Maybe Vrabel was just trying to get used to a courtroom, since, as a member of the NFL Players Association executive committee, he may be spending a lot of time in front of judges and lawyers this summer (via profootballtalk.com)

Just a quick one today.  Quick as a licorice stick one today.  Quick as a mouse click one today.  Today, the good folks over at Ed The Sports Fan posted a lamentation entitled When Your Favorite Player Gets Traded.  He said stuff like, “There’s nothing worse that can happen to a fan than when that fan’s favorite player…gets traded.”  In light of this, and in light of the recent moves that sent Melo to the Knicks and Deron Williams to the Nets, I got to thinking.  I got to thinking  that so many times in sports, guys have ended up in uniforms they just don’t belong in.  Uniforms they just look wrong in.  Here are a few that I never got used to:          

Bobby Orr

The greatest Bruin ever.  The greatest hockey player ever.   Number four, Bobby Orr.  Better than all the rest.  Greater than the Great One.  In 1971, Bobby Orr piled up an unbelievable 139 points.  139 points!  37 goals and 102 assists.  No player had ever scored 100 assists in one season before, and only two have since.  The Great One and Super Mario.  Orr did it from the blue line.  He did it faster than anybody I’ve ever seen.  Number four, Bobby Orr.  The greatest hockey player who ever lived.  You don’t believe me?  Just ask Don Cherry.  Or his dog Blue.

This guy could fight too.  They tested him his rookie year.  They didn’t test him again.  But the 1975-76 season brought changes.  Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes.  Turn and face the strain.  Ch-ch-changes.  Just gonna have to be a different man.  Trades dismantled the Big, Bad Bruins.

Orr managed to play just 10 games due to injury-riddled knees.  Contract negotiations hit an impasse between Bobby and the Bruins and marked the end of an era. Bobby became a free agent and ultimately signed with the Chicago Black Hawks.  Just never seemed right.

Robert Parrish

The biggest of the Big Three.  The Chief.  The Chief played fourteen years with the Celtics from 1980 to 1994.  The Chief won three NBA Titles with the Boston Celtics.  His rainbow jumper was a thing of beauty.  Somewhere over the rainbow.  Skies are blue.  And the dreams that you dare to dream, really do come true.  Robert Parrish made dreams come true.  Robert Parrish ended up a Charlotte Hornet.  Just never seemed right.

Hank Aaron

What can be said about the Hammer that hasn’t already been said already?  In Atlanta, 53,775 people showed up to watch Aaron hit career home run 715.  The ball landed in the Braves bullpen.  Thirty days later, Aaron ended up on the Milwaukee Brewers.  I’m gonna give you thirty days to get back home.  I done talked to the gypsy woman on the telephone.  She gonna send out a world wide hoodoo.  That’ll be the very thing that’ll suit ya.  I’m gonna see that you be back home in thirty days.  Back home in Milwaukee.  Just never seemed right.

Dwight Evans

Thank Heavens for Dwight Evans.  Cannon for an arm.  Lasar for an arm.  Dr. Evil should get sharks with Dwight Evans’ arms attached to their heads.  Dwight Evans was the best defensive right fielder of his time.  Dwight Evans won eight Gold Glove Awards.  You hear that Ted Sarandis, eight!   I know my heart can stay with my glove, its understood.  It’s in the hands of my glove, and my glove does it good.  Wo-wo-wo-wo-wo-wo, my glove does it good.  Evans ended up on the Orioles.  Just never seemed right.

Joe Montana

Joe Cool.  Three Super Bowl MVPs.  In his four Super Bowl appearances, Montana never threw an interception nor lost a fumble.  He was the first player in league history to win consecutive MVP awards.   Sports Illustrated magazine’s Sportsman of the Year award.  I`m the man of the year.  Stand in line to meet the man.  I’m the man, I’m the man, I’m the man.  The Man for the San Francisco 49ers.  Ended up a Kansas City Chief.  Never seemed right.

Here’s some more: Joe Namath, Rams.  OJ Simpson, 49ers.  Pete Rose, Phillies.  Steve Garvey, Padres.  Willie McCovey, A’s.  Eddie Murray, Indians.  Wade Boggs, Yankees.  Tony Dorsett, Broncos.  Earl Campell, Saints.  Dave Casper, Vikings.  Never seemed right.

Make my living off the evening news.  Just give me something-something I can use.  People love it when you lose.  They love dirty laundry.  -Don Henley

Peace out homies.  Six Two and Even!

