Patriots Links 7/08/09 - Leigh Bodden to Patriots, Match Made In Football Heaven

by Marima on Jul 8, 2009 8:47 AM EDT in New England Patriots News

DB Leigh Bodden in coverage during a drill at Gillette Stadium on 06/09/09.

Jeff Howe notes the Leigh Bodden, Patriots match works for everyone.

Bodden, who was undrafted out of Duquesne in 2003, spent his first five seasons in Cleveland, and he really started to thrive once Romeo Crennel took over as head coach in 2005. Bodden earned a starting job midway through that season and flourished under Crennel’s zone defense, a similar system Bill Belichick employs in New England.

Once Bodden visited New England and met with Belichick, he canceled the rest of his meetings around the league and immediately signed a contract.

"I only visited here. I planned other visits, but I didn’t really feel like it was worth it," Bodden said. "You’ve got to love [Belichick]. When I first met with him, when I first came here on a visit, we just sat down and talked, and he’s just a down-to-earth guy. We talked football, background. He wants to win, and that’s what I want to do. That’s all that we’re here for."

Jason La Confora (NFL.com) The battle of the best division comes down to the East. Check out the accompanying AFC East preview and analysis too (3.06 min. video).

In many ways, this should be the cream of the crop, and I think it will be. To me, New England is the team to beat in the AFC East with a healthy Tom Brady. Miami might slip up some, but the New York Jets were pretty darn good for 12 weeks last season and could receive a boost from new coach Rex Ryan, while the Trent Edwards-to-T.O. express might help take Buffalo from a seven-win outfit to a team that stays in the hunt.

If I had to pick my Beast of the East, preseason version, I’m going to take the AFC East.

LOCAL SHOTS

Ask PFW: Last-minute additions? Part I and Part II. Still plenty of questions to answer in this week's mailbag.
Legendary Pro Football and Patriots Hall of Famer Andre Tippett will be the next speaker in The Hall at Patriot Place Speaker Series. July 24th at 6:30pm.
Robert Kraft joins team to bring FIFA World Cup to U.S.
Mark Farinella warns we shouldn't close the door on Junior Seau's return.
Chris Gasper talks about the length of rookie contracts, saying six year deals are only allowed for top 16 picks.
Michael Hurley Top 10 most memorable returns in Boston sports history.
Kirk Minihane offers this debate: Which Boston athlete can stake claim to the best individual season?

LONG SHOTS

Matt Light (SI) MMQB Tuesday Edition: NFL deserves credit for helping players plus Ten things I think.
NFL Network Top Ten Patriots of All Time. (2.28 min. video)
Jason Cole (Yahoo! Sports) Teams slow to sign '05 draft picks. Patriots' guard Logan Mankins is one of them.
Andrew Brandt (Nat'l Football Post) A look at rookie contracts - Part 1: The signing bonus.
Tom Curran (NBC Sports) McNair never asked to be superhuman: Slain ex-star among many athletes expected to be superior on, off field.
Clark Judge (CBS Sports) Jauron, Philips among coaches on hot seat.
Tom Monkovic (NY Times) Ultimate guide to winning in the NFL.

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Higher standard?

Tom Curran’s article misses the boat in my opinion. Many professions – actors, performers, newscasters, executives in high-profile corporations, politicians, celebrities (even local ones), philanthropists and professional athletes to name a few – are all very public positions with so-called higher standards. What they do well earns them public acclaim and adoration, while their failings can cost them their reputations, careers, their families, their wealth or their lives.

Curran asks, “Did Steve McNair ever lay claim to personal perfection?”

Suddenly, McNair wasn’t just tragically killed but a hypocrite too? Any pedestal McNair fell from is not one that he climbed himself. It was one that we — the media, the fans, his employers and the NFL — put him on.

That is the cop-out. Perfection is never a human ‘standard.’ It doesn’t take the achievement of ‘personal perfection’ to be a faithful spouse and parent, but it does take tremendous character, hard work and discipline. Anyone – famous or not – who takes a vow of marriage or is responsible for bringing kids into the world becomes held to a true higher standard, one that now involves responsibility to someone other than him or herself.

There are reasons why society has these ‘higher standards’ in place at all. It’s safer, communities run more smoothly, generally people are happier and have less problems. When they’re not met, there are always consequences that can create a domino effect of unintended reactions. People get hurt and in this case, McNair paid with his life.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Jul 8, 2009 11:20 AM EDT reply actions

Agreed

But I don’t think vow of marriage is a “true higher standard”. I know where you were going with this, but I actually think it’s very simple: it’s a promise and you should never break a promise.

Blogger at SBNation's Patriots blog, Pats Pulpit

by MaPatsFan on Jul 8, 2009 11:29 AM EDT up reply actions

I guess what bothers me about the article

is Curran’s excuses for McNair. I just don’t get why expecting marital fidelity would be somehow forcing him up on some pedestal, or why that that would be calling him (and other pro athletes) to some impossible-to-attain higher standard. Higher than what, regular people? Higher than normal decency?

I may be taking liberties here, but we all have problems, we all fall short in certain areas or at certain times of our own standards, let alone what other people, our families or our employers expect. His all-too-human off-field actions are just more public than everyone else, just like his on-field performances were. Curran doesn’t need to make excuses for the man.

Keep the faith!

by Marima on Jul 8, 2009 2:09 PM EDT up reply actions