be the subtraction that most limits the Titans? Can LenDale White ever recapture that amazing potential we all saw during his days at USC? Can anyone of the Titans’ receivers stand out this year? Or will Young be left by himself to repeat his death defying performances of last season? Can Albert Hanynesworth ever be the guy the Titans envisioned him being when they selected him in the 1rst round? And most importantly can the Titans build on last year or will they regress to the misery that is the land of the bottom feeders?
Buffalo has been on the fence the last couple of season bordering on mediocrity and solid. Can this prove different with J.P. Losman at the helms? Or will Losman just be another non-factor? Can he live up to his success of last years unthinkable 8 wins? Will Marshawn #### be able to replace Willis McGahee or we #### be another Cal disappointment along the lines of J.J. Arrington and Aaron Rogers? Can the Bills defense ever get back to the stingy days of early this century? Can John McCargo become the beastly DT that Marv Levey thinks he can be? Will Paul Posluszny become the force that the Bills need in their LB corps? Also will Posluszny make the teams that passed on him regret it with his excellent instincts and nasty style of play? And can Ko Simpson and Donte Whitner build on last year’s chemistry to become the best young safety duo in the NFL?
The Cleveland Browns have had one of the better off-season builds of all 32 teams. The 2007 NFL Draft could go down as the draft that put the Browns on the map the same as the ’96 NFL Draft did with the Baltimore Ravens when they selected Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis. Cleveland selected the behemoth OLT Joe Thomas with the 3rd overall selection and then went onto pull of one the biggest moves in the off-season by trading back into the 1rst round and selecting home town boy Brady Quinn. Can Brady Quinn and Joe Thomas do for Cleveland the way Ogden and Lewis did for Baltimore? And when will Brady Quinn get the call to start? Can Quinn shake the stigma of not being able to handle the pressure situations? As for the rest of the Browns can they ever become a winning franchise or will this be another year of bad luck and disappointment? Will this be Romeo Crenel’s last year? Will he be the one former Bill Belichik protégé that doesn’t succeed? Can Kamerion Wimbley build on his impressive rookie campaign? Will the Browns cornerbacks ever be able to stop anyone? Will Sean Jones be able to take the next step to the Pro-Bowl? And will Brodney Pool ever live up to his 2nd round billing? How much does the former Louisville 1rst rounder Ted Washington have left in the tank in his 17th year? Will Cleveland’s two most talented players, Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow II, take the next step to super stardom and live up to the fans’ expectations?
The Houston Texans are finally through the David Carr era and are now entering the Matt Schaub age. Will Gary Kubiack and Matt Schaub have that powerful relationship that other great coach and quarterbacks have had such as Brady and Belichik, Elway and Shanahan, Montana and Walsh and Favre and Holmgren? Will the addition of Ahman Green give some energy and excitement to an anemic running game? Will Andre Johnson be by himself again or will one of the young receivers step up and take the #2 job? Can Jerome Mathis return to his Pro-Bowl form of returning kicks? Will Jacoby Jones be able to handle the jump from lowly Lane College to the NFL? The defense seems to be the most important part of the success to the Houston Texans organization if you take how they’ve been drafting into account. Will this defense be the backbone of the Texans? Can the defensive line made of almost entirely of 1rst round draft picks live up to the high expectations? Will Amobi Okoye be able to handle the strength and power of the interior at such a young age? Or will his learning curve take longer than expected? Can Jason Babin build of a strong 2006 season and break the 10 sack mark? Was DeMeco Ryans’ rookie season a fluke are will he be the next great NFL MLB? Can he sustain a high level of play in his 2nd year or will he be plagued by the dreaded sophomore slump? Can Dunte Robinson reach the elite level of other press corners or will he be just another solid NFL CB? What will happen with the Texans two safety spots? Can these two positions be strength or will it once again be the Achilles of the defense? And most importantly for the Houston Texans success, can Mario Williams quiet the nay Sayers? Will he be able to prove to everyone that the Texans made the right choice by taking him with the #1 overall pick in 2006? Can he break into the elite company of Julius Peppers, Dwight Freeney and Jason Taylor? And will the Texan fans finally embrace him as one of their own?
