On Sunday, the New England Patriots took on the Houston Texans for a right to play for the AFC Title this weekend against the Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots ultimately came on top with a 41-28 victory, but it wasn’t the game’s outcome I was frustrated with.
One of the Ravens’ own, linebacker and special teams ace Brendon Ayanbadejo, took shots at the Patriots offense and organization as a whole through his personal Twitter page Sunday during the game.
I have NO problem with players taking to Twitter to express their opinions about anything. However, I have a problem with No. 51′s tweets simply because he gave one of the best organizations, in terms of playoff success, bulletin board material that was unprovoked. You can see some of the tweets here.
The one that really grinds my gears is the one that I retweeted and questioned the normally good character of Ayanbadejo.
“@brendon310: In a sport that is predicated on mano y mano, ” lets hurry up n snap it ” = b**chassness.”
I responded with : “Really BA? Keep it classy.”
As a former college football player that was never one for trash talk, I’m a little appalled and perplexed by Ayanbadejo”s comments. The Ravens have all of the momentum in the world with the emotional ride associated with Ray Lewis’ retirement, their recent miraculous victory over the top-seeded Denver Broncos and the overall team performance has been top-notch. They are the hottest team in the NFL and look like they are ready to take the Super Bowl title for the first time since 2000.
Before the Ravens have any aspirations for a Super Bowl, they have to get by the Patriots, who are looking for their sixth Super Bowl appearance since 2001.
How many do the Ravens have in that span? Zero. My point.
Whatever Ayanbadejo was trying to prove, to me he looked foolish. Tom Brady and the Patriots do not need any more fuel to the fire that they can potentially light the Ravens up with and ruin No. 52′s magical journey into the sunset on top.
I don’t doubt Ayanbadejo’s good character, but this was an error in his judgement.
He also didn’t exactly play the game of his life Saturday. Just ask Trindon Holliday about how he made Ayanbadejo and the rest of the kick and punt coverage units pay for failing to stay in their lanes.
True professionals go by this saying: ” When you win say little. When you lose, say less.”
That statement was made by Bill Belichick and is a prime example of why he is one of the greatest coaches in NFL history and is a consummate pro.
If Brendon Ayanbadejo wants to call the Patriots offense a “gimmick,” fine. However, there is a little something called tactics in football and it just so happens that a lot of teams use this technique. Consider this, not to like John Madden, but the offense’s job is to simply outsmart the defense and gain any advantage they can that can aid in their ability to score points.
Heath Evans (NFL Network Analyst) joined Glenn Clark on The Reality Check this afternoon and he shares my viewpoint. You can listen to the entire interview here.
“(Ayanbadejo) has to take care of (his) own house,” Evans said. “Brendon is a great guy, but those type of things eat at me because it doesn’t make sense.”
Bottom line, handle business and do your job before you put down another team that didn’t provoke or acknowledge your comments in the first place. If Ayanbadejo goes out and has a phenomenal game Sunday and the Ravens win, this incident will be left in the abyss of meaningless sports stories, but that is easier said than done against the ever-so daunting Patriots, led by the best quarterback in terms of wins in playoff history — 17-6 all-time in the postseason — in Tom Brady.
If you have “No H8″ on your chest, even though that is in regards to his position on gay marriage, stand by it across everything involved in your life.
Respect isn’t given, it’s earned.
It’s lost with statements like this.
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