2011 New England Patriots

[Thrashen]

If Palmer did as you want, he would be a bigger pariah in American life than Casey Anthony. I don't think that is an exaggeration. Casey is regularly supported by TV talking head attorneys on the basis of her acquittal. Palmer or any white star athlete who criticized the system on racial grounds wouldn't get ANY consideration.

Actually, Palmer has far more to lose than any of us, because he is a public figure. It doesn't matter how much he has in the bank; why should he be a pariah for the rest of his life when such an act of self-destruction will accomplish nothing at this time? The real difference is that you and I are politically and racially aware of what's going on; this site is a reflection of that. Carson Palmer is a jock; no more, no less. What you want him to do is nonsensical.

Bigunreal used the phrases “speak the truth” and “stop being P.C. for no reason”…behavior that is entirely different from some sort of “career suicide” as a result of an incensed racial discourse roaring from a national podium. Perhaps he mentioned exactly what he’d “like them to do” in another post in some other thread.

Last season, Aaron Rodgers stated that John Kuhn “won’t outrun anyone” and also made allusions that Jordy Nelson also lacked speed. Mind you, Rodgers wasn’t prompted whatsoever by the NewsJews at the press-conference to make either statement….he wanted to, and that really pisses me off. In my opinion, the suggestion that high-profile white quarterbacks should purposely avoid making pro-caste statements, or display even the slightest amount of “white solidarity” is far from “buffoonery.”

Of course, I too yearn for Bigunreal to increase the frequency of his posts and to exhume his always-compelling “Don King’s America” material.

 

[bigunreal]

Thanks for the support, Thrashen. I truly respect you, too, and am grateful that you always seem to understand my perspective.

I am still living in Don King's America, just like the rest of you (and you Canadians, Brits and Aussies are living in a close facsimile of it). Unfortunately, these kinds of self-destructive remarks and actions by white players are an essential part of Don King's America. It couldn't be called that without the express cooperation of people like Aaron Rodgers, Carson Palmer, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, etc.

I've pointed out several times that I am NOT asking that Palmer, Rodgers or any other white player declare their opposition to the Caste System. I am merely expressing my constitutional right to criticize them for needlessly promoting black teammates, at the expense of far more talented whites who are competing with them. I also understand quite well that they are jocks, and probably have no understanding of the Caste System. I don't think they make calculated moves to promote these black players, but regardless, they do it unprovoked. No one asks them to. THAT is what really irks me. Again, I don't expect them to understand the discrimination and inequity involved in the politics of sports, but I should not be castigated for commenting on their remarks when they make them.

And I maintain that the Caste System will never be overturned until somebody stands up. That somebody can't be an anonymous poster on an internet forum; it has to be a high profile white involved in the sport in some way. Maybe Palmer is relishing the prospect of a broadcasting career, joining the likes of Warren Sapp and Jamie Dukes, and competing with them in extolling the virtues of affletes and scoffing at the few white players in the league. If so, I hope he enjoys all that money in the bank.

 

[dwid]

well most guys like Palmer and Rodgers probably think like the average dwf so they are going to think the same stereotypes until they actually call a go route for Nelson and Rodgers underthrows miscalculating his speed. Ive seen White players downplay their own abilities. They're quarterbacks,they haven't faced the caste system like other players, they have been throwing to mostly blacks their entire career. Having a good relationship with your teammates is a big part in being a team leader (qb). Piss off one of them and they all get pissed. The only players aware of discrimination are the White skill position players. I know Tommy Z has talked about it, but hes not famous enough to openly speak about it and make any difference. Maybe Hillis can after he has a few good seasons. Gerhart talked about it and it didn't get much publicity.

The only qb that openly advocates for White receivers is Manning but even he stereotypes. He probably thinks they are all 4.6 guys that are best at going across the middle like his older brother back at Newman, which would explain why Collie is so misused.

I can't blame them, I played football a while back and had the same views, no idea that discrimination existed, so I can't hold it against the guys, but you can look at a team like the Patriots where it seems different, the White players all seem to be good buddies etc, no one downplays the ability of a teammate.

However this is a site to support White athletes, so if a quarterback happens to have the stereotypical beliefs that my dad and other friends and family members of mine have doesn't mean I am going to criticize them. It upsets me but I still will support those players. I can't expect them to be educated on the issue.

A high profile athlete talking about discrimination is not likely to change much. It is going to take more than that. The scouting services are one of our biggest enemies, not only do most colleges use these, but a majority of NFL teams do as well. The Patriots are a team who does not, which is why their draft board looks different from most teams.