What about the Miami Dolphins? Can Cam Cameron turn this once glorious franchise around and out of the gutter? Or will they forever be in the dire portion of substandard teams? Can they make a run while Zach Thomas and Jason Taylor; the teams’ only Hall of Fame players are still productive? And really how much does Zach Thomas, in his 12th year, and Jason Taylor, in his 11th year, has left in the tank? Will Trent Green be able to bring his efficacy and leadership to the Dolphins? Can Ronnie Brown make the jump to becoming one of the top backs in the league? Will he ever justify his #2 overall pick status? Can Chris Chambers recapture his 2005 form when he was one of the more dangerous receiving threats in the game? What about the Dolphins secondary? Can the corner backs with stand a full season of being one of the weaker units in the league? Will the safeties be a revolving door or will there be consistency with them? Can Jason Allen live up to his 1rst round billing or is he just another Nick Saban picked bust? Will Joey Porter be able recapture his Steelers form or was the Pittsburg organization justified in letting him go? Can the O-Line block somebody and begin to be a cohesive unit? Will Ted Ginn Jr. be a star in the making? Or was he figment of huge draft hype? Can he be a playmaker or were the fans that booed his selection right? Will the passing on Brady Quinn begin to haunt this team starting this year? Will the Miami Dolphins be selecting in the top 5 of the 2008 NFL Draft?
The Oakland Raiders were easily the worst team last year and could’ve quite possibly been one of the worst teams in the history of the league, or at least in the salary cap era. Will this team be on the ascension or will they be, once again, the worst team in the NFL? Can this team win more than 5 games this year? Who will be their starting quarterback? Will Dunte Culpepper be able to revive his once super star career? Can Joey Porter play by the rules or will this be his last chance in Oakland? Will Mike Williams ever be able to live up to his top 10 overall pick? Can he become the receiver so many thought he could be under his old offensive coordinator at USC? And speaking of coaching, will Lane Kiffin make Al Davis look like a genius are like an old kook? Is Robert Gallery a bust? Remember he was drafted in the Eli Manning draft and we don’t consider Manning a bust. So I’ll repeat, is Robert Gallery a bust? Can he live up to the huge expectations of the Raider fans and Oakland front office? And will the O-Line have some sort of organization to it this year or will they be once again the worst in the NFL? Can LaMont Jordan be the back Al David wants or will he be another high priced FA bust? As for the defense the Raiders were ranked as one of the top units in the league, can they do it again? How long can Warren Sapp play at such a high level? Can Gerard Warren be a brick wall defender or he reverts back to his bust days in Cleveland? Can Fabian Washington and Nnamdi Asomugha become one of the elite CB tandems in the NFL? Will Asomugha build on his unbelievable performance of 2006 and finally make the Pro-Bowl in 2007? Can Kirk Morrison crack the elite status of his own? Will Morrison be recognized as one of the true up and comers of the MLB position in the NFL? What about Thomas Howard? Howard could quite possible be the most athletic and fastest OLB in the entire league, can he become an elite LB? And will Michael Huff live up to his top 10 pick status? Can Huff break into the level of other great safeties like Ed Reed, Troy Polamalu, Sean Taylor, Brian Dawkins, Roy Williams and Adrian Wilson? And will Huff fortify the Raider secondary to assemble one of the best secondaries in the NFL?
These and other inquiries will all be answered come the end of January. But more important than all of these questions and their subsequent answers is us the fan. This year will be a special year for the fan because the NFL is bigger than ever. The popularity of the sport has grown into a magnificent beast that will even take a regular season game overseas. Of all the leagues the NFL, even more than the MLB, is the league that I’m the most proud of being a citizen of the United States. Every year I cherish this first week of football because I know that the next 5 months will be action packed and more exciting than all the other sports put together. We as the fans can’t wait for these questions to be answered and we can’t wait for the next batch of questions. So in closing all I can say is, “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?”
What happened this past weekend? What happened to the comparisons to Tom Brady and the label of the most NFL ready quarterback? What happened with Miami praying to the football gods that a certain someone falls in their lap? In essence what the hell happened with one of the most hyped Notre Dame quarterbacks this league has ever seen?