Matty told Hatty, “That’s the thing to do.  Get you someone really to pull the wool with you.”  Wooly bully, wooly bully.  Wooly bully, wooly bully, wooly bully.  -Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs

This ain’t no Weekend at Bernies.  This ain’t no Weekend With Maurie and Connie.  No.  I’m like Sam Quint.  I’m not talkin’ about pleasure boatin’ or day sailin’.  I’m talkin’ about workin’ for a livin’.  I’m talkin’ about sharkin’.  I’m talking about NFL Wildcard Weekend.  I’m talking about NFL Playoff football.  Growds folks’ football.  Win or go home football.  In this version of the NFL, there’s two kinds of teams my friend:  Those with big time quarterbacks, and those who dig.  Let’s see who’s who, shall we?  Sure we shall!              

New Orleans Saints v. Seattle Seahawks

You wanna know how good Drew Brees is?  Huh?  Do ya?  Thought you did.  Ten different Saints have caught at least 23 passes.  Yowza!  10! For 23 passes! Goodness! You know what that is?  That’s an NFL record.  That’s what that is.  Not only that, but nine players have caught at least 29 passes.  Holy cow!  Now, there’s an old adage in football.  You might have heard it.  Defense wins championships.  True as that may be, I’ll tell you what else wins championships.  A guy like Drew Brees wins championships.  A guy who can really throw.  Throw to and fro.  A guy who really lets it go.  A guy who has let it go for well over 4,000 yards for five consecutive seasons.  What if you have a guy like that there but can also protect the football?  I’ll tell you what you get.  You get something very special.  You get a guy like Drew Brees.  You get a win on Saturday.  This is what Drew Brees does to Seattle on Saturday:

Jets v. Colts

Know this:  I hate Rex Ryan.  I loathe Rex Ryan.  Abhor Rex Ryan.  Rex Ryan said:  “Nobody studies like Peyton Manning.  I know Tom Brady thinks he does and all that stuff.  But I think there’s probably a little more help from Bill Belichick with Brady than there is with Peyton Manning.”  Now I don’t know about all that.  But  I do know Peyton Manning is better than Mark Sanchez.  It is no secret that over here at JQP Productions we are New England Patriots fans.  Being Patriots fans inherently means hating the Indianapolis Colts.  Ipso facto, we also hate Peyton Manning.  Don’t believe me?  Just ask Dollar Bill Simmons.  Howeva!  However, I know of only one other quarterback in the National Football League who could do as much with as little with this year’s edition of the Colts.  But again, this isn’t about Tom Brady.  This is about Peyton Manning and I’m not the kind the kind of guy that would fuck a person in the ass and not even have the goddamn common courtesy to give him a reach-around.  Peyton Manning led this decimated Colts team to the top the AFC South.  Peyton Manning is leading the this decimated Colts team to yet another Super Bowl bid.  Mr. Sanchez, I served with Peyton Manning.  I knew Peyton Manning.  Peyton Manning was a friend of mine.  Mr. Sanchez, you’re no Peyton Manning.  This is what Peyton Manning does to the Jets on Saturday:

Ravens v. Chiefs

This is a tough one.  A rough one.  A stickier than Marshmallow Fluff one.  I do love me some Matt Cassel.  How could I not?  Two years back, without Tom Brady, Mighty Matt Cassel kept the New England Patriots in the hunt.  He’s a goddamn quarterback!  He’s the leader of a team.  A team who will break their ribs and their noses and their necks for him, because they believe.  ‘Cause he makes them believe.  He’s made us all believe.  Mighty Matt Cassel, that’s a quarterback!  Having said all that, I still gotta go Joe Flacco here.  I go Joe Flacco here for one reason and one reason only.  A pretty good reason if I do damn say so my own damn self.  That reason?  Experience.  Joe Flacco now joins Dan Marino and Bernie Kosar as the only quarterbacks since the 1970 NFL merger to make a playoff start in three consecutive postseasons.  I just hope Joe has better luck than Dan and Bernie done did.  This is what Joe Flacco does to the Chiefs on Sunday:

