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What is going on with . . .
Rams CB Nickell Robey-Coleman right now is similar to what went on with Jamal Adams last summer.
I’m not talking about Robey-Coleman’s controversial pass interference non-call at the end of the NFC Championship Game.
I’m talking about his comments about father time catching up with Tom Brady.
“Age has definitely taken a toll For him to still be doing it, that’s a great compliment for him. But I think that he’s definitely not the same quarterback he was,” Robey-Coleman told Bleacher Report.
This wasn’t a great idea. Brady uses every slight as motivation. He is driven by this stuff, going back to his time at the University of Michigan where he was a backup, and then had to platoon with Drew Henson once he got to start. He is also still motivated by slipping to the sixth round of the draft. He is driven by slights.
Recently, he’s been all this angle that some people think the Patriots slipped this year. After the Pats blew out the Chargers in the playoffs, Brady said to CBS sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson, “I know everyone thinks we suck and you know, can’t win any games.”
Don’t know who “everyone” is. A few people isn’t “everyone.” The Ringer’s Mike Lombardi is one of those people.
“To me, this is not a good Patriots team. I have been saying it all year,” Lombardi said on the GM Street podcast on November 17.
But let’s get back to the Robey-Coleman/Adams common denominator.
Remember Adams told “The Bleacher Report” last summer bout the Jets, “Everybody was used to losing. You can always tell that vibe. I came in, and it was like everybody wanted to do the bare minimum. They didn’t want to go above and beyond. They didn’t want to take that extra step.”
This caused a stir
The Adams’ interview was done by the same guy who did the Robey-Coleman interview, Tyler Dunne.
To his credit, Dunne’s good at landing “money” quotes that get a lot publicity and clicks for the Bleacher Report.
But here is what is going on here, and it goes on with a certain writer who covers the Jets who is constantly landing “blockbusters” from the Jets’ locker room.
The reporter creates a relaxed interview mood, where it’s like two guys talking, I’m not a jackal, and you can open up to me.
And some guys fall for it.
Which I find a little surprising.
Think about this. It’s common sense, you might open up to a reporter who acts it’s just two guys having a beer together, but everyone is going to see the quotes when they come out, so why let your guard down?
John Rocker ruined his life doing this. And I’m not defending John Rocker’s comments, just making the point that he fell into this trap, talking to a reporter in a car.
How can these guys not realize that no matter how comfortable a reporter makes you, the quotes are the quotes, and everyone is going to see them.
And this is another example of why the Patriots’ football culture is so great. Their players are media-trained until the cows come home on what to say. It might be boring to the press, but it cuts down on distracting media controversies.
And cuts down on a player giving perhaps the greatest QB of all time more motivation entering the Super Bowl.
January 29, 2019
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