I think this issue will be the most difficult one BB and the organization has faced...it's very obvious that Hernandez is a bad guy and has been one for awhile...drafting him is one thing...teams roll the dice on "character issues" all the time...it's just a fact of life in pro sports today...the contract extension is a totally different issue...right now it appears only two things could have occurred...one, the Pats security/intelligence (or whatever you want to call it) totally whiffed on the gravity of Hernandez's thuggishness...for a team that dots every I and crosses every T I find that really hard to believe...so does that mean that the Pats were willing to give out big money to a guy that appears to have gang ties and has a lot of bad stuff going on around him...if he's out in Boston hanging with hoods there is absolutely no way the Pats would not know about this...Boston/Eastern Mass is a very close-knit community and these secrets are not easy to keep...especially on a very high profile player...BB likes to keep the media at bay and that strategy often makes a lot of sense regardless of how frustrating it can be...yet, there is absolutely no way that "no comments" or podium shrugs will suffice here...as a fan I want to know how you can let a good soldier like Welker walk for low money (or bench him for foot jokes) yet can give a big contract to what right now appears to be a murderer who was keeping company with some very, very bad people...sorry but Hernandez just did not turn into a bad guy 10 days ago and the Pats need to answer why they did not have better info or why they ignored the info they had...
This is a really good post.
I am not trying to rip on the Pats here at all.
Here is my subjective take:
BB is probably the best coach in football. In fact, it might not even be close. Even the haters know his ability to game-plan week to week and put his players in positions to win is second to none. It's also clear to me that BB is very good at coaching his coaches to be successful. Many have bombed as they left, but under BB they were all applauded.
We have all worked at places where there was that one guy. Sometimes it can even be you. He does the work of 4-5 people. The whole machine goes because of that guy. Many step up because they see how hard BB works for them to succeed. It becomes a culture of winning and many buy in to make the organization top notch.
In my mind, BB is that guy who does the work of many. He is such a good coach that he plugs tons of holes in what is likely an average (or worse) front office. But because he is doing at least 3-4 roles on this team, the one he clearly has no time for is knowing if his players are thugs, etc. He knows them as football players. He trusts his front office to figure the rest out. I am sure he evaluates guys and has comments on their football skills/worth, but once they are signed he coaches them to be the best they can be.
The front office failed big here. They have also been failing pretty badly in the NFL Draft despite record number of picks each year. In my opinion, they have not earned a pass. For me though, BB gets a pass. He is the coach and already doing the work of many.