Packers v. Eagles

Now don’t get me wrong here, I had Aaron Rodgers on my fantasy team this year.  I know what kind of a monster this cat can be.  I just don’t know if he has that “it” factor.  He hasn’t shown “it” in the past.  Rodgers has an 0-1 postseason record.  He has  a 2-13 record in games decided by four points.  That ain’t “it.”  Tom Brady has “it.”  Drew Brees has “it.”  Peyton Manning has “it.”  And Michael Vick surely has “it.”  Don’t believe me?  Just ask opposing coach Mike McCarthy.  ”He is the type of player that will try to put the team on his back and carry them.  The man is a warrior.”  He most certainly is.  This season, in 12 games, Vick warriored for 3,018 passing yards.  He warriored for 676 rushing yards and combined for 30 touchdowns.  He threw six interceptions and his 62.6 completion percentage and 100.2 passer rating were the highest of his career.  The man is simply on a mission.  There’s no way he let’s his Eagles team lose this game.  You heard?  No way!  This is what Mike Vick does to the Packers on Sunday:

Peace out homies.  Six two and even!

I wish I was little bit taller.  I wish I was a baller.  I wish I had a girl who looked good, I would call her.  -Skee Lo

Public Service Announcement: Ok, here we go!  Ole Miss’ Dexter McCluster is 5’8″.  Ole Miss’ Dexter McCluster is 165 lbs soaking wet.  Ole Miss’ Dexter McCluster has just carved himself out a legendary senior season down in the SEC.  Carved himself out a legendary senior season ever since Houston Nutt came to him before the Arkansas game and told him they were moving him back to running back full time.  The rest, as they say, is history.  He flirted with 300 yards against Tennessee.  He is just 15 rushing and 25 receiving yards shy of becoming the first player in SEC history to have a thousand rushing and 500 receiving yards in a season. He has one more game to reach the milestone.  He’ll have that ome more game in the Cotton Bowl. 

Dexter MccCluster got my one, two, three, four, five senses working overtime.  Dexter McCluster got me to thinking.  Got me to drinking.  Got me to thinking and drinking and come up with this.  Little giants.  Little big men.  My favorite little guys in sports.

Freddy Patek:  Little Freddie. The Flea.  Moochie.  I remember him as a Royal.  He played for the Pirates.  He played for the Angels.  But Ican only picture him those baby blues.  Had a glove like Crazy Glue.  Catchy as the Asian flu.  Patek was a three-time All-Star.  Patek led the league in triples.  Get the papers, get the papers, get the papers.  Patek led the league in stolen bases.  He became the second shortstop, after Mr. Baseball himself, to hit three home runs in a single game.  Whitey Herzog called Freddy the best artificial turf shortstop he ever managed.  Ranked him even higher than the Wizard of Oz.  Wow!  Better than Ozzie Smith!  Now that’s saying something.  That’s saying a lot.  That’s saying a mouthful. 

Freddy had an arm.  A big arm.  A giant arm.  Freddy could throw across the diamond from the hole at a velocity of around 95 mph.  Yowza!  My posse come quickly ’cause my posse got velocity.  I’ll forever remember Patek making his famous, often imitated, never duplicated, patented, bare-handed double plays.  Talent, pure unadulterated talent. 

Mini Mac Herron:  Only 5′-51/2″, but he packed 150 pounds of muscle and twenty pounds of sideburns into that frame.  Because of his height, he wasn’t recruited heavily.  Instead, he played for the Hutchinson (Kan.) Junior College Blue Dragons.  There, he won the national Juco 100-yard dash title.  Fast.  Lightning fast.  A sonic blast.  Unsurpassed. 

Then, he began to come into his own at Kansas State.  Mama, I’m a big boy now.  He rushed for 506 yards is junior year while topping the Big Eight in receiving with fifty-two catches.  Mini Mac was the nation’s second leading college scorer behind Oklahoma’s and the Detroit Lions’ Steve Owens. 

Mini Mac got drafted by the Falcons.  Norm Van Brocklin hated him.  Two snaps in a circle.  Toiled in Canada.  While playing for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, he won the Eddie James Memorial Trophy for being the leading rusher in the CFL’s West Division.  Then the Patriots found him. 

In two seasons Herron became one of the country’s best all around football players.  He broke Gale Sayers’ total offense record.  You break a Gale Sayers single season record, you’re playing some football.  He wasn’t just the best of the little men, he was the best all around player in the game.  In a sport of giants, Mack Herron has held his ground.  Unfortunately, Mac found drugs.  The running gag was “Mini Mac Heroin.”  Truly a shame.

Martin St. Louis:  I know.  You wanted the Pocket Rocket.  You wanted Henri Richard.  I never saw him play.  I’ve seen St. Louis play. 

