Prickly Pete

Gee, Mike Brown wants everyone to know that he wouldn't have drafted him. Is there any way to prove this? Maybe he is looking for a way to deflect criticism towards a much more successful franchise? Nah, who would do such a thing...

Ha, not exactly. I'm not sure what some here are getting at. Is this about whether the Pats were foolish, or is it that they shouldn't have associated their team with a thug? I think they took a risk that cost them some money. The "bad publicity" isn't going to damage them much, as long as they keep winning. They had some success with him as a player, I don't consider this a "Patriots problem", because I think there are lots of other guys that have serious problems, throughout the NFL. It's a "NFL problem". "Should they have accepted a player with so many violent incidents in his past?" That is what some here seem to be getting at, and I disagree. Not because I think he is a swell guy, but because I think violence is what fuels the NFL, and the league is filled with questionable characters, and I have no doubt that other players have been involved in some very violent incidents. I agree that shootings are extreme (the cops weren't pursuing AH), but barfights? Guns? Rapes? Drugs? Someone come forward with some ideas to standardize acceptance into the NFL. I really want to see them.

What is the standard that people want the NFL to follow? No arrests? No accusations? Where is the line? I am all for standardized requirements, I just want to know what people want.

Just as an aside, this is an interesting puff piece (AH, Hometown Hero), with 2 separate teachers using the term "he could kill you with his smile" to describe AH. How ironic...perhaps a Freudian slip? Some really obnoxious looking photos of AH. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrNcY08Y6lI

I'm no Pats lover. I actually think it's the opposite. If AH had played for the Arizona Cardinals, there wouldn't be anywhere near the criticism of the organization that's on this board. The NFL is filled with PED using, painkiller using, recreational drug using, alcohol drinking, gang associating, violent crime committing, douchebag acting, 'roid raging, bar fighting, hyper-aggressive, bullying, not so bright guys. I would bet there is at least one (probably more) player that fits that exact description on every team. This one murdered someone (allegedly), so they released him.

I'm sure they knew he had problems, but do you really think they were somehow expecting murder(s)? I don't, and one of the interesting things about his personality profile is that he scored very high (I think a perfect 10) for his "Coach-ability". I could easily see Belichick thinking "this kid just needs a firm hand, my specialty"... I don't think that the Pats have a higher percentage of "bad guys" than the average NFL team. I can't tell how much of the vitriol is motivated by Bills fan's hatred of the Pats. I think there are LOTS of players with gang connections, playing in the NFL.

I'm not sure how to resolve these circular conversations. All I can say, is I don't think the Pats (or Bills, or Bengals,...) are obligated to police their players, that is law enforcement's job. They hired a very good athlete that had no criminal record, and he performed well for them. Off the field, he ran into troubles with the law, and they released him (as they should have). Any "red flags" were their own risk, but they don't control what the players get involved in off the field. As far as I know, they weren't "harboring a criminal" or something. He had his own life away from the team. When they f*** up, you release them. Simple as that.

' The team didn't commit any crimes. They signed a guy that as far as I know had no criminal record, who played very well for them, and who they cut when he got into trouble. I'm no Patriot lover, but I think they acted appropriately.

I was joking, because he has a bad driving record. It's an odd intersection, where the road veers to the left and there is a divider for drivers turning right. Driving that fast on that road is nuts.

Sounds like it was just another drive for this guy. That is a really dangerous road to be going 100+mph.

Waterville Rd and Farmington Ave. https://maps.google....ved=0CC0Q8gEwAA

Again, how does this make the school in some way responsible for him becoming a murderer? And how uncommon do you think his treatment was? College football players have been receiving that kind of treatment seemingly as long as college football has been around. Are you a fan of an opposing team/conference? What I get from your posts is that you have some resentment towards Meyer and Florida. You mentioned Notre Dame.... I have no interest in college football at all. I suppose they could start throwing more guys off teams, and it may alter the balance of power in college football, but it's not going to change violent crime statistics.

