SB Nation User Blog: John B

Hate Week: Brad Butler, Most Hated Bill

John B — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:58:17 -0000

The Bills aren't as easy to hate as the Dolphins and Pats for Jets fans. If we're talking about historical players, O.J. Simpson comes to mind as a guy nobody likes. As far as current players go, it's harder to pick. Terrell Owens would be an easy choice, but he hasn't even played his first game in Buffalo. My choice is Brad Butler.

Butler played right tackle for the University of Virginia when D'Brickashaw Ferguson started at left tackle. During a 2005 game at Boston College, Butler delivered one of the biggest cheap shots of the decade in football.

But Brad Butler's hit to the back of the knees of Boston College all-American Mathias Kiwanuka well after the whistle angered the No. 18 Eagles and spurred them to a 28-17 comeback victory in front of a sparse crowd of 35,280 at Alumni Stadium.

Kiwanuka was injured at the time. Butler tried to injure him even worse outside the context of the game when Kiwanuka was exposed and looking in the other direction. Kiwanuka took a swing at Butler later and was ejected. Butler started dancing around celebrating. It's one thing to attack a player's weakness and get under his skin during the game. It's another to intentionally try and injure somebody once the play is over. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a video of this. It's one of the worst cheap shots you'll ever see. Butler could have ended Kiwanuka's career.

Tell me what you think. Was this worse than T.O.'s team destroying antics, or am I a biased BC alum?

Poll

Should Brad Butler be the most hated Bill?

GGN on Washington Post Panel

John B — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:59:08 -0000

The Washington Post's NFL blog, The League, had a panel discussion this week on the potential for rookies to start at quarterback this season. Check it out here.

Mike Fladell Waived

John B — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:04:34 -0000

Shortly after acquiring him from the Giants, the Jets waived guard Mike Fladell.

A day after claiming Mike Fladell, the Jets waived the guard after he failed his physical. The announcement was made by Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum.

Fladell, a 6'7", 334-pounder who attended Rutgers University, entered the NFL when he was signed to the Giants practice squad on Dec. 3, 2008, as an undrafted rookie free agent. The Howard Beach, N.Y., native was subsequently waived on June 24.

Tough break for Fladell. Considering the lack of depth on the line, this might have been his best shot at making a roster.

Hate Week: Jason Taylor, Most Hated Dolphin

John B — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:02:16 -0000

More photos » by Nick Wass - AP

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Yesterday I touched on my least favorite Patriot, Bill Belichick. It's much more personal with my least favorite Dolphin, Jason Taylor. Taylor loves taking cheap shots at Jets fans. I remember seeing an NFL Films documentary on the Monday Night Miracle. Taylor wouldn't stop yelling at the fans in the stands early in the game. After his defense surrendered an epic comeback, he got really quiet.

His obsession with Jets fans only got bigger from there.

Here's what he said in 2004 about Jets fans:

"… a bunch of them chanting their dumb-ass chant and all that other stuff, being the ignorant fans they are. I said it. I don't care if they get mad at me or not. They don't like me anyway. Quite frankly, I don't care… I'm just being real. I'm telling the truth. You carry yourself with some class, and we'll talk about you as if you've got class. If you want to act crazy and do all the crazy things they do, I'll call a spade a spade."

He doesn't go into much detail. I guess fans chanting makes them classless even though every team's fans chant. I do agree, however, that one should act with class in order to treated as classy.

After the Jets beat Taylor 40-13 in Miami in 2007:

They (stink) too," Taylor said. "They beat us. They'll go home happy, and their fans will be happy that they got three wins this year. Good for them."

And Taylor was unhappy because he only got 1 win that year and got crushed by said 3 win team by 27 on his home field. It was great to see Taylor carrying himself with class in defeat, though.

In 2009 on potentially signing with the Jets:

"It’d be very, very, very difficult. Very difficult."

He said he might consider the Patriots, "but the Jets are the Jets."
"I’ve had a lot of history saying bad things about Jets fans," he said. "The fireman hat guy and all of the people in New York that are Jets fans are not the ones that are working on Wall Street. I’ve said all of those things. So I’ve got to leave it at that."

This one is tough to figure. First of all, he's wrong. A lot of Jets fans work on wall Street. Second of all, considering what some of the people on Wall Street have done to the economy of this country, is that really an insult? Third of all, he seems to imply there's something wrong with regular working class people. Total class.