 

[ToughJ.Riggins]

Don, bigunreal made a great post the other day comparing how black busts (ie. Mike Williams, Vernon Gholston) get new chances with new teams. Meanwhile, white "busts" (ie. Brady Quinn) are usually one team and done. They are rebuked constantly ad naseum instead of getting a chance to reignite their careers (even with limited opportunities as starters).

I don't recall big's Don King's America posts all too clearly and it maybe b/c it was in happy hour, but calling it ""Don King's" America""sounds about right.

I think it depends on big's advice as to how white athletes should speak out: Gerhart has brought up some of the stereotyping issues- albeit in very small doses. Hillis and Jacob Hester have both mentioned racial trash talking they have received from more than one racist player on the field. I do think white skill players can mention sports stereotyping as Don Bebee has (the article is posted in the "Trying to Convince Drunk White fans" thread). The best way to speak out for public figures-is to compare the plight of the current white RB, WR, CB, whatever, to the former struggle of the black QB. This comparison is not PC, but it would at least keep the white guilt police and "racist" name callers off their back.

Don, I don't agree with big on the "fixed" theories either, but I do find those threads very amusing/ interesting. IMHO big has contributed some great things to the board. I do however, hope to see some more white vs. black performance evaluation double standards posts from him- like the prior one he did yesterday. If he did more frequent posting he would have more time for these.

 

[Don Wassall]

Yes, bigunreal can make some good posts; he used to write them with considerably more frequency than he does now. In fact I'll go so far as to say that there was a time that when I noticed that bigunreal had posted on a topic I would be eager to read what he had written.

But as dwid writes, this is a site to support White athletes, and bigunreal's fixation with Carson Palmer and his criticism of Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and others is contrary to the purpose of this site. And his conspiracy stuff went way beyond reasonable some time ago; he has been challenged on his theory's many discrepancies many times, and all he can ever muster is "I don't know how or why they do it." Somewhere along the line the quality of his posts took a very sharp downward turn.

No one can coast by on past posts, or how long they have been here; in my opinion bigunreal has been a detriment to the site in recent years; his posts often make him, and by extension us, look foolish.

 

[Riddlewire]

LINK

The Pats resigned Ben&Jerry's Green Acres and signed yet another free agent black runningback.
I'm thinking they've got Woodhead tabbed for ST duty.

 

[dwid]

Woodhead isn't going to get any less than 200 touches (rush/rec) next year. Mark it down. The other rb is nothing but training camp fodder. They are getting rid of Sammy Morris, Fred Taylor and Kevin Faulk. Most teams carry around 4 to 5 backs. Woodhead, Lawfirm, Vereen and Ridley. Bellicheck is not stupid enough to reduce the role of someone so productive, no other back can average 5+ yards out of shotgun formation and be the receiving threat Woodhead is, not even Faulk had the running success Woodhead had. Did you realize the article also mentioned they released a runningback as well? Clayton

The only reason he drafted two guys is for depth. The talent pool of black athletes is shrinking. If he had drafted backs any later in the draft they would've been lucky to make the team, so there would be no depth behind Woodhead and Lawfirm. I'm not even sure Ridley will make the cut and he was a 3rd rounder, unless they plan on making him a hybrid tb/fb, but there isn't much use of a fullback in their system with Hernandez and Gronkowski as tight ends who motion around. The best Ridley could do is goal line/short yardage specialist.

 

[FootballDad]

Another big plus for Danny is that since New England runs a pass-heavy offense, he is a key component. He can catch anything out of the backfield, and even at his "diminutive size" (to quote haters/DWFs) he is by far the best pass-blocking back the Patriots have. Most likely even better than their recently-acquired big backs. He just flat-out stones blitzing linebackers.

 

[Don Wassall]

I'm picking up Woodhead on the cheap in fantasy football whenever I can. I think he's going to once again "surprise" just as he did last year. He should be even more effective this season as he's had the off-season to learn the team's system better, while the lockout makes it even more difficult for the two RBs drafted early by the team to contribute in '11.

 

[JReb1]

BB wouldn't have signed Danny to a contract extension if he didn't plan on using him. I see DW being used much more this year since he's now much more familiar with the Pats playbook.

 

[Thrashen]

2[SUP]nd[/SUP] year LB, Dane Fletcher, injured his right thumb in the pre-season game against Tampa Bay and is now wearing a cast. It is unclear if his thumb is broken or merely sprained, or if he’ll be ready for the opening game against Miami on 9/12. Fortunately, injured or not, Fletcher does appear to be one of the precious few white players in the Patriot’s long term defensive plans.

