Tag Archives: Vince Wilfork

August 23, 2011 · 6:38 AM

Death Penalty?

Remer: “Alright dude, listen to me carefully. Do you think Shaq got rich playing in Orlando?”
Coop: “No, he got rich playing in college, everybody knows that.”
BASEketball

We had a guys night out a few weeks back and my buddy Eli told me to check out the ESPN 30 for 30 about SMU. It was called Pony Express and told the story about how Southern Methodist University was paying players and how they had their players basically on a payroll. It was captivating TV. Here’s the trailer.

I bring this up because SMU was given the “death penalty”. The “death penalty” is when the NCAA suspends a program for at least one year. It’s very rare and SMU is the only major football program to be given the harsh penalty.

But if you’ve been watching the news at all in the last week, that may change.

Enter the University of Miami. Yahoo! Sports writer Charles Robinson had an amazing story come out last weekend where it was exposed that Miami players were on a payroll among other things.

A jailed Ponzi schemer named Nevin Shapiro has been paying players for an eight year stretch from 2002-2010. The Yahoo! article indicates that:

Shapiro estimates in the millions of dollars, he said his benefits to athletes included but were not limited to cash, prostitutes, entertainment in his multimillion-dollar homes and yacht, paid trips to high-end restaurants and nightclubs, jewelry, bounties for on-field play (including bounties for injuring opposing players), travel and, on one occasion, an abortion.

It also indicates that current Patriot and former Hurricane Vince Wilfork was paid $50,000 in a lump sum. He also allowed Wilfork to stay on his yacht and gave him a pair of $50,000 Escalades, one for him and one for his then fiancee.

Vince has indicated that he doesn’t want to be a distraction to the Pats but something like this certainly isn’t going anywhere. Wilfork is pictured multiple times in the article in various photos with Shapiro and of course the NCAA has started their investigation.

I would love nothing more than to see the Hurricanes get the death penalty. The program clearly is corrupt but it’s produced some of the biggest thugs in the NFL. I would love nothing more than to see all of “The U” thugs be taken down a peg as their program gets a smackdown from the NCAA.

Stay tuned. This is going to certainly be a story to follow over the next several weeks and months.

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December 20, 2010 · 7:10 AM

Thank God For Inexperience

So earlier this season my buddy OB pointed out after three straight Jet wins pulled out at the last minute that teams that win games like that tend to go far in the playoffs. Think of David Patten unconscious on the sideline in 2001 against Buffalo. He had the ball under his leg and somehow that was possession. Needless to say, the Pats won that game on their way to the Super Bowl.

Well, the Jets came crashing back to Earth following a 45-3 blowout loss to the Pats that was followed up with a loss to Miami 10-6 at home. You’d have to think that heading into Heinz Field yesteday that the Steelers would win. Well the Jets squeaked it out meaning the Pats need to win one more game to clinch the #1 overall spot in AFC.

How’d they get there?

Oh, that little game on Sunday night football. Pats against the Packers at Gillette. Flurries in the forecast that never showed up.

I picked the Pats on Friday even with their 10.5 points. I also picked the over. One out of two ain’t bad.

The Packers started off the game with an onsides kick after deferring to the second half when they won the toss. They managed to recover the kick and in essence took a possession away from Tom Brady and the Pats offense.

The Pats did hold them to a field goal on that drive. Then it was their offenses turn. They converted on a long third and 17 that was followed up by a Benjarvus Green-Ellis 33 yard touchdown run.

After going down 10-7 the Pats went three and out (a common theme last night). A couple more futile attempts on offense and the Pats were soon down 17-7.

Ugh.

Then the play of the game that everyone is talking about this morning. After a very short kickoff, Dan Connolly – who is one of the wedge guys – ran down the field 71 yards, stiff armed a defender, cut back inside and was finally stopped on the four yard line. The broadcasters researched and it was the longest return by an offensive lineman in kickoff history. It also let to a Pats touchdown making it a much more manageable 17-14 heading into the half.

Following the half it was Packer time. The Pack came out and Matt Flynn was picked off giving the Pats a 21-17 lead. But the pick six means the Packers are going to get the ball again. So for almost the first 10 minutes of the third quarter the Pack had the ball and scored with about five minutes left in the quarter. 24-21 Packers.

