Stats on Pats Weekly: The Draft Article by Joshua Bonneau, southcoast247.com correspondent
Notes on a Wicked Fahkin Awesome Off-season… So Fah
Well, well. Welcome back to the land of everything Patriot’s, and everything wicked fahkin awesome about Boston sports.
It’s early may. The Sox are perched atop the Al east, The Yankees are blowing goats in last place, the sun is making a return voyage to this part of the earth, the birds are singing, and everything seems to be sunshine peaches and puppy farts here in Boston.
But wait, dare I say there’s more?
Well, for the water-heads out there, this past weekend was the 2007 NFL draft weekend, and once again it seems as though the New England Patriot’s, namely Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli, have taken everyone’s money at the proverbial table.
The Pats, who as we all know received the twenty fourth overall draft pick from the Seattle Seahawks as part of their Deon Branch trade, used that to acquire Miami safety and sometimes felon Brandon Meriweather. If you remember, the 5’ 11” 192 lb. Meriweather was involved in the bench- clearing brawl between Miami and Florida International back in October of last year, which resulted in the suspension of thirty one players on both teams. Look closely at the video footage of the melee, you can see number 19 Meriweather leave the bench and assist another teammate in stomping on the head of one fallen opposition. Clearly, a case of self defense.
Which was also the case in an off-field altercation Meriweather was involved in, when he and his roommate returned gunfire at three prowlers outside of their Miami Apartment last year. According to Miami police, the gun was legal and registered to Meriweather.
No one is doubting the young thug’s talent. In 2005, Meriweather led Miami with 115 tackles. He is a smart and versatile player, who will undoubtedly fit in well under the Pat’s system.
But is talent enough? Well, for me it is, but obviously the Patriots organization did their homework on this guy.
“I don’t think that’s who he is. I spent time with him and a lot of people in the organization think football’s important to him… We’ve all made mistakes,” said Belichick on their twenty-fourth rounder after the draft.
With the selection, the Pats fill an obvious need on defense. Meriweather should make and excellent addition at the safety position alongside Rodney Harrison and Eugene Wilson next season.
In 2005, Randy Moss admitted to Bryant Gumbel on HBO's "Real Sports" that
he still smoked marijuana "once every blue moon."
From there, the Pats traded their natural pick, the twenty eighth overall to the 49ers for their fourth round pick and a first round selection in the 2008 draft. This is a very smart move by the Patriot’s, who obviously weren’t thrilled with this year’s first round board. So seeing as they were in the position to trade down, or in other words, to stockpile picks for next year since they already have so much depth, that’s exactly what they did.
Moving right along, the Pat’s didn’t have a second round pick because they packaged it to Miami in the Wes Welker trade- another brilliant off-season move by the wicked awesome disco team, Piolo and Belichick.
As for everything else that happened at the draft, who cares. Oh, that is, aside from the Pat’s trading their fourth round pick to the Oakland Raiders for wide receiver Randy Moss.
“What’s that you say, Josh, come again?”
That’s godamn right. Pack your balls for Arizona, folks, and for super bowl XLII- the Pats acquired the unbelievably talented yet troubled wide receiver for basically a handful of expired coupons during the fourth round of the draft on Sunday.
Randy Moss, the 6-4, 210 pound all pro wideout drafted by
Minnesota in 1998. Or said a different way, the guy who has over one-hundred career touchdown catches in the nine years he’s been in the league.
Now, it’s no secret- Randy Moss is a troublemaker, a primadona, a malcontent. We all know of his character issues, and the litany of offenses that he brings to New England including his reputation as a habitual team quitter.
At this point, I have no interest in whether or not the Patriot’s have compromised their reputation as being the one organization that does not bring in these types of players- the hallmark they have prided themselves on since Robert Kraft bought the team. To be honest, I just don’t care about all of that, it bores me.
Furthermore, shame on the Boston media for what they have created- you might think the coming of Randy Moss meant the end of morality as we know it. All I know is that from a business standpoint, the deal makes all the sense in the world. The upside is huge, and if it doesn’t work out, Randy is dumped faster than Chinese food.
"Bill and Scott have shown that they can assemble players,
especially veteran players, who can acclimate to our culture," owner Robert Kraft told The Associated Press. "If people don't adjust to our standards, they won't be here."
So let that be the end of it. Randy Moss is just one more in the weapons cache that the Patriot’s have assembled this off-season. From star LB Adalius Thomas, to former Philadelphia wideout Donte Stallworth, to the ever-so-versatile Wes Welker; the list goes on.
So with that, the nation outside of New England has a hard truth to face. They’ll be forced to acknowledge the Patriot’s, yet again, as the team to beat.
So cheers to a wicked fahkin awesome off-season, and to looking ahead at the 2007-2008 season. By my calculations, we’re about 91 days from training camp, but um, who’s counting.
It’s early may. The Sox are perched atop the Al east, The Yankees are blowing goats in last place, the sun is making a return voyage to this part of the earth, the birds are singing, and everything seems to be sunshine peaches and puppy farts here in Boston.
