Life without Asante

By Os Davis  |   Wednesday, June 06, 2007  |  Comments( 2 )

New England Patriots
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New England Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel told a reporter at the Boston Globe that he is "not coming to camp" and "not showing up until the 10th week of the season."

Whatever else the Patriots may excel in, the player relations department is apparently not among them. Disgruntled employees are a regular phenomenon, with every preseason in the A.B. (After Belichick/Brady) Era seeing players of note from Terry Glenn to Deion Branch hold out, become trade bait or get benched.

This year, that'll be Samuel, surely the single most maddening player on this New England squad since becoming a Patriot in 2003. After not playing too aggressively for a couple of 14-2 seasons, Samuel learned to tackle in 2005, with 44 solos; unfortunately, those who saw Peyton Manning torch him in the regular season that year still have flashbacks. And we won't even bring up that Denver Broncos playoff game...

Then, there was last year, in which Samuel became the Pro Bowler his deepest devotees always believe he would. Bolstering perhaps the best Patriots pass defense ever (seriously, these guys' numbers are sweet), Samuel ran up 10 picks -- tying Champ Bailey for most overall -- and an incredible 60 solo tackles.

And now, just as he peaks, the New England front office decides to, at least in Asante's estimation, screw him over with the franchise tag. (What's hilarious, in a sick way, is that the Patriots could theoretically relabel Samuel the franchise player next year as well.) Thus far, Tom Brady has not come to Samuel's defense as he did with Branch about one year ago, but we all saw how much influence the QB's word had in 2006 regardless.

Can the Patriots take this hit? Sure, why not? Bill Belichick's defense has been among the NFL's top two in three of the last four seasons, and Samuel has little effect in the Pats' bread-and-butter 'D', i.e. the red-zone stand.

Plus this year, New England figures to be all about the offense in a way the team hasn't been during this Super Bowl run. Regardless, somehow, the offense has been top 10 in scoring five of the last six seasons, last year finishing seventh overall. "So the Patriots give up another passing TD," goes the reasoning, "they can make it up on offense."

And don't forget that other great modern-day Patriot cliché: It all about the scheme, not the players.

Whatever. Yes, sure, Belichick and Co. can take the hit of a roster without Samuel, but why is the Pats' front office doing this? Simply because they can?

Ladies and gentlemen, your New England Patriots: first in defense, first in the AFC, dead last in player-friendliness.

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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's...
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