Payback

I caught this yesterday, but failed to comment. Wes Welker, the slot WR for the Patriots, decided he needed to mouth off about ex-teammate Asante Samuel and his contract with the Eagles. As if Philly Fan (and, indeed, the rest of the world) needed any more reason to hate Boston and its twee sports scene. Let's give Jim Rome his moment on this, shall we?



I can't remember, really, an NFL season that I'm more looking forward to, if only for the number of chickens that are coming home to roost. The Patriots realizing that Jabbar Gaffney is, in fact a long step down from Donte Stallworth (as an Eagles fan, I can attest to that difference from, well, our own eyes). Hell, maybe he even makes you remember Reche Caldwell. That'd be nice.

Randy Moss starting to show that standout work ethic that he's given familiar teams in the past... Tom Brady picking himself off the ground roughly twice the amount of times that he did last year, as every team tries to replicate the Giants game plan... the Patriot offense standing on the sidelines for increasing amounts of time, as the opponent takes advantage of young LBs and an extraordinarily thin secondary... and Welker joining the great list of One-Year Wonder Whiteouts (see Brandon Stokely and Drew Bennett, but especially Stokely).

Did Samuel take the money? Of course. He's an athlete. Are the Eagles in a lesser position to go to the Super Bowl than the Patriots? Probably, in that the Patriots have been there more often more recently. and they play in a division that is terrible until proven innocent.

But it's not like Samuel went to the freaking Dolphins -- the Eagles have been a fairly consistent playoff presence during the Reid Era. There's also the fact that, um, Samuel *has* rings... and Welker does not. (Admittedly, if Samuel catches that Eli Manning duck in the fourth quarter, they've both got one more, but there's a reason why cornerbacks are not wideouts.)

There's also this... players, as a rule, do not talk about other player's motivations in contracts. It's the same thing that made Brett Favre an ass in the Javon Walker negotiations; when it comes to the off-season, guys are going to get paid and provide for their families. You know, their real ones, not the five-month kinds that can change at any moment, especially in the event of an injury.

Here's hoping that Samuel plays for more championships than Welker -- both this year and for the rest of his career -- independent of the laundry involved.

Because it's nice when guys with no class lose, Wes. It's just business.