And, by the way, the Patriots* were not one of the best teams in the league before Welker's arrival. They lost in the playoffs the last two seasons and they went out and found Welker and Moss. Two of the three main keys to their ultimate success this season.
Welker is certainly worth a whole lot more than he was when the Patriots* picked him up. Credit that to the Patriots* fitting him into an offensive scheme that best utilizes his talents.
Unfortunately for him, he landed in a now heavily tainted organization that puts winning above the rules of the game. Welker, I'm sure wasn't aware of the cheating that was going on last year before he joined the team (although there were quite a few teams who were suspicious and according to what I have seen and read, it does go back beyond last year such that even Charlie Weis could share a little insight into the matter. And that, BTW, is highly disappointing to this long-time Notre Dame football fan) but Welker AND Moss did have a good idea what was going on from the moment they picked up their playbooks and into the start of the year. That is guaranteed.
I played the game myself and as an offensive starter, if you have half a brain, you would know something was up. Everybody has a role to play. They may not know what everybody else's role is in the scheme but they have their own role. To believe otherwise is to believe that Wes Welker is a total idiot and was totally oblivious to what was going on around him. I give Welker a little more credit than that. Hell, even the kicker knows what they are doing. He's there, he starts questioning how they can call the perfect play in any situation, how they "seem" to know every single time the blitz is coming, etc... The sports press and Patriots* fans tries to sell the line that it's just coaches that were involved and the players are completely oblivious and that is complete an utter nonsense.
As for the records? The kicking and returning kicks "record" speaks to his abilities as an athelete. His job on the field was to return kicks, that's a given. He fell into the kicking duties in a game where their kicker was not available and he was able to step in and perform. That's awesome! That's something he can tell his grandkids about. But that's not a "record" as much as it is a "feat". Players are not actively trying to break that "record". A team does not draft a kicker/kick returner. The fact that Welker had a Dolphin record for returning kickoffs speaks well about his durability because the Dolphins were receiving an awful lot of kickoffs. I'll spell it out for you: The Dolphins have been the worst they have ever been the past few seasons and they were giving up a lot more touchdowns and field goals than they ever have. And what do they do after they give up a touchdown or field goal? The other team kicks the ball off to them! You see how that works?
And as for Welker's shared receiving record. That was this season, after the Patriots* picked him up at a bargain basement price. Now, the trick is to re-sign Welker. That contract will definitely prove to be a lot more costly to the Patriots* this time around.
I especially love how you keep saying the Pats cheat, then point out that they didn't win.... they must be really bad cheaters, huh?
And for the record, yeah I believe they cheated too - that isn't the topic here - This was a thread about a good kid who finally got a chance to show his talent and you crapped all over the thread. Thanks a lot.
That part at least is true. Shame there's no 'stopper' to compliment that.
And, by the way, the Patriots* were not one of the best teams in the league before Welker's arrival.
The Patriots won their division in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006. They won the conference and Super Bowl in 2001, 2003 and 2004. If that doesn't constitute one of the best teams in football, I don't know what does.
I lied though. I did keep reading your post and after doing so I should have stuck with my original thought.
You say you played the game? Was it before helmets?