A three and out again by the anemic Pats offense and Green Bay once again had the ball. if you’re scoring at home that’s 13:46 possession time for the Packers, 1:14 for the Pats. Not good.

The Pats defense stepped it up after finally getting a breather at the end of the third quarter and held the Packers to a field goal to start the fourth quarter. Good to limit them to three if you’re letting them stay on the field all that time. 27-21 Packers.

The Pats got a field goal on their next possession and again their defense after getting some rest was able to get the Packers to a three and out. That led to the Pats marching down the field with a bunch of no huddle to make it 31-27 Pats.

The Packers had the ball with a chance to win the game but had to use their timeouts too early in the drive. The Pats thought the game was over with a Brandon Meriweather interception but that was negated by a Tully Banta-Cain hands to the face penalty.

On the edge of my seat I watched as the Packers on a fourth and one couldn’t spike the ball to stop the clock and were like the Keystone Kops trying to get a play off. Banta-Cain sacked Flynn forcing a fumble that was recovered by Vince Wilfork. Game over, Pats win.

So like OB said, sometimes you just need to get lucky and that’s exactly what happened yesterday for the Pats. They had the luck of the Irish? Connolly might say so.

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December 6, 2010 · 7:18 AM

Double Whammy

I tried to get you a Champ Kind “Whammy” clip but the only copy was really bad so instead you get the meaning of San Diego. Why?

The Red Sox completed a deal late Sunday that brings San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez to Boston in exchange for three minor leaguers including top prospect Casey Kelly. The team didn’t have to give up Ellsbury, Jose Iglesias, Buchholz, Lester, future closer Daniel Bard, or future right fielder (when JD’s contract is up) Ryan Kalish. So basically a projected #2 or #3 starter in Kelly, a first baseman that they’ll not need now that they have Gonzalez in Anthony Rizzo (R-I-Z-Z-O, open your fucking ears, jackass!), and Reymond Fuentes who projects as a pesky #8 hitter on a National League team with no power but plenty of speed.

The team is looking to sign Gonzalez to an extension and reportedly have offered a six year $120 million contract. Gonzalez’s side is seeking something closer to the Teixeira contract of eight years $180 million. The sides, according to Gordon Edes, will likely meet somewhere in the seven year $154 million range. At this point why not just sign him to a 10 year $200 million. It’s not our money.

Now sign free agent Carl Crawford and the team will look way better than last year. They can’t sign Jayson Werth who signed with the Nationals (um, clearly looking for money not winning) yesterday.

The headline does say double whammy though doesn’t it. Well that’s because there’s a little football game at Gillette tonight. A little football game featuring the two best teams in the NFL (record wise) this season. Your New England Patriots against the hated New York Jets.

The Pats are favored by 3.5 pretty much because they’re the home team. The team is honoring Tedy Bruschi at halftime so you’d have to think that the team really wants the “W”. Not that Belichick would coach up the team any differently but you’d have to think the veterans like Brady and Wilfork want that win just a little more for their friend Tedy.

The ESPN.com Madden NFL 2011 simulation had the Jets pulling out the win very late 30-27. It had Brady throwing two picks and only 233 yards.

Well, I can tell you that I’ve played this game on Madden. I played it as the Pats and I won 56-3. Sure I controlled the offense (and had Randy Moss as my deep threat) but my Pats crushed the Jets. So we can throw out the Madden simulation.

I think this is going to be one of those games where we’re on the edge of our seats pretty much all game. After being shut out at home against the Packers, the Jets had three straight games they pulled out at the end of the game. Their last game was a cupcake beat down of the Bengals on Thanksgiving night. The Pats last game was a three quarter nail biter that ended looking like a beat down of the Lions, also on Thanksgiving.

My prediction? I’m taking the Pats to win it 24-20 on a late touchdown from Tom Brady.

A little nap when I get home from work will make sure I’m watching the whole thing. Back tomorrow with a recap.

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March 2, 2010 · 6:38 AM

No Peppers

For all the we speculate on the Pats need for a pass rusher, it’s looking like Julius Peppers isn’t going to be a Patriot.

