Are the Patriots Turning into Scuds?

By Bob Herpen
The Phanatic Magazine

I was about 10 minutes away from continuing a leisurely Sunday off by eating dinner at Chickie’s and Pete’s on Packer Avenue, when I spied with my little eye this piece of information on a sub-crawl from ESPN’s second day of coverage of the NFL Draft:

Oakland trades wide receiver Randy Moss to the New England Patriots for a fourth-round draft choice.

Only minutes before, while perusing the LCD screens for an update on the Red Sox 7-4 victory over the Yankees, I pumped my fist and muttered an emphatically whispered “Yesss!!” in celebration at the good news. My, how things do change.

So, it begins.

Along with the selection of University of Miami’s troubled safety Brandon Meriweather (last seen stomping on that poor kid from Florida International back in October) at number 24, New England seems to want to adopt a take-all-comers attitude, something which may be indicative of creeping hubris on the part of the franchise.

After years of building success as an all-for-one, one-for-all enterprise, the Patriots may believe their system is so solid, that it can take virtually anyone it wants, permit the proper time for molding, and come out smelling of roses. If so, then the old Bible quote applies: “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Be wary of the next step, which might be owner Robert Kraft suddenly declaring his team the new “Gold Standard” of the NFL.

Even more alarming was the opening sentence in the first paragraph of ESPN’s initial story, which I read within minutes of waking up on Monday:

“Convinced in discussions with Randy Moss that he believes his NFL legacy is tied to winning a Super Bowl and not to individual accomplishments…”

Paging Len Pasquarelli - it’s time for him to step up and start compiling research for the eventual Christmas 2008 best-seller, “The Last Day of the Patriots Dynasty.” He can start by doing a little cross-referencing with ESPN Senior Baseball Writer Buster Olney, who’s already broached the subject with his recent tome on the collapse of the Yankees mini-empire. All Randy did in those talks was to say all the “right things,” something any of us desperate for a job would say to any prospective employer. But we all know he’s nothing more than football’s version of Eddie Haskell.

Moss’ signing presents Belichick with his first true test of his New England coaching tenure: bringing into the fold someone who has established himself so firmly as anti-team, and expecting him to perform at a level he is capable of achieving without ego getting in the way. As Pasquarelli wrote in a subsequent piece:

Whowner Art Modell after the 1995 season, after compiling a 37-45 record, Belichick did a lot of soul-searching about what had gone wrong in his first head coaching gig. One of the conclusions he reached after the lengthy self-examination was that if he ever got a second chance to be a head coach, he would treat everyone the same.

The same rules for everyone. No favorites. No exceptions.

The philosophy has worked pretty well, most observers would agree, during Belichick's tenure as a head coach. He inherited a franchise that was a halfway house for malcontents and incorrigibles and transformed it into a team on which everyone is just naturally expected to go all the way, and on every play.” en he was fired by Cleveland Browns

Trading for Moss is as solid a piece of evidence as exists that the Patriots are about to encounter the steep down slope that exists at the end of any plateau.

And for what? That proverbial Last Crack at a Title? They’ve won three already by resisting the temptations of the Football Devil and not giving into the Superstar Machine. Why change now, and why go the route of so-called lesser football minds? Maybe Belichick and the top brass within the organization feel they can deal with the Devil they know rather than gamble on a true wild card. Nonetheless, in spite of his talent and numbers (676 catches, 10,700 yards, 101 TD’s in 138 games) Moss is the epitome of a malcontent, an incorrigible, one who demands that rules be set aside and apart for him.

If any of this crosses the minds of those in power in Foxboro, it just sounds too hauntingly familiar, like the rhetoric at the last two stops on Terrell Owens’ bullet train to oblivion.

Rehabbing or massaging careers of players with certain stigmas attached is a mostly un-winnable situation. John Madden built world-class credentials doing it with the Raiders from 1969 through 1978. John Lucas, himself a redeemed drug addict, failed miserably with the 76ers halfway house in his two years behind the bench. Buddy Ryan also failed at the endeavor, though his teams remain beloved for their rebel image.

I wonder what the thought process will be when those early August two-a-days inevitably cause a conflict amongst players. What if Teddy Bruschi or Richard Seymour or Asante Samuel infuriates a young Meriweather so much that his violent impulses cause him to either injure or be injured by the other involved in that fracas?

Higher power help me whenever I find myself aligned with the opinions of Jim Rome, but I have to agree with his assertion that Moss is clearly not at a stage in his career or maturity where all that matters is winning. Nor will he ever be.

No longer given the luxury of being the center of attention, Moss will have trouble with the concept that the chuck-and-duck down the sideline will never be a part of the play calling. Likewise, the idea of blocking, or sacrifice in the middle of the field will be as foreign and disorienting to him as counter-clockwise flushing toilets and Summer in December are to American tourists in the Southern Hemisphere.

If this trend continues, Gillette Stadium might require a name change to Foxboro Rehabilitation Facility. In that case, I know a strong-side linebacker who dresses like a Harvard professor and plays a mean air banjo that’s looking for work.