• I saw him play for the University of Vermont Catamounts where he was an NCAA all-star. 
• I saw him play for the Tampa Bay Lightning. 
• I saw him score an overtime goal in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Finals. 
• I saw that goal help the Lightning beat the Calgary Flames for the Cup.  The Stanley Cup.  The Holy Grail.   Lord Stanley’s Mug.  
• I saw him win the Hart Memorial Trophy as the MVP.  MVP!  MVP!  MVP! 
• I saw him win the Lester B. Pearson Award as league MVP voted by his peers. 
• I saw him become became the first player since Wayne Gretzky, the Great One, blessed be he, become only the eighth player in NHL history to win the Art Ross Trophy, the Stanley Cup, and the Hart Memorial Trophy all in one season. 

No one was interested in St. Louis on draft day.  No one was interested because he was listed at 5-9 and 185 pounds, but is more likely closer to 5-7 and 175.  Think they’re interested in him now?

Nate Archibald:  How can a guy named Tiny not be in this.  Penetration.  Best in the Nation.  Taking over the entire National Basketball Association.  Taking it by storm.  Tiny was quick.  Tiny could go to the hole.  Tiny could pass.  Tiny could shoot.  Triple threat.  Triple Trouble.  Mesmerizing.  Tantalizing.  Captivating.  Devastating. 

Archibald led the NBA in scoring and assists in the same season.  Yup both.  The first and only player ever to win the titles in both categories in the same year.  Get the papers, get the papers.  The original playground king.  Rucker Park.  Before the Goat.  Before the Helicopter.  Before Skip to My Loo.  Before Swee’ Pea.  Before the Destroyer.  Before the Grim Reaper.  Before all of them.  DeWitt Clinton.  UTEP.  Cincinnati Royals.  Boston Celtics.  Championship.  Hall of Fame.

Diego Maradona:  To millions of crazed, hooligan soccer fans all around this nutty world of ours, Diego Maradona is considered one the greatest players of all time.  Now, soccer doesn’t usually make me rhyme.  But this cat was so sublime.  So sublime that I have nothin’ but love for him baby.  I know he has lots a jewels and stuff.  Backyards with swimming pools, bar with stools and stuff.  But, lovin’, is what I got, I said remember that. 

I cannot think of any other soccer player who dominated the game like this cat done did.  He single handedly made Argentina champions in 1986.  He single handedly took Italian Club Napoli to the top of the Eye-talian football and European Football leagues.  I never really got to see Pele, but this little fella was something else.

Public Spectacle:

Peace out homies. Six two and Even!

Lovely get the ice, pop champagne.  Don’t forget I used to ride on the train.  When I bump it right, call my name.  -LL Cool J

Public Service Announcement:  Ok, here we go!  Like my main Knute Rockne always says, “I’ve found that prayers work best when you have big players.” Here are three big players.  Three big fig players.  Ooey gooey, rich and chewy inside.  Golden cakey, tender flakey outside.  Wrap the inside in the outside.  Is it good?  Darn tootin’!  It’s the big, Fig Newton!  Are these guys good?  Darn tootin’!      

Javier Arenas (Alabama):  You know his cousin.  You know Gilbert Arenas.  It’s about time you got to know Javier.   It’s about time you got to know Mr. Excitement.  Mr. Dynamite.  Boom goes the dynamite.  I’ve always liked return men.  I liked Miami’s Devin Hester.  I liked Widener’s Billy White Shoes Johnson.  I liked Oklahoma’s Antonio Perkins. Now,  I like me some Javier Arenas.  One of the most dangerous return men in the country.  All-SEC cornerback/return specialist Javier Arenas will be a key part of the Crimson Tide secondary and special teams as a senior in 2009.  He is Alabama’s career leader in punt returns yards in a game, season and career as well as touchdowns.  He is the active NCAA leader in career punt returns, punt return yards and punt return touchdowns.  He is worth watching.

Juice Williams (Illinois):  Fling out that dear old flag of Orange and Blue.  Lead on your sons and daughters, fighting for you.  Juice Williams is fighting for you.  He is leading on.  Last season, Juice Williams, like Colt McCoy, lead his team in passing and rushing.  Last season he broke the school record for season total offense with 3,892 yards (719 rushing, 3,173 passing).  Some folks say Juice is an underachiever.  Some folks question his decision-making skills.  I’m not one of those folks.  Juice improved his passing game last year, and will continue to improve it this upcoming year.  He is worth watching.

