I hope I did make it clear that I did not see Welker going for a “Hit”.
I think his job on that play was to be the pick, and he was trying to fulfill his responsibility and mis-timed it.
The ball was in the air before he crossed paths and cut slightly downfield around his teammate and headed straight for Talib. He knew in advance he wasn’t going to catch it, it was going in the direction of his teammate whose path was 180 degrees opposite to his own.
Again, my point isn’t that it was a call or non-call, to me, it was irrelevant to the outcome of even that series, never mind the game.
The point I was making is, no matter how other Freepers want to view it, it was an ILLEGAL hit. Because it is ILLEGAL doesn’t make it dirty, just not legal.
That’s all.
As for their attitude towards receivers, this is nothing new. They simply don’t value them the way other teams do, in both a good way and a bad way.
All teams have positions they somehow seem to specialize at year after year after year. Some teams always have good linebackers. Some always have good tight ends. Some have great running backs, and so on.
The Patriots, as long as I have watched them, have not developed receivers well, and when they do, they aren’t prepared to pay them what other teams are. I think it is that simple. Dion went after the money, that’s all. I hated to see him go, but I can’t fault him there. And I loved it when he came back, he was a lot of fun to watch.
I think what Belichik is doing is threatening Welker and trying to brand him as a “dirty player”. He is trying to make him unpopular, He is trying and to get him fined and trying to hurt his career. He also may be saying I am going to instruct my players that you are dirty and to take you out the next time we play.
The Patriots treated Welker badly. They refused to give him a contract. They refused to pay him what he was worth. They forced him to leave. Welker was Tom Brady's close friend and his favorite receiver. I believe Welker said one of the reasons he left the Patriots was because of Belichik.
Belichik has a history of this. He also forced out Deion Branch the Superbowl MVP.