An open letter to Robert Kraft

By Os Davis  |   Friday, June 22, 2007  |  Comments( 19 )

New England Patriots
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Dear Mr. Kraft,

I'm writing to you today on behalf of New England Patriots fans, those who believe hard work should be rewarded, those sick to death of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, and those who just plain old love butt-kicking good football.

Presumptuous of me, to be sure, but hear me out (read me out?) please.

I have but one plea, and I'm sure others would agree. Please just put the Pats' house in order. Settle up with Asante Samuel and Troy Brown.

I know how it is. Your guys have had a tremendous offseason. You're the prohibitive favorites to win the AFC championship, if not the Super Bowl. You've survived losses of Ty Law and Adam Vinatieri and Willie McGinest and Deion Branch and what is another incision of another unhappy player, anyway? You're the New England Patriots, right?

Right.

And I know how you must feel about Samuel. In years 2003 and 2004, it was painful to see how much better Peyton Manning could look, and that example the referees made of him in the divisional round against the Denver Broncos was excruciating.

But Asante proved us all wrong in 2006, didn't he? Somehow, Bill Belichick soothed you into thinking Samuel would be all right out there and now he is. No, more: Asante Samuel was one of the premier DBs in the NFL last year, with 10 interceptions.

You don't draft that kind of improvement, Mr. Kraft. You can't sign that kind of improvement. That kind of improvement represents hard work on the part of Samuel, that drive for continuous excellence that's mentioned in the team's mission statement. Why wouldn't you give him a medium-term or even long-term contract if that's what he wants? Why wouldn't you pay him the highest salary in the entire league for the 2007 season? (I bet you still have cap room...) In the worst-case scenario, dude plays his patootie off in the hopes of impressing would-be suitors in the 2008 free-agent market.

Sign Asante Samuel, Mr. Kraft. You do and your Patriots look invincible; you don't and teams will be going long with some success against New England throughout 16 games.

Then there's Troy Brown. I know "intangibles" don't appear on the balance sheet nor the stat sheet. I know that signing Donte' Stallworth and Randy Moss and Wes Welker makes your WR corps more top-heavy than Heidi Montag after surgery. I know that it doesn't make great business sense to give a valuable roster spot to a guy who'll be 36 in two weeks.

(And I know there was that wrong-route thing in the championship game last year, but don't forget that Troy's heads-up, brains-scrambling hit on San Diego's Marlon McCree in the fourth quarter of the divisional playoffs prolonged your season for another week.)

I could argue that Brown is a fan favorite; that he's one of the NFL's good guys; that he's one of the fewer than 10 available remaining players from the glorious 2001 season; that he's a rare breed capable of playing on offense, defense or special teams; that, by all accounts, Belichick freaking promised him a spot on the roster.

But come on, Mr. Burns - I mean, Mr. Kraft - have a heart. For two years, you've had the man released and come crawling back like a humiliated Homer Simpson. Both years, he was re-signed for the minimum. Is Troy Brown a valuable commodity or merely the Patriots' equivalent of moving the razor-blade production plant to Mexico? Doesn't Brown deserve the equivalent of reward for long service to the company?

Seriously. Put most mundanely, who would be a better 53rd man in the NFL today?

Heck, I'll make you a deal. I'll shave with nothing but the Super Mega 8-blade Gillette Excelsior SE disposable razor for the rest of my days. I'll condescend to set that repulsive passed out Elvis logo as my screensaver. (For one week or until I can't stand the acid flashbacks anymore.) I'll even overcome my own fear of superlative phobia and publicly proclaim your brain trust's moves since Super Bowl XLI were The Greatest Offseason of All-Time if that's what it takes.

Think PR, Mr. Kraft. Think corporate social responsibility and labor relations and customer loyalty.

But most of all, think good football. You need Asante Samuel and Troy Brown - The best the Pats can get.

Yours,

Os Davis
RealFootball365.com

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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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CommentsComments: 19  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Icheb		06:51 AM
06/22/2007
This is really hilarious. Just 5 months ago you wrote an article titled "The Day New England Died". Do you just want to jump on...
No.2
Jim		08:29 AM
06/22/2007
Os, I disagree with you. Pats do not NEED either of these players to be very successful this year. If PATs "Settle up" with...
No.3
matt		10:25 AM
06/22/2007
I do think we need Troy i love the guy to death his been my favirote player for years and i would hate to see him go. But i don't...
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