Jacquizz Rodgers (Oregon State):  The call him the Quizz.  You may remember him rumbling and stumbling for 186 yards in a 27-21 defeat of the mighty USC Trojans.  You may remember he was named the Pac-10′s Offensive Player of the Year, the first ever freshman to earn that honor.  He is a bruising and shifty runner who is difficult to bring down.  Fully healthy after missing final 11 quarters of last season after suffering a left shoulder injury, the Quizz is just a big play waiting to happen.  The Quizz is worth watching.

Peace out homies.  Six two and Even!

Hey, dirty, baby I got your money.  Don’t your worry.  I said hey, baby I got your money.  -Kelis

Public Service Announcement: Ok, here we go!  Matt Cassel should pay the man his money.  He should pay Bernie Pollard his money.  I did my caper.  He owes me.  Everyone’s flashing stuff.  They got money.  Matt Cassel’s flashing stuff.  Matt Cassel got money.  Matt Cassel got a cool 14.65 million.  A cool 14.65 million dollars due to the unfortunate demise of one Mr. Tom Brady.  Due to the unfortunate demise of one Mr. Tom Brady at the hands one Bernie Pollard.  Big score coming from Air France.  Bags of money coming in.  Bags of money due to Bernie Pollard that one fateful day in September.       

I’m not saying what Randy Moss was saying.  I’m not saying, “When I watched it, it looked dirty to me… Any time you see something like that, that looks foul, it looks dirty, it opens your eyes.  So, me personally, it looked dirty.”  I’m not saying that all.  All I’m saying is, if it weren’t for that one fateful day in September, Matt Cassel would not be the rich man he is today.  Matt Cassel would still be carrying a clipboard up and down the Foxboro sidelines. 

That one speck of time.  That one poke check in time.  That one disability check in time.  That was the best time of Matt Cassel’s life.  He’ll never tell you that though.  He’ll tell you something like, “We gotta play ‘em one day at a time.”  He’ll tell you something like, ” I’m just happy to be here and hope I can help the ballclub.” He’ll tell you something like, “I just wanta give it my best shot and, Good Lord willing, things’ll work out.”  That’s what he’d tell you something like.

• I’d tell you, if not for that,  Matt Cassel would never have become AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his Week 7 performance against the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football.  He never would have had 183 passing yards and three touchdowns in a 41–7 rout, which gave him his first three touchdown pass game.
• I’d tell you, if not for that,  Matt Cassel would never have become only the fifth player in NFL history to throw for 400-or-more yards in each of back-to-back games.  Back-to-back in two big games.  Two important games.  Two big, important games against division opponents.  Eye catching games.  One of those games, another AFC Offensive Player of the Week game. 
• I’d tell you, if not for that,  Matt Cassel would never have became only the second player in the last six seasons to run for a touchdown and throw for 400-or-more yards in the same game. 
• I’d tell you, if not for that,  Matt Cassel would never have had the opportunity to  pay his father the ultimate respect.  Matt Cassel would never have had the opportunity to throw for a career-high four scores just a few short days after his father passed away.  I never met Matt Cassel’s father, but I once heard Brett Favre say this after death of his own father: “I knew that my dad would have wanted me to play.”  Play Matt Cassel did.
• I’ d say, if not for that, Matt Cassel would not be rich bitch.

I don’t blame him. I like Matt Cassel.  I do.  I once said, “I’ll take my chances with Matt Cassel.  I’ll go to the dances with Matt Cassel.  Put all my finances on Matt Cassel.  I know he’s no Tom Brady.  He doesn’t have to be.  He doesn’t have to out run the bear, he just has to out run you.”  I meant it.  And keep one other thing in mind.  Keep in mind, Tom Brady owes Mo Lewis some money too.  I’m just saying.  I’m just saying Matt Cassel owes Bernie Pollard some money.

Public Spectacle:

Peace out homies.  Six two and Even!

Peace out homies.  Six two and Even!

Happy trails to you, until we meet again.  Happy trails to you, keep smilin’ until then.  -Roy Rogers

Public Service Announcement:  Ok, here we go!  You knew this was coming.  You knew with a healthy Tom Brady, Matt Cassel was going to become expendable.  Money to spendable.  To the Kansas City Chiefs he is sendable.  Yes sports fans, according to Peter King, the New England Patriots have traded quarterback Matt Cassel and linebacker Mike Vrabel to Kansas City for the Chiefs’ second-round pick in the 2009 draft.  I am not going to get into the merits of this trade.  There’s plenty of time for that.  No, I am going to get into the merits of one Mister Matt Cassel.    