For all of his talk, you would think he's got as many rings as Charles Haley. Unlike Belichick, though, who has earned begruding respect for all of his success, Taylor has won nothing in his career. He's never gotten past the Divisional Playoffs. His team hasn't even played a competitive game in that round. In any event, those games were a long time ago. Jason hasn't been to the Playoffs since 2001. Even though he was considered one of the leaders of the Dolphins' locker room, the team engineered a 10 win turnaround after he left in 2008. His new team, the Redskins, missed the Playoffs a year after earning a spot.

Is all of this his fault? Of course not but his 0 career postseason sacks indicates the degree to which he turns it on in the biggest moments and the impact he has in critical games. The bottom line is for how much he talks, you'd think he would have won something. Heck, for how much he talks about the Jets, you'd think his career record against them would be better than 6-16.

It's funny how much Dolphins fans hate Rex Ryan for trash talking. They adore Taylor after all.

Poll

Who do you hate more?

Keep the FanPosts Coming

John B — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:39:49 -0000

I'd just like to draw everybody's attention to the FanPost feature on the right side of the page. This week we've seen some great takes on the Jets. I've even promoted a few to the front page. I'd like to thank everybody who has been contributing, and if you haven't, you should. All you have to do is register for a free account, and you can post your take on the team. This isn't my site. It's your site. It works best when everybody's involved like you have been for the past week.

Keep up the great work.

Roscoe Parrish: East's Top Punt Returner

John B — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:12:29 -0000

by Randy Lange:

The best of the Buffalo Bills often is special. Such has been the case for the past two seasons with Roscoe Parrish.

Parrish is the Bills' 5'9", 171-pound punt returner par excellence. He'd love an opportunity to break into the Buffalo WR rotation, and with the arrival of Terrell Owens, he may well factor into some new packages and formations.

But it seems unlikely Parrish will be asked to give up his return duties. As ST coach Bobby April has said, "In my mind, there's no better punt returner than Roscoe."

Parrish has demonstrated that the past two seasons. In 2007 he reeled off an average of 16.3 yards on each of his 27 returns (with only two fair catches, we might add). Then last season he "slumped" to 15.3 on 21 returns.

I won't argue with this. There may be no more dangerous return man in the game today than Leon Washington, but he does most of his damage on kickoffs. The Jets are taking him off punt returns this year and giving the job to Jim Leonhard. The numbers Lange presents speak for themselves. The Bills from 2007 to 2008 have the best average since 1960 on punt returns over a two year span.

Poll

Who is the best punt returner?

Hate Week: Bill Belichick, Most Hated Patriot

John B — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:34:45 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

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There's not really much doubt on this one. Bill Belichick is public enemy number one for Jets fans as far as the Patriots or any rival team is concerned. The story has become the stuff of legend.

Bill Parcells burned every bridge he had in New England, leaving the Pats after a Super Bowl season. His longtime assistant, Belichick, came to New York with him. After the 1999 season, it seemed like the Pats were interested in hiring Belichick as their head man. Parcells retired and promoted Belichick to head coach. Belichick quit just minutes before his introductory press conference by scribbling, "I resign as HC of NYJ," on a sheet of paper and had an awkward press conference in which he cited the unstable ownership situation as part of his reasoning. This was the period after Leon Hess died but before Woody Johnson bought the club.

Not long after, the Patriots hired Belichick, and he built them into the team of the decade. They have won three Super Bowls, and four AFC Championships during his time in New England. All of this came after running out on the Jets.

Belichick still despises the Jets. I'll always go back to the end of the 2005 season. The Pats played a meaningless Week 16 game in the Meadowlands against a horrible Jets team. Tedy Bruschi got hurt playing special teams. He had one of his cornerstone players working on special teams in a meaningless game. In a game just as meaningless a week later against Miami, he allowed Doug Flutie to drop kick an extra point. He was playing his buddy, Nick Saban, then.

Things got more ugly after the season. The Jets hired Belichick's protege, Eric Mangini. Belichick pleaded with Mangini to wait for another job. He didn't want his disciple to coach the Jets. Mangini spurned his mentor, and the relationship turned toxic. There are rumors that Mangini still has personal effects sitting in Foxborough he was never able to pick up. This always seemed really petty. Why wasn't Belichick happy for Mangini and willing to support him? Sure, his protege went to his most detested rival, but was this really any different from what he had done to Parcells?

