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Pats embrace dirty reputation


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I am not sure what to think of it.

 

 

 

Patriots unfazed by dirty image

 

New England has been accused of playing dirty, but the lighthearted Pats view it as good, clean fun.

Posted on Wed, Jan. 30, 2008Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email

BY ARMANDO SALGUERO

 

asalguero@MiamiHerald.com

 

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Rodney Harrison was smiling, of course, when he was embracing his reputation as a dirty football player. Matt Light made jokes about some of the things he has done to other players at the bottom of some piles. Teammates fondly recalled how Wes Welker goes after an opponent's knees on crack-back blocks.

 

It's light conversation. It's even funny at times.

 

But all this banter doesn't change the fact the New England Patriots are viewed as a pretty dirty football team.

 

Harrison? He still claims to lead the NFL in fines and says he hasn't mellowed from those days when a national publication labeled him the league's dirtiest player.

 

Welker? Patriots defensive players cheered his signing because, if nothing else, it meant the former Dolphins receiver would no longer be diving at their knees.

 

''I was ecstatic. I was excited,'' Harrison said. ``He was probably the toughest guy to cover because no one could stick him man-to-man. When you went against the Dolphins, he was just so quick.

 

``But mostly I was happy because he doesn't mind coming down the line and crack-blocking on you. He actually seemed to enjoy it. I don't have to deal with that anymore.''

 

Light? Giants defensive lineman Osi Umenyiora said in an interview with HBO that Light hit late and played dirty during the regular-season finale between the Patriots and Giants. Umenyiora also insinuated Light was trying to intimidate him.

 

Richard Seymour? After the AFC Championship Game against San Diego, Chargers center Nick Hardwick told everyone who would listen what he really thought of the Pro Bowl defensive lineman's style.

 

''Richard Seymour is the biggest [expletive] I've ever come across in football,'' Hardwick said. ``They've got 10 good football players on that team. Richard Seymour is a dirty, cheap little pompous [expletive].''

 

It doesn't end there.

 

Nose tackle Vince Wilfork? He's been fined at least four times this season for unsportsmanlike play, most recently in that victory against San Diego in which he was called for a deliberate face-mask penalty against running back Michael Turner.

 

That fine cost Wilfork $5,000, which matched the $5,000 fine he paid for an unsportsmanlike-conduct foul during an Oct. 14 game against Dallas. And those fines paled in comparison with the $12,500 Wilfork paid for a low hit on Buffalo quarterback J.P. Losman and a $15,000 fine he paid after the regular-season finale.

 

In that final game against the Giants, Wilfork poked his finger in the face of New York running back Brandon Jacobs with apparently little regard for the fact Jacobs is the size of a commercial freezer.

 

Wilfork agreed his action was ''stupid,'' but mostly when the Patriots talk of their on-field misdeeds, they do so with levity. It is apparently somewhat funny to them.

 

''They still call me dirty,'' Harrison said through a bright smile Tuesday during Super Bowl media day. ``And I don't care what you think about it. I don't care what players I play against think about it.

 

``They call me dirty. That's fine. When a guy's knocking you in your mouth every play, would you call him clean? It's football. Let's go play.''

 

But what about sportsmanship? What about honor?

 

''I've seen a lot of things at the bottom of piles in my time,'' Light said. ``Honor isn't one of them. I can think of some pretty creative ways I've been hit and I'm not just going to lay there and take it.''

 

So Light, though refusing to admit he's dirty, does concede he's had moments when he ``continues to play through the whistle.''

 

''I don't do it that much anymore because I'm older now and I'm too busy sucking wind after every play,'' he said. ``But when you're young coming into the league, you get into that sort of stuff.

 

``I remember Jason Taylor and I used to get after each other five or six times a game every time we played. We'd take our battles to the whistle and even after the whistle. But then you get older and you realize that doesn't help you much. That's a young man's thing.''

 

Except that Harrison is 35 and in his 14th season. And Seymour is in his seventh season. And they are both objects of much loathing by opponents.

 

`CHEAP AND DIRTY'

 

''He's cheap and dirty, and the head man just lets him get away with it the whole time,'' Hardwick said of Seymour after the AFC title game.

 

``. . . Head-slapping, foot-stomping in the pile, running by and throwing punches in your back late. He's a [expletive].''

 

That is not, of course, the way Seymour or the Patriots view it.

 

''I play the game the way the game is supposed to be played,'' Seymour said in matter-of-fact fashion. ``When the whistle blows, it's time out and time for you to stop.

 

``I play the game within the rules.''

 

And then, of course, Seymour smiled.

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Kind of interesting reading this & then knowing how much whining & crying Brady does to the refs on almost every incompletion.

 

Kind of interesting you guys reading an exaggerated story from a Dolphins beat writer and buying into it as if the Pats play any dirtier then any other team in the league.

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Kind of interesting reading this & then knowing how much whining & crying Brady does to the refs on almost every incompletion.

 

You know I really had nothing against Brady until this season. I'm not sure if I never saw his true colors or if they just finally shined through. He seemed to whine, and pout when he didn't get his way. He sounds like an egotistical prick in interviews. I'd bet if he were to get a shot from the blind side during the superbowl he'll beg for a flag or late hit. I don't repect him any more, I repect what he's accomplished, but not his personality or the person any longer.

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Kind of interesting you guys reading an exaggerated story from a Dolphins beat writer and buying into it as if the Pats play any dirtier then any other team in the league.

 

Welker learned his crack-back blocks as a Dolphin and Wilfork came from Miami Hurricanes. Sounds like sour grapes from South Florida to me.

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Kind of interesting reading this & then knowing how much whining & crying Brady does to the refs on almost every incompletion.

:wacko:

 

You know I really had nothing against Brady until this season. I'm not sure if I never saw his true colors or if they just finally shined through. He seemed to whine, and pout when he didn't get his way. He sounds like an egotistical prick in interviews. I'd bet if he were to get a shot from the blind side during the superbowl he'll beg for a flag or late hit. I don't repect him any more, I repect what he's accomplished, but not his personality or the person any longer.

:D

 

Welker learned his crack-back blocks as a Dolphin and Wilfork came from Miami Hurricanes. Sounds like sour grapes from South Florida to me.

+1

 

Tell that to the media that play every Patriots game ever played. That's why I'm sick of them.

I don't think the Patriots control what the media plays...

Edited by piratesownninjas
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Welker learned his crack-back blocks as a Dolphin and Wilfork came from Miami Hurricanes. Sounds like sour grapes from South Florida to me.

We Miami fans still love Welker. No ill will what-so-ever.

 

I want the pats to lose - well - because they are the Pats.

 

I will be thrilled for Welker when they win though.

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Tell that to the media that play every Patriots game ever played. That's why I'm sick of them.

Randall, come on man, that is a really dumb, ignorant statement. (dont take it personaly)

 

like pirate said, they dont have any control over what the NFLN plays, or any other media outlet...

this is the kind of comment that burns Patriot' fans butts....its silly.

 

i could give you plenty of reasons why i dont like certain teams, but i can assure you

they'r not based on media coverage.

 

:wacko:

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Hey Randall, if you're soooo sick of the Pats then I have a novel idea for ya: stop posting in threads about the Pats. Revolutionary thinking, I know, but since you can't seem to come to such a simple conclusion on your own, I thought I'd, you know, help you out.

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We Miami fans still love Welker. No ill will what-so-ever.

 

I want the pats to lose - well - because they are the Pats.

 

I will be somewhat happy although still pissed about buying his jersey last year for Welker when they win though.

 

+1 and fixed.

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