In one year’s time, Fletcher has gone from an undrafted “training camp tackling dummy,â€￾ to making the 53-man roster, to receiving a decent amount of 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] down snaps last season, to calling the defensive formations (as a MLB, not an OLB) with a radio in his helmet in the first two pre-season games.

 

[whiteathlete33]

Another slap on the wrist for Fat Albert.

Albert Haynesworth - DL - Patriots

Patriots DT Albert Haynesworth pleaded no contest Monday to simple assault in connection with a February incident at the "W" Hotel in D.C.



Haynesworth reached a plea bargain with prosecutors to have the charge reduced from misdemeanor sexual abuse. He'll get 160 hours of community service. We still wouldn't be surprised to see the league take some disciplinary action.

 

[Thrashen]

In 2011, the Patriots should keep, at the very least, 23 whites on the 53-man opening day roster…

OFFENSE:
Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, Danny Woodhead, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, Rob Gronkowski, Will Yeatman, Lee Smith, Sebastian Vollmer, Logan Mankins, Dan Koppen, Matt Light, Nate Solder, Dan Connolly, Rich Ohrnberger, Steve Maneri.

DEFENSE:
Mike Wright, Rob Ninkovich, Dane Fletcher.

SPECIALISTS:
Stephen Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko, Matt Katula.

In my estimation, there could be as many as 25-26 whites on the 53-man roster. This depends on how many players the Patriots decide to keep at other positions such as WR, DL, LB, TE, RB, and DB.

Pending these numerical decisions (or injured black players), there could easily be a roster spot for TE Garrett Mills, LB Jeff Tarpinian, or LB Ricky Brown.

 

[FootballDad]

Since it seems to be a slow posting day, I thought I would post this article about the latest Flutie to make the Patriots' roster: Doug Flutie’s daughter makes Patriots’ squad … as a cheerleader

[/h]

 

[Drunkjewishfan]

Does anyone here think Danny Woodhead might get a starting roll over Green-Ellis because of his 2 great preseason performances so far this preseason?

 

[jaxvid]

Does anyone here think Danny Woodhead might get a starting roll over Green-Ellis because of his 2 great preseason performances so far this preseason?

Danny Woodhead is one of the most exciting ball carriers in the NFL, he shouldn't just be starting ahead of Green-Ellis but nearly every other back in the league. It's a criminal tragedy that such a talent has to be made a second banana just because of his skin color, when oh when will the NFL embrace my dream that a man should be judged by the content of his play not the color of his skin!!!!

 

[Drunkjewishfan]

I would like to see Woodhead get more carries this year as I think there is a negative stereotype about smaller running backs being injury prone. If I remember correctly he injured himself in the preseason with his first year on the NY Jets. I would love to see him get 15-20 carries this year but Bill Belicheck's mind is a tough one to read. Considering Danny averaged a whole 1 yard more per carry than Ellis I dont see why he should at least share the amount of carries. He is clearly the best reciever out of the backfield.

 

[Carolina Speed]

Since it seems to be a slow posting day, I thought I would post this article about the latest Flutie to make the Patriots' roster: Doug Flutie’s daughter makes Patriots’ squad … as a cheerleader

[/h]

Thanks Footballdad, your post just made my day!

 

[dwid]

I would like to see Woodhead get more carries this year as I think there is a negative stereotype about smaller running backs being injury prone. If I remember correctly he injured himself in the preseason with his first year on the NY Jets. I would love to see him get 15-20 carries this year but Bill Belicheck's mind is a tough one to read. Considering Danny averaged a whole 1 yard more per carry than Ellis I dont see why he should at least share the amount of carries. He is clearly the best reciever out of the backfield.

Small runningbacks? more like White runningbacks. Peyton Hillis is 240 pounds and people say the same thing. Besides, Warrick Dunn was 5'8 190 pounds with Woodhead being 5'7 3/8th 200 pounds (195 when he first came out). Which means he has more mass since he is shorter. Dunn pretty much got 220+ carries every season in his prime and healthy. The only exception was his 3rd year when he averaged 3.2 ypc. He still got 195 carries that year even though there was a more productive Mike Alstott on the team. It was the year Alstott was 51 yards away from 1,000, if he gotten 13 more carries he couldve definitely broken it. The 2nd time was his 5th season where he averaged 2.8 ypc. This was Mike Alstott's best season ypc wise.

Anyway im rambling but Dunn got enough touches to get 1,000 yards from scrimmage every year of his 12 year career except for the 2nd to last where he fell short 42 yards. Jamaal Charles is the same weight at a few inches taller which means Woodhead is carrying more bulk. These guys prove that Woodhead can handle at least 200+ carries (not even including receptions, Dunn always had plenty of receptions and Charles has quite a bit as well).

