You underestimate Merriman. If he's not the best defensive player in the league, he's among the top 3. The players in front of him are terrific, but teams still scheme to stop Merriman and they can't. I don't think we'll be able to keep every great young player we have long-term. They will simply command too much money. But Merriman is a guy that you must keep. The Patriots didn't let Tom Brady walk so they could re-sign David Patten and David Givens. There are players that are irreplaceable. Merriman is one of those guys.
T - the comment is interesting, although I think in this case, it doesn't quite fit. Looking for the "bondsman to bail you out" would be more of a sitation where a team (and it's fans) are looking to their star player to get them the win or bail them out of a tough situation. At that point in the game, we were in the lead and in control. I wasn't expecting miracles from a guy like EP, I was expecting the basics (catch, run, don't fumble, etc). For him to muff the punt and then try to pick it up instead of jumping on it was inexcusable..............(by the way, i understand the great pressure and circumstances under which this decision was made blah, blah, blah). It's something you learn all the way back in pee wee football, so to see such a student of the game commit a mistake like that left me speechless. I was utterly shocked to see several players act or react the way they did in several situations throughout the game. I guess in my mind, EP has always been a clutch guy.....that player you can always count on to make the tough catch, etc so of all people, he would be the last one I would expect that from. I'm over it (since I know you all care so much), but EP wouldn't be talking about that game the way he did if he didn't realize just how much he had to do with that loss. I think that's all I would say.......not sure that qualifies me as a "EP hater" or not. :icon_shrug:
McCardell fell off the radar toward the end of the year and in the playoffs. Parker and company had to step up or bail us out since McCardell was MIA. Rumor control in the newspaper had Cam Cameron and McCardell not seeing eye to eye. Reading between the lines, **** was hitting the fan between player and coach it appears. So that leaves us with Parker and crew ....... to Bail us out in a sense in the playoffs. VJ is still one hangnail away from the IR list and Floyd has a streak of man-gina as well. The new WR kid as a side note, Davis, has a partially torn groin. That sucks goat balls.
I think this McCardell and Cam quote is just a big to-do about nothing. First, it sounds like some sour grapes on McCardell's part. I heard him interviewed on Sirius a few weeks back, and he said nothing like the quotes in the source article. He even said if AJ called, he would very much consider coming back to San Diego. Second - I don't like the "anonymous" player quote. I never trust anonymous player quotes, knowing full well that Marcy and the Ankle Biter were the source of many of the bad snippets at different times over the past few years, without giving their names. Does the non-specified player also have an agenda? Is that player still on the team (Donnie) ??? Also, since AJ let Keenan go, it wasn't just Cam who saw a decline in McCardell's play. Using Cam as a convenient foil for blame, and seeing posters spill their wrath on him just isn't justified in this case. Cam deserves blame for his playcalling vs the Pats, but not for the player packages. In fact, one of those "Schottenheimer is a CEO" type articles in mid-season said Marty retained the right to choose player personnel packages. If people want someone to blame for Keenan not being on the field, it would be Marty, not Cam. I enjoyed watching McCardell's route running vs. SF. He could still get open, but the majority of the routes were with the CB playing off him (the old Jammer complaint of off coverage - that's a coaching decision, not the players - and 99% of the posters illogically blame the player). Why the 49ers played off McCardell is beyond me. He didn't have the wheels to get by anyone. So, he faked inside, and caught the 10-12 yard outs, while the CB bit on the in route. But, going up against better corners (or better coached corners) McCardell would get jammed at the LOS and not have the speed to get by anyone. It's not a bash on him, it's simply Father Time catching up to him. It happens to every NFL player. AJ let K-Mac go, meaning at least two NFL people (Cam/Marty and AJ) no longer think McCardell is good enough, at his age, to still be a productive WR. No team has picked him up yet, which means 31 other GM's/coaching staffs agree that McCardell doesn't have what it takes. All the posters yelling at Cam in a few threads on various boards are not looking at the situation with anything but emotionalism for a player that was a fan favorite. I must have missed that. Link?
The problem was Marty. He would lose command of things in really important games. The signs were subtle, but they were there and that tendency to brain freeze infected his players in those crucial games. He was unable to deal effectively with that kind of pressure for all of his career and players sensed it and it affected their performance, even if there weren't any histrionics or Captain Queeq figetting from the coach. The Keenan McCardell situation is interesting. Since to all appearences he was the only guy who was affected by this supposed Cameron pique and no one else, there is room for a lot of doubt about that being true. It's pretty hard to hide this kind of thing on a team as close knit and without dissension as the bolts. Now, if it was the Raiders.............poor Marcus Allen.
D'Flo is more than likely history. But even at that it's going to take some David Copperfield capology to keep a squad like this mostly in one piece. Let's just enjoy it while we can. Besides, it appears that AJ has found a business plan for a player parts store.
After you've had enough Ouzo, who knows for sure. After you've eaten the sausage in some of the world's more out of the way backwaters, it's not such a reach. They also stuff the eyes with dates in some places. It's amazing what people will eat. There are some things even I wouldn't try. My son ate a bat in a pastry or some other kind of doughy shell in Palau. Chip off the old block. :turdspuke:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070609/news_1s9chnotes.html Davis sidelined First-round draft pick Craig Davis participated in a light morning practice and then was mostly a spectator in the more intense afternoon session. Davis, who suffered a partial groin tear at his pro day March 14 and aggravated the injury during the May minicamp, said he is well enough to play but agrees it is better to go slowly. “We're just taking our time,” the young receiver said. “It's not my decision.”
To jusge a player by one game is just asinine. Some people are treating him like Leaf. Dont make no sense.