The rivalry turned even more toxic. The Pats gave disgruntled receiver Deion Branch permission. to seek a trade in early 2006. The Jets spoke with him. The Pats claimed tampering charges. Prior to a meeting in Foxborough, Belichick refused to mention Mangini by name. The Jets upset New England on a muddy field. Afterward, we saw an icy handshake. Belichick immediately had the grass torn up and field turf installed. The Pats eliminated the Jets from the Playoffs that year. The next season, the Pats got caught videotaping the Jets' signals, and some people actually claimed the Jets were wrong for turning the Pats in. I guess they should have allowed New England to break the rules at their expense.

Pats fans often say Jets fans are jealous they have Belichick. They're absolutely right. All of the hate is really frustration. Although we can debate a lot, the fact remains he might be the greatest coach to ever walk the sidelines. He has incredible knowledge of both sides of the ball. He has won with teams of all styles. He has created the first culture in the NFL that can actually circumvent the salary cap. New England is such a great destination that players will take contracts well below market to play there. The locker room is full of leaders, many with high character, who are at their best in big moments. Their front office decisions are all sound. They effortlessly replace key cogs.

It should have been ours. He left us at the altar.

Poll

Is Bill Belichick your most hated Patriot?

Buy a Giants Stadium Seat

John B — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:42:35 -0000

via NorthJersey.com

The Jets and Giants announced Monday that fans may buy a seat from Giants Stadium, set to close after the upcoming NFL season, through each team's Web site.

Want a keepsake from the old Giants Stadium? The seats are up for sale.

Original seats, which date to the initial construction, are available in red and blue, for purchase in pairs only. More recently installed seats also are available for purchase, in red or blue and in pairs only. All seats are priced at $499 per pair and subject to availability. Seat orders will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis until they are sold out.

Maybe it has something to do with my bias over the Jets' status as tenants, but I don't see there being a lot of demand for this, bad economy or not. Giants Stadium doesn't evoke much nostalgia like say Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park or even Shea Stadium. I can't really think of too many historic moments there. The most memorable was probably when the Giants fumbled away a ball with the lead in the last half minute to lose a game against the Eagles a few decades back, and that was an epic blunder above anything else.

Rex Continues to Anger Miami

John B — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:02:13 -0000

More photos » by Bill Kostroun - AP

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Miami linebacker Akin Ayodele is the latest Dolphin to go after Rex Ryan.

The entertaining war of words through the media lasted several rounds, starting with Ryan saying he wasn't intimidated by New England (or the rest of the division) and Crowder responding that Ryan was the "OTA Super Bowl winner." Ayodele, who plays alongside Crowder at inside linebacker, said he knew he would have "some funny stuff to say."

"That's the wrong person to get in a bickering war with, because he can talk all day -- that's Crowder," Ayodele said. "If he's going to be our voice, then we support him, understanding that I've been in the league a while, and I've just never seen a head coach get into a bickering war with a player. It was kind of immature if you're a head coach."

....

What Ryan said, or was interpreted to have said, only helps fuel their mission within the division.

"I think us having won the division, coming in as the division winners, and them saying the division goes through (New England), it's a little disrespect," Fasano said. "But that's what this time of year is for, and that's all going to get settled on Sundays."

I get why the Dolphins are playing the Rodney Dangerfield card, but the fact of the matter is the Pats have absolutely dominated the division this decade. Losing the AFC East once by a tiebreaker with their backup quarterback doesn't change that.

What does any of this really mean? Not a whole lot by my estimation. These are professionals. They're plenty motivated to win as it is. A little trash talking probably just makes a win a bit sweeter and a loss a bit tougher to swallow.

Ryan being immature for getting into a war of words but Crowder isn't for starting said war is an interesting distinction here by Ayodele.

Jets Claim Mike Fladell

John B — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:50:17 -0000

The Jets have claimed guard Mike Fladell off waivers from the Giants.

The 6-7, 334-pound Fladell was signed to the Giants practice squad last December as an undrafted rookie free agent. The Giants waived the Rutgers product last week (June 24).

It bears mentioning that the lack of depth on the roster makes the Jets the land of opportunity. Guys like Fladell normally would not get a realistic chance to make most rosters. The Jets will probably give him a long look. His chief competition for a backup role figures to be sixth round pick Matt Slauson. Slauson probably has an edge because of his experience at both guard and tackle, but Fladell has a shot if he can translate his large frame into productive mauling in the run game.