The Big Cat

Hell no I wouldn't pick a new team. It doesn't work that way. If I stayed in touch with the NFL it would only be for fantasy football leagues with my friends.

I don't understand your reluctance to a.) acknowledge his blatant immaturity or b.) acknowledge its connection with his habit of making mistakes at the worst times possible. So are you pissed that there's a victory lap to be had or that we're taking it? Fan in Chicago put it better than me, but I'm just as curious as to what your stake in this conversation is/has been.

I would too.

Well, if you had been a part of any of the discussions several months ago, you'd understand the degree to which it was treated as heresy then. You're one of the posters who continually swoops in to parrot Stevie's excuses. So which is it? Stevie deserves no blame for failing to protect possession there? I'm wrong to say he's immature? You're mashing and parsing arguments to satisfy...what, I'm not sure.

Bold claim.

That's one excuse, sure. He could have just gone down. Would have been an appropriate move, given the situation, and undoubtedly what a receiver in a New England uniform would have done.

Given the volume, severity and depth of the debates that I'm referencing, I'd say it's well worth checking back in on those who's take on Mr. Johnson has been smited once again. Mostly because the aforementioned like(d) to pretend that each incident is isolated and never connected. Also, this is a message board where opinions are defended and likewise challenged. When vindication arises, we should let all prior debate remain suspended in the ether?

Wait: does the title of this thread suppose Stevie ever was the leader of this offense?

What about Chandler? To be honest, my heart stops EVERY TIME he's lumbering across the middle. I always feel like he's a fumble waiting to happen, especially the way he tries to stay on his feet.

Flash forward to week 17, a win and a few other losses around the conference and we're in. Bills down by 2, driving with 1:30 to go in Foxboro. I don't follow. I should pretend that last night's play at the end of regulation never happened?

Freddy. And it's not even close. Wood is distant second.

He needs to be in a system where he's not treated like a delicate snow flake. His ego's entirely too fragile and he's not mature enough to be a featured player. So, we either create that system here, or send him to a place where that will be the case. For the fans: please be honest about what he is, and more importantly who he is. I'm the last kind of fan that wants to get down his players. I hate having to admit they have flaws, too.

Throughout the off season, I said this his stunts and his off-color incidents point to a lack of focus and maturity. Like others, I connected those behavior traits to his inability to make plays when they matter most. I was told I was an old fuddy duddy and that he's out there "having fun" being "great for the city." Well, he made another extremely costly mistake, and in its wake, he steered clear of the mature route and took no ownership, whatsoever. So, in summary: his lack of focus (all he had to do was go down, they had a time out to burn/all he had to do was hold on to the ball) potentially cost us the game. That points to his inability to handle big situations like grown-ass multi-million dollar man, and his post game interview only reinforces that. These are behaviors I've been point to for a long time. And I'm not the only one.

Are you suggesting I said otherwise? Or are you suggesting my assertions are non sequitors because no one around here thinks of Stevie has our best player, or a team leader, or the face of the franchise, and so on...? Also, he hasn't been in the top 20 of all major receiving metrics for four years. That's false. He was 35th in TD's last year. 25th the year before. He's 65th this year. And had 0 in 2009. So, I'm not sure what you consider "major metrics," or how TD's are excluded from that, nor am I sure how you're measuring four years, because it's not accurate in either respect.

I expect him to be the leader he thinks he is. I expect him to not let his team down when it matters most. I expect him to acknowledge his mistakes. The first step in solving a problem is identifying it. Stevie has a problem with !@#$ing up when games are the line (yeah, he did a bang up job catching that uncontested ball after the coverage broke down against Carolina, granted). But Stevie doesn't acknowledge this reality. I expect him to fix the problem. I don't see him, I've never seen him taking the first step to fixing it. Either the ball is thrown poorly, the defender made a great play, or God let him down. Never has anything to do with his actions.

Right, because as regulation was winding down yesterday, I was keeping my fingers crossed that Stevie !@#$ it up somehow so I could report back to a message board and really rub it in the faces of digital strangers. I do hate to say I told ya so. I want Stevie to be the player we need him to be. But I've been saying for a long time that he isn't. And he keeps proving me right. I am not one of the guys who camps on the negative story lines.

Never once have I suggested he be cut. Frankly, I don't know what to do with the guy. Again, it seems like everyone wants to deal with each Stevie incident in a vacuum. Nobody who argues on his behalf cares to take a look at his entire body of !@#$ ups.

Well, after a couple weeks in time out, this seems like the right thread for me to jump right into. My disgust with Stevie's attitude and lack of focus has been well documented here. And each time something pops up, those who want to point to his three 1,000 yard seasons to justify his immaturity treat his disappointments as though they're isolated incidents. Well, they're not. And in this case, I'm not even that shook up about the fumble, that's the kind of thing we've (regrettably) come to expect. But is there anyone here, who, after hearing his post game interview alongside Chandler's, still wants to tell me that he's the player our franchise needs? That we're lucky to have him? That he's a leader on our team? I hate to say I told ya so...but...

Don't be that guy. Go to walmart and buy a chub pack of xxl undershirts

If Mario's not on, then the list is pointless.

just busting, bro

jletha thought this two-day-old article hadn't yet been discussed

And you've singled me out to make this point...because?

Yeah...yeah but...but...but FO!!@#@!#@!!!

Would this discussion exist if his last name were Baumhammer? Powercash? Darksteel?