No Moss

I'm not convinced that getting Randy Moss is the huge coup for the Patriots that most people seem to think it is. The guy's 30 now and hasn't had a great season in years. (And I do happen to think Miami actually got the better of the Pats in the Welker deal though we'll have to wait and see how good Satele is). Even if Moss can still turn on those mad skillz, can the Pats really count on him? Moss is a head case, he's admitted that he only plays when he wants to play, he's walked off the field before a game was over, and he pretty much quit on his team the last two years. I'm not ready to just hand New England the Lombardi trophy yet. Of course they'll be better than Miami, we all know that. And yeah, I'm not crazy about Miami's free agent moves. They need to blow the whole thing up and get younger so signing guys like David Martin, Joey Porter, and The Schles don't make a whole lot of sense in toto (you heard me). I was against the idea of signing Trent Green, but now that they've got Beck I guess it's no big deal since Green would just be a place holder until Cam thinks Beck's ready.

You know the Moss thing reminded me of this SI article naming the all-time best first-round draft picks at each draft position. They've got Moss as the all-time best 21st pick. Clearly his stats blow away the numbers of his fellow former 21st draft pick Lynn Swann, but I would take Swann any day over The Freak. Nobody ever accused Lynn Swann of not giving it his all, or not running out his routes, or not laying out for a block or a tough catch over the middle. A vicious hit from Jack Tatum in the 1975 AFC Title Game gave Swann a concussion but he shook it off two weeks later to be the MVP of Super Bowl. Swann delivered in 3 Super Bowls and has got to be considered as one of the NFL’s all-time big-game performers. Sure his numbers leave a little to be desired (thanks to his playing for a running team in a running era), but Swann was great especially at crunch time (I’m speaking of football only of course. He sucks as an announcer and unlike the Hall of Fame, Pennsylvania voters resoundingly rejected his ass).

BTW, check out this excerpt from an interview with Belichick biographer the late David Halberstam:

JM: You mentioned ego. Tell me about that in the context of Belichick.
DH: If Bill could get Randy Moss or Terrell Owens for $1.5 million a year, he would not do it. If one player takes up too much oxygen, it is not good. He looks for players who accept the concept of team. Bill, himself, has a tremendous ego, but it manifests itself in the concept of team. He learned from his father and other mentors that the team depends on him to lead them. He takes this responsibility very seriously.

Where's your messiah now Halberstam?