We knew it was a long short to start with. The team still has to work out Wilfork’s extension after franchising him last Monday. Then there’s the franchise quarterback who’s heading into the last year of his deal. Basically with those two needing to get their contracts done, Peppers was a fantasy to begin with.

But Jay, where will Peppers go? The Pats are the perfect fit.

You’re correct, the Pats are a perfect fit, player wise. They need a pass rusher, Peppers is the best in the business. But because of the aforementioned contracts needing to get done they can’t afford to pay Peppers $10 million a year (or whatever it comes out to be) in addition to Wilfork and Brady.

It appears that Peppers is going to land in Washington. Here’s my issue. The Redskins paid Haynesworth $100 million last off season and they still sucked. Adding Peppers would make their D-Line the best in the league but they’d still suck. They have relatively nothing on the offensive side of the ball. Peppers wants to leave Carolina because he won’t win a championship there since he has a shitty quarterback. He’d be walking into the same situation in colder weather with Washington.

If his goal is to truly win a championship then I would think he’d make a strong play to become a Patriot. You figure if they can snag him for $8 million a year with a hefty signing bonus, they could make the numbers work even with Brady and Wilfork. Hell, if they cut Thomas, that’s like free money they can use on Peppers. Remember, no cap means no cap penalties.

So even though we all want Peppers to come to Foxboro, it’s not looking likely and Peppers could be a Redskin as soon as Friday. Maybe Jason Taylor could be a band-aid until they develop another guy. We’ll see. Free agent bonanza starts Friday.

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February 23, 2010 · 6:42 AM

Step One Of Hopefully Many

So a little before noon yesterday word starting leaking out of Foxboro that the Patriots had slapped Vince Wilfork with the franchise tag. No big deal was my first inclination. My thought was they weren’t able to finalize the long term deal and knew the negotiation window was closing so they gave him the franchise tag with hopes of working out a long term deal.

Mrs. Wilfork agrees with me (from her Twitter):

“After six years of dedicated service I do understand this is a business. With that being said it is my hope that the tag is applied for its true purpose. For the purpose of allotting more time for us to continue our talks and be able to reach a long term agreement. Only time will tell what the final result will be.”

The team apparently does too in this statement:

“Unfortunately, despite numerous conversations and proposals, the goal has not yet been realized. Vince is a tremendous player for our team and remains a significant part of our future plans. It is because of Vince’s importance to this organization that we have assigned the franchise designation as we continue to work toward a long-term agreement. We are hopeful that Vince will remain a Patriot for many years to come.”

Let’s just hope the two sides playing grab ass really mean it and they work out a long term deal. It’ll save the fans from another attempt at filling the gap with bums like Ron Brace.

But like the headline says, as Patriots fans we have to hope that this is step one of many. Teams have till Thursday to assign the franchise tag and all indications are that the Panthers are not going to assign the tag to Julius Peppers. There should be a plane ticket for Julius where ever he is, first class to Boston or Providence, a car waiting for him at the airport and a lucrative contract waiting for him to sign at Foxboro.

Julius would be step two.

That would give the Patriots a run stuffing nose tackle under contract (assuming Wilfork signs the offer) and the pass rush the Pats so desperately needed last year in Peppers. The only thing that could make it sweeter would be the signing of a shut down corner. There aren’t that many of those in the league but re-signing Leigh Bodden would certainly be a boost to the secondary.

Now for all of you licking your chops for a possible Ladainian Tomlinson signing I caution you. Remember, this guy is the same guy that broke down by playoff time several years in a row. So signing him with the intent that he’d be your feature back is a pipe dream. However, if you sign him to take the place of Fred Taylor and use him in tandem with Morris, Faulk and Maroney (assuming he’s with the team) you may have something. LT would be used less than in San Diego meaning he would likely have legs come playoff time. A clock killing running back was something the Pats were missing this past season (among other things).

So what we’re hoping for as an exciting off-season in Foxboro has started. The first domino has dropped of what should be many. After seeing a divisional rival get further in the playoffs than they did and a conference rival win the whole thing, the Pats should be hungry. Again, let’s hope it’s mercenary hungry and they bring in a bunch of hired guns.

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