Scott Cordischi On Sports: Welker To Belichick - “Stick It!”
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Wes Welker claims he was joking. Do you believe him? I don’t.
Following Sunday’s win over the Denver Broncos Sunday, Welker made his weekly postgame appearance on Comcast SportsNet where he was asked about his 13-catch, 104-yard, 1 touchdown performance.
His response? “It’s definitely nice to stick it in Bill’s (Belichick) face once in a while,” he said. “So this is a good one.”
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That response drew chuckles from hosts Michael Felger, Ty Law and Troy Brown and raised quite a few eyebrows across New England.
When confronted by the media in Foxboro Monday about those comments, Welker backed off saying, “it was a joke.” “I don’t know what else to say about it. I was a joke, he said. “But Bill and I, whether y’all believe it or not, have a good relationship and it was a joke and I’ll make sure to keep that in-house moving forward.”
Welker can backpedal as fast as he wants to from those comments, but, make no mistake about it, there was plenty of meaning behind them.
And why shouldn’t there have been?
After all, it was Belichick who inexplicably reduced Welker’s role to start the season.
Despite being the NFL’s most productive wide receiver over the last 5 years, the Patriots decided not to reward Welker with a well-deserved lucrative multi-year contract extension. Instead, they decided to slap the franchise tag on him.
And, while no one was crying for Wes Welker after that happened because of the $9.5 million he was being paid this season, Pats fans were scratching their heads after the team’s week one win at Tennessee when Welker took a back seat to Julian Edelman of all people.
His 3 catches for 14 yards were a bit disconcerting but no reason to be alarmed. However, when he did not start in week two at home against Arizona, the red flags went up.
Fortunately for Welker, both Edelman and tight end Aaron Hernandez were both injured in weeks 2 and 3 necessitating an increased role for Welker in the Patriots’ offense.
He has responded with 30 receptions for 375 yards and a touchdown over the last three games and has clearly been Tom Brady’s go-to guy.
It’s the type of performance we have come to expect from Welker and it further emphasizes the point that whatever reason or reasons Belichick had for ignoring him in weeks 1 and 2, they were foolishly misguided.
Unless Welker committed some unknown crime against the team, which we certainly would have known by now, there was no excuse for Belichick deemphasizing him in the Patriots offense.
After all, hasn’t Bill Belichick’s every move since taking over the football operations in Foxboro been dictated by what is best for the team?
If we assume that he still lives by that credo, then he sure is one hell of a hypocrite.
Bill Belichick has forgotten more about football than all of us know combined. But that doesn’t mean that his moves should be subjected to criticism every now and then.
Did Welker’s jab at his head coach help the team? Probably not. But it was likely therapeutic for the Patriots and possibly the NFL’s best wide receiver.
-Speaking of Belichick, his decision to go for it on 4th and 5 in the 4th quarter Sunday was dumber than his decision to go for it on 4th and 2 in Indianapolis a few years ago. Sometimes you wonder if the man isn’t trying to be too smart for his own good?
-I don’t know about you, but the baseball playoffs minus the Red Sox aren’t exactly “must see TV” for me.
-Did you see where Bronson Arroyo tossed 7 innings of 1-hit, shutout baseball in Cincinnati’s game two win over the San Francisco Giants? Why can’t the Red Sox get pitchers like that?
-Good luck to Brown running back Spiro Theodhosi who will undergo surgery to repair a lisfranc injury in his right foot today. After missing the last two seasons with torn ACL’s in both knees, the courageous Theodhosi deserved a better fate.
-Red Sox GM Ben Cherrington calls re-signing 36-year old designated hitter David Ortiz a “top priority” for the team this offseason. Do you believe him?
-All of you college basketball junkies out there, teams will officially begin practice this Friday night.
-A big tip of the cap to the recently retired Kevin Faulk. The former Patriots running back epitomized being a team player and, despite being an unsung hero, was a very big part of the Pats championship success last decade.
-Rhode Island’s Don Orsillo is handling the play-by-play for the ALDS between the Detroit Tigers and the Oakland A’s. For those who remember Orsillo from his days in Pawtucket as the radio voice of the Pawsox, you had the feeling that he was destined for broadcasting greatness.
-Either Jerry Sandusky is in complete denial or he’s even sicker than we give him credit for.
-How about that leaping catch by A’s outfielder Coco Crisp robbing Detroit’s Prince Fielder of a homerun in the second inning of game 3 of the ALDS Tuesday night? Why can’t the Red Sox get players like that?
-As a Red Sox fan, while I would like to see the franchise get back on top where they were last decade, still another part of me wouldn’t mind seeing Terry Francona lead the Cleveland Indians to a World Series title just to stick it to Red Sox management who tried to make him the scapegoat for the 2011 September collapse.
-For the second time in 4 weeks, the Brown University football team will be on national television Saturday when the Bears visit Princeton. The game will be televised on the NBC Sports Network at noon.
-To all of the Miami Dolphins fans reading this column, a mea culpa from yours truly. Your football team is a lot more competitive than I ever thought they would be this season.
-Are Rhode Island voters smart enough to approve of full fledged casinos in our state or will we simply wait until every New England state has them before we decide that it might be a good idea for us too?
-Didn’t Barak Obama promise us to do something about those greedy oil companies who continue to raise our gas prices even when the price of oil is going down during his campaign four years ago? Uh, Mr. President……we’re waiting!
-My gut tells me that URI hired the right man to turn around their men’s basketball program.
-That’s the same gut that is telling me that John Farrell may not be the answer to the Red Sox recent woes.
-As we look forward to Halloween and all of the trick-or-treaters who will be trying to score as much candy as they can, here’s a list of what my favorite candy used to be: plain M&M’s, Milky Way and the very underrated 100 Grand Bar.