Well this is what happened. It was around 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 28th 2007 and the Cleveland Browns were on the clock for the 3rd overall draft pick. Simply put, the Browns pass on the Charlie Weiss’ protégé for a Wisconsin offensive left tackle named Joe Thomas. So on to the next team who is looking for a formidable quarterback. As for the next picks; Tampa Bay, Arizona and Washington they weren’t interested in spending their 1rst round pick on a quarterback. Minnesota on the other hand is relying on a 2006 2nd round pick out of Alabama State, Tarvaris Jackson. But Minnesota had luck of their own when Adrian Peterson fell to them at the 7th pick, so their 1rst pick of the draft was a pretty simple one. They simply took one of the most talented and most athletic players in the entire draft and probably the best pure running back to come out of college in the past decade in Peterson. So Minnesota was the second team who chose not to take the Notre Dame alum. Atlanta was next at 8, and obviously they have Michael Vick, so they weren’t interested. But old reliable was on the clock next with the 9th overall pick. Miami had been in the same boat as Oakland, Detroit, and Cleveland. They all need a starting franchise quarterback who will be the face of the organization for the next ten years. So Miami was not only a given but, they were incredibly lucky they didn’t have to move up to grab him. But then comes the first curveball of the draft. Miami passed on Quinn. WHAT?! Was the reaction of every expert, fan and analyst Mel Kiper of ESPN was absolutely stunned at the Dolphins and then started to berate them because of their obvious blunder. When the camera panned over to Brady Quinn a picture was worth a thousand words when we saw his reaction the minute Miami passed on him for Ted Ginn Jr. “Wow that was unexpected.”
So now what? Now what is the next move for a quarterback who is obviously dropping faster than a fat kid doing a belly flop? In an unprecedented move by Roger Goodell, the commissioner moved Brady and the rest of his family to an undisclosed room at Radio City Music Hall to shield him and his family from the prying eye of the media and the fans. It worked, not even ESPN or the NFL Network could get to him whenever they please. It was looking bleak for the Heisman Trophy candidate. Until the commissioner had announced another trade, where the Dallas Cowboys were to give up their 1rst round pick (22nd overall) for the Browns’ 2nd round pick (35th overall). Finally the wait was over and the so called “most NFL ready quarterback was off the board” and just in time too, because hadn’t the Browns moved up the Kansas City Chiefs would have certainly made the pick on Brady Quinn.
So was Cleveland the winner of the draft? Five years from now do you think we’ll be saying that the Cleveland Browns stole the 2007 NFL Draft? I certainly do, well at least for right now. Let’s just take a look at what happened from afar. Their 1rst pick was an excellent one, with the selection of a franchise left tackle. That pick was a no brainer. But as for their second 1rst round pick, the #22nd pick, I believe the front office absolutely played the game the way it was supposed to be played. Some television analysts have commented on Scott Pioli pulling this same thing in Baltimore with Ozzie Newsome for Kyle Boller. But if you think about it, when Kyle Boller was coming out of college there wasn’t anywhere near the admiration for him as there was for Brady Quinn. Nobody called Kyle Boller a top 3 pick, nor dared to call him the 1rst pick overall. But with Quinn the Cleveland Browns got two top 5 picks in terms of value. How in the hell couldn’t Cleveland do that? Some fans and analysts have been saying the Browns gave up too much, because let’s be honest the Browns aren’t exactly playoff contenders, especially being in that division with Cincinnati, Baltimore and Pittsburg. Well that’s true but there is no guarantee that the Browns would have a shot at Chad Henne and to be as real as possible the Browns aren’t going to have another top 3 pick to have a shot the #1 QB next year, Brian Brohm. So in essence the Cleveland Browns took the gamble and bet on Quinn and Joe Thomas for their next two draft classes. And you know what? The Browns did great. Think about what they did. Washington gave up a 1rst round pick when they moved up to select Jason Campbell. The Buffalo Bills gave up a 1rst round draft pick when they moved up to select J.P. Losman, and Baltimore, like I mentioned before, gave up a 1rst round draft pick to move up to get Kyle Boller. I don’t know about you, but none of those three have nor had the same kind of ability or potential that Brady Quinn has. That is why Cleveland did the right thing. I know Dallas is praying to the football gods that Cleveland goes 0-16 so they can get a shot at Darren McFadden, but in reality that isn’t going to happen. So, Dog Pound, live it up. You guys stole the 2007 NFL Draft, and you didn’t have to do it by selecting Troy Smith.
The 2007 NFL Draft is less than 2 weeks away and my question to the fanatic is: are you more partial to the NFL draftee than you are to the NFL free agent. If you’re having trouble understanding what I’m asking this is what I mean. Are you more accepting to the draftee than you are to the free agent? If the draftee is doing well and turns into a star are you willing to let him go? If your free agent is doing well and then wants to move on again do you care as much? Do you look at the draftee as more of a family member than you do the free agent?
The draftee grows, matures and hopefully fulfills his potential with your team. I believe the draftee can quickly become a fan favorite because he has always been a member of your team. That’s all he knows. The free agent on the other hand has already matured with an existing team and he now is working for the highest bidder. The free agent really has no loyalty to his new team other than they paid him the most. That team didn’t take a chance on him coming out of college; they weren’t the one who gave him a shot. The draftee owes his early development to his team and his coaches who have taken the time out to bring him along and install the confidence in to the said player. The free agent has already been brought along by different coaches, different teammates, and different fans. To me the free agent is sort of like a stepchild. He can certainly be a good or as accomplished as the biological kid, but will he ever be loved as much? My opinion would have to be no.
A great example would have to be the city of Buffalo and Willis McGahee. Willis McGahee was drafted 23rd overall by the Buffalo Bills in 2003. In his final game of his college career McGahee blew out his knee on a play that will forever be infamous as one of the most horrific sports injuries ever caught on video. His sports agent Drew Rosenhaus said that Willis would be ready to workout for teams come March and April before the draft. He was right to a certain extent. Willis worked out to the best of his abilities and as much as his injury would allow him to. Most teams had him rated a top 10 pick before the bowl game on which he was injured, but after the injury he was rated more of a 2nd or 3rd round prospect. Nobody could have predicted the Buffalo Bills drafting Willis McGahee with 23rd overall pick especially with already having Travis Henry as their feature back. As far as most were concerned Willis owed his first round billing to the Buffalo Bills. And you know what? Willis also thought that way too. Everybody in the organization couldn’t have been happier with the pick and the outcome. So were the fans. The fans stood by Willis. They absolutely loved him, and Willis produced like he was a family member with a ton to prove. But then in 2006, free agency money was being thrown around like crazy and Willis caught the money itch and wanted in. Willis started to turn on his organization and his relationship with the fans started to sour. To the fans it was like a wife or a girlfriend who was calling out your manhood in public. Talking bad about his organization to magazines and making unbelievable and boisterous statements about them to the media. The Penthouse interview was one of many statements that the fans just couldn’t believe. Willis McGahee was literally turning his back on the team that brought him in; the team that gave him a chance that no one else was going to give him. Then the unthinkable happened. He wanted out. So instead of being stead fast the Buffalo Bills were going to oblige. To the organization he leaving didn’t seem to have the same affect on them as it did the fans. This brings me to my point. The fans wouldn’t have acted this way had they not loved him at one time. Had Willis not grown on them, had he not become a team icon and a fan favorite maybe, just maybe this could’ve been a little less messy. Had this been a previous free agent the fans wouldn’t have cared……or at least cared as much. When London Fletcher left this off-season, yes the fans were saddened, but they weren’t mad or pissed at him for leaving. They got him the same way Washington was getting him.
This leads me to believe that when draftees leave they take a little bit of fan loyalty with them. Adalius Thomas left in a good way compared to how Terrell Owens (49ers), Willis McGahee (Bills), and now eventually Lance Briggs (Bears) has all left their original teams. You better believe that the 49ers, Bills, and Bears fans will all have some sort of animosity towards them for the rest of their careers. But had a free agent decided to up and leave no one would be up in arms because they didn’t grow up in this town and on this team and on the fans. They didn’t give the fans the kind of hope and optimism draftees give when being drafted. You know how you can tell the difference? Just think about the difference of how you act on the day before free agency begins compared to how you act the day before the NFL Draft. Exactly.