When Tom Brady went down in the first game of the season last year, I gave up hope.  I thought all was lost.  I thought you said are all right spider.  I thought wrong.  Matt Cassel who had never started a significant game since graduating high school, proved me wrong.  He proved us all wrong.  Like my main man Randy Moss always says, ”Haters keep hating, we’re coming! ”

Matt Cassel came all right.  Came hard, his calling card.  Came calling with back to back 400-yard games.  Only the fifth player in NFL history to throw for 400-or-more yards in each of back-to-back games.  Yowza!  The other quarterbacks to do that were Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, Phil Simms and Billy Volek.  But they didn’t do what Mighty Matt Cassel done did.  They didn’t do it in two big games.  Two important games.  They didn’t do it in two big, important games against division opponents.  Mighty Matt Cassel did.

Mighty Matt Cassel might not have the arm of Tom Terrific.  When there is trouble, he’s there on the double.  From Atlantic to Pacific, they know Tom Terrific!  Mighty Matt Cassel may not have the legs of Steve Grogan.  Thirty-five career rushing touchdowns Steve Grogan.  But, put them together and whaddyagot?  You got Mighty Matt Cassel.  Last season, Cassel became only the second player in the last six seasons to run for a touchdown and throw for 400-or-more yards in the same game.  How about that?

None of that was as good as this.  When Matt Cassel’s father passed away, a few days later, Cassel threw for a career-high four scores. Threw for three in the first half.  The rootinest tootenist cowboy in a shootout with the Oakland Raiders.  I never met Matt Cassel’s father, but I once heard Brett Favre say this after death of his own father: “I knew that my dad would have wanted me to play.”  Play Matt Cassel did. 

Bill Belichick: “I can’t say enough about Matt Cassel.  He carried us a long way today.  It was a tough situation for him, and he met the challenge.” I can’t say enough about Matt Cassel either. Soon it will be Chief fans who can’t say enough.  Goodbye Matt, we hardly knew ya.

Public Spectacle:

Peace out homies.  Six two and Even!

I know that I can’t take no more.  It ain’t no lie.  I wanna see you out that door, baby, bye bye bye.  -N Sync

Public Service Announcement: Ok, here we go!  The Arizona Cardinals fired defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast yesterday.  Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.  Fired six days after his unit allowed a game-winning 78-yard touchdown drive within the final three minutes of the Super Bowl.  Egads man!  Arizona gave up 26.6 points per game during the 2008 regular season.  That was easily the highest average permitted by any team that reached the Super Bowl.  You can’t expect to keep your job like that. 

Peace out homies.  Six two and Even!

It might feel good.  It might sound a little somethin’.  But damn the game
if it don’t mean nothin’.  -Public Enemy

Public Service Announcement: Ok, here we go!  I don’t want to do this one.  Really don’t want to do this one.  Makes me feel a little sick to do this one.  Haven’t had to this one in five years.  Haven’t had to do this one since Tom Brady took over as QB of the NEP.  I have to do it now.  I don’t like it.  I have to do it. 

Yesterday hurt.  Yesterday hurt a lot.  Watching the New England Patriots play as well as they did and Brett Favre as badly as he did, hurt.  Yesterday was a long day coming.  Eighteen weeks coming.  Eighteen weeks ago, fifteen plays in, we all saw the writing on the wall.  Eighteen weeks ago, fifteen plays in, we all saw Bernard Pollard take out Tom Brady.  We knew then what we now.  No playoffs for the Patriots.  We didn’t want to believe it.  But we knew it.

Don’t get me wrong.  I loved what Matt Cassel did this season.  Played with heart.  Played with poise.  Played above everybody’s expectations.  However, Senator, I served with Tom Brady.   I knew Tom Brady.  Tom Brady was a friend of mine.  Senator, you’re no Tom Brady.  Nobody is.

The Patriots are out of the playoffs despite an 11-5 season.  They played like a playoff team for most of the season.  They are not a playoff team.  Bill Belichick said, “I’m really proud of our team today.  Going 11-5, winning the last four, coming here today, I thought we played well as a football team.”  They did.  They did play well as a football team.  Not as well as they would have if it were Tom Brady at the helm.  Not as well as they would have with the best quarterback who ever lived.  Wait until next year bitches!

Peace out homies.  Six two and even!