Isn't that what most thought was likely going on when the police started doing things like searching in a pond?

Of course they did, but that doesn't make them responsible for his actions off the field. It doesn't appear that the victims were related to the NFL, or even that AH's high level of income enabled him in some way. These killings could have been done by any average wage earner. There have been many violent, bad guys in the NFL, some turned out worse than others. I think everyone agrees that he was a risk. The NFL has been taking chances on players for a long time. There were 20 teams that didn't consider him un-draftable (and how easy is it to say he was off a team's draftboard NOW? And how many would have changed their mind in the 6th rd, or the 7th, or if he was a free agent?). I don't hold any team, or the league, responsible for the off-field actions of their employees, any more than I hold MetroBus responsible for actions of their off-duty drivers.

Oh Gug's, you do it to yourself.

Yeah, but we were discussing his marijuana use, where he is definitely NOT an aberration. But then, you know that... your argument is so lacking in logic that you have create tangents. You're right! Favre must be watched closely from now on!! Thanks for the tip.

Ugh. I don't know how to respond to this....maybe "Wearing orange and blue is not a crime!", or "Marv Levy was never a tight end!!", or "Steve Tasker played college football, and he is a family man!!!" Go back and read the previous posts before commenting...

Maybe the point is to allow people to hide their head in the sand, and let fans pretend it's "family entertainment", I don't know. Drug use in football is rampant. PED's, painkillers, and "post-game relaxants" are used and abused at both the college and pro-level. Hernandez is not an aberration in this matter.

I don't think you are very realistic about big time sports. You are applying McDonalds-style employment screening, to a billion dollar industry that seeks out cocky, in your face, violent individuals. It's not a sport for healthy, well-adjusted people. That's news to you? It's not like he is in a constant rage or something. He is reasonably well spoken, and can be easy going etc. There were red flags, but this is a billion dollar industry, filled with all kinds of troubled backgrounds etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B70pVcuHVmI

There have been far worse transgressions, he just happened to become a murderer. College football (High School as well!) has been a sham for as long as I can remember, but I don't think it is causing any ills to society. This case shouldn't suddenly get people interested in it, it's a different subject. How will your life change if the college football regulations are actually enforced? Why do YOU care? Is it because you don't want to see athletes exploited? A sense of fair play? For the children of America to see rules are important? It isn't of consequence to me. College Football exists in it's own bubble, making billions for schools, and television. It has developed it's own culture, and rules of conduct, and I can't see how any of it effects the average person's life. It's unfortunate that rules are bent, but it has no bearing on violent crime statistics.

I agree. I loved the guy, but I think Buffalonians really identify with his role of the "underrated", hard working guy. That's nice,but it's become mythologized, and I think it's worn out.

I don't know about underrated, but overrated is Darryl Talley. I think to call him one of the most underrated is ridiculous when one considers some of the quality players on really bad teams, that never received recognition, and were promptly forgotten. Talley gets enough recognition, he is in all the NFL Films clips about the 90's Bills, and things like that. Some other guy's whole careers basically evaporated. Ben Williams and Luscious Sanford were as good as Talley (with Bruce Smith and Bennett?!), but probably aren't in a single NFL Films clip (maybe chasing Walter Payton or something).

I get all this, but how would changing any of this have prevented him (or anyone else) from killing people (allegedly)? In essence, these have been his jobs... are employers in other fields now responsible for the actions of their employees too? Should people that haven't even been convicted of anything, not be offered jobs now? Or is it okay to hire them, but even if they do their job really well, they shouldn't receive raises?

Thanks. I thought I was going to come back to the board and have to try to explain to a bunch of posters why I found that article to be mush, but you took care of it for me. It's Whitlock grandstanding.

I don't. It reads like pandering to the knee-jerk reactions of the public, along the lines of something a politician might say for votes from a frightened populous.