The guy that proves he could be a feature back is Chris Johnson 5'11 195 pounds who has touched the ball 1062 times in the past 3 years. The year he broke the 2k mark he had 358 carries with a 5.6 ypc, the same ypc Woodhead had last season. There are some who say that he wouldn't maintain that average with more carries, but I think he could, it would give him the opportunity to break off more big runs.

 

[JReb1]

Hopefully when DW keeps outperforming the other RB's (like he has in preseason) BB will finally give Danny a chance to be the featured back or at least a 60/40 split in his favor.

 

[Drunkjewishfan]

Thank you for the insight DWID. Im wondering if Belicheck will start Woodhead this year with his preseason performances thus far?

 

[FootballDad]

I personally expect it to at least start off like last year, with Lawfirm starting and Woodhead coming in on 2nd and 3rd down situations. I didn't see last night's game, but it doesn't look like Woody played a whole lot, only showing 2 carries (6 yard and 5 yards, total 11) on the stat sheet. Shane Vareen got the bulk of the carries in last night's game, "amassing" a whopping 34 yards on 11 carries. If you subtract his one long-gainer of 14 yards, he averaged 2 yards a carry on his other 10!

 

[Thrashen]

I personally expect it to at least start off like last year, with Lawfirm starting and Woodhead coming in on 2nd and 3rd down situations. I didn't see last night's game, but it doesn't look like Woody played a whole lot, only showing 2 carries (6 yard and 5 yards, total 11) on the stat sheet. Shane Vareen got the bulk of the carries in last night's game, "amassing" a whopping 34 yards on 11 carries. If you subtract his one long-gainer of 14 yards, he averaged 2 yards a carry on his other 10!

Agreed. Woodhead’s role is as a lightning-fast “scat back” (one of the best I’ve seen since Barry Sanders) appears quite secure. Green-Ellis isn’t particularly fast, elusive, athletic, or even talented as a receiver out of backfield…but he’s a proper workhorse with some decent power, endurance and durability. Like Woodhead, he was undrafted (out of Ole Miss), signed to the practice squad, and worked his way to the starting running back position. In my assessment, he’s earned his spot. Woodhead, despite possessing superhuman speed and agility, may benefit from Green-Ellis absorbing some punishment.

The drafting of RB’s Shane Vareen and Stevan Ridley was likely to replace an aging group of black backups, special teams players and role players. Sammy Morris, Fred Taylor, Kevin Faulk, etc. Taylor is gone, Morris will likely make the 53-man roster and Faulk will likely begin the season on the PUP list. When Faulk is activated, Morris will likely be released.

I’ve only seen one Patriot pre-season game, so I’m not sure if Vareen has played much on special teams. Ridley has been injured until yesterday’s game, which I didn’t watch, so I’m sure about his special teams role, either.

Of course, the question still remains…why was Woodhead playing the “gunner” on punt returns earlier this month?

 

[dwid]

Using Lawfirm as much as they do doesn't make that much sense. He would be better suited for a team like the Jets.

What the Patriots like to do is usually run him out of power formations, two tight ends everything lined up tight, and sometimes Dan Connoly as a fullback. This sets up the play action deep down the field. It works great, they love to pass out of the run heavy formations but if nobody is open downfield then Lawfirm isn't really a checkdown guy. He can pass block but then if Connoly is in that is 2 guys that aren't real receiving threats. I think Woodhead would be busting off bigger gains in these formations, if the defense is sucked close to the line of scrimmage, he gets a crease and only one or two guys to miss between the endzone. The Chiefs used a similar concept last year with Jamaal Charles, they would line up an extra tackle to make it a more run heavy look, and they also passed heavily out of this formation, but Charles was a receiving threat.

Then for Woodhead, they like him to run out of pass heavy formations, 3 to 4 receivers spread out (yes they use Hernandez and Gronkowski quite a bit but they are usually more spread out). Breaking off a long run requires alot of quickness out of this because the defenders are playing farther off the line and are sometimes left unblocked.

The thing with Woodhead is that he can excel in both situations, Lawirm couldn't take Woodhead's role and be consistently effective in the formations he runs out of. I would rather see Woodhead get about 70 percent of the carries and Lawfirm 30 %. Lawfirm has proven he is a starting quality rb, but his skillset is not best suited for the Patriots scheme. I just think his skillset translates more to a team like the Jets.

 

[Deadlift]

New England agrees to a deal with sumo Brian Waters. :thumbdown::thumbdown::thumbdown: