I guarantee Belichick addresses this in his weekly radio show. I listened to him last week, and he actually brought up the subject of bringing VT in for one last TD throw against the Titans. Wasn't even asked. He brought it up himself. I'll have to catch it this week.
I don't think it was a shot at the Jets. Vinny has taken a knee before this year for the Patriots. Played some last week. I think Belichick just wanted him to get into the game.
Eh... who cares if Vinny takes a knee? They way I look at it is it'll be all for nothing next week when they get bounced by the Chargers
I'm not as pissed at BB for sending Vinny in to take a knee as I'm sure Pats fans were at Mangini for shoehorning their top reciever out of town.
The way I look at it is BB wanted to give Brady a little applause from the crowd considering the way the future looks for the Jets the Pats aren't going to have very many more home playoff games.
Yeah, the code of honor. The code of going to another team in the division? Or did he also take $1 million of an owner and not fulfilling it? Nice post jackass.
Speak for your self please, I personally still blame him for '98, '00, and '01...that SOB should have never been a Jet...Cap't Pick 6 is what we called him around our house
The fact that he was listed as the 3rd QB makes it seem like a scumbag move by BB to do this, knowing it would get Jets fans angry. It was such a shame seeing Vinny on the sideline high-fiving Brady after (I think) that TD pass to Graham. I was like "WOW, Can't believe he is doing that." But whatever. If that's the case, it was BB's intention to get Jets fans angry, and he sure did.
The high five is fine... I mean he is a member of the team... you can't expect him to just stand there out of respect for the Jets... The Kneel down, while annoying, is just a reflection of Belli... Belli is a great coach with a Bush League attitude... eventually it will catch up to him... and when it does it'll make for great viewing
Oh please....For those that Think Vinny *wanted* to take a knee, guess again. Bellichoke is the boss here and Vinny simply is following his orders. I have no doubt in my mind that this kneel-down business is all Bellichoke's idea. I'm sure Vinny wasn't exactly anxious to run out there to kneel, especially against the Team he remains a fan of. But the man is probably willing to do anything the Bellichoke-artist says as long as it remains possible that a Ring is in his future. Vinny is beyond being Petty as to want to do this 'cause of being benched 2-3 years ago(geez!). C'mon...
Vinny got his curtain call last week, when Belichick made a nice gesture by allowing Vinny to throw a TD pass and extend his record. Sending him out this week was a clear shot at the Jets. This was the final snap of the game, any QB will tell you they love taking the knee and getting the ovation.
I don't know the logic behind it, but for whatever reason, Vinnie has been the Patriots kneel down QB all season. If the game is won, but the offense wants a few first downs to milk the clock, Cassel will go in. But once it becomes time to do kneel downs, they switch to Vinnie. The exception was the last game of the year against the Titans, when Vinnie was given a chance to throw a TD pass for the 20th consecutive year. While the Patriots generally aren't that much into personal records, they went for a few that game. Dillon passed OJ on the total yards rushing column, and Vinnie got 20 years of touchdowns. And, yes, some Titans fans thought BB was rubbing it in, but the emotion on the sidelines was clearly everyone feeling good for Vinnie rather than everyone making rude gestures towards the other sideline. The kneel downs last week were no different. At a guess, Vinnie has taken a lot more snaps than Cassel, and at the same time if a QB gets hurt on a stupid play after the game is essentially over, it might as well be the third stringer. Whatever the reason, it wasn't just the Jets that got Vinnie instead of Cassel.
I see threads like this over lots of percieved slights. If someone did a search, I'm pretty sure you'd laugh at all the "no class" things I've seen various posters whine about. This is probably the funniest one to me. Getting your veteran QB that played for you for most of his career a chance to get into a playoff game as a show of appreciation to him is a slap in the face to the Jets fans? Vinny played for BB much longer than he played for the Jets, I don't see any betrayal or anything. He tried bailing us out last year, and it's clear that the man is completely done as an NFL QB. Let him be in the huddle one last time on a playoff winner. We certainly couldn't provide that for him. I've always liked Vinny, no need to hate on the guy.
I would have had him fake the kneel down and pop onother one in the endzone Just messin with ya...relax. It wasn't a shot. It was a chance to beef up his stats with another playoff appearence. Calm down.
