Sunday, January 16, 2011

Welker Steps in It

Bill Belichek made a statement today by benching Wes Welker for the first play of the Patriots- Jets game today. Trash talking the Jets is something of a state pastime in Massachusetts. Everyone gets involved, as a sort of "tribe bonding" experience. Kids do it on the playground, and corporate executives do it in boardrooms.

Wes Welker took it to a new level this week, talking it off the field and invoking the personal, in what's been referred to as the press conference where he put his "foot" in it. Last month, an Internet video surfaced in which, according to the Huffington Post, a woman who resembled Ryan's wife Michelle, was shown "displaying her toes to an off-screen cameraman who sounds a lot like the coach. The two are having an intimate chat about her feet." Ryan has declined to comment on the situation, saying it's "personal".

In what was to be a routine interview about the upcoming playoff game, Welker repeatedly made references to "feet", mocking Ryan. Belichek's response was to bench Welker for the first play of the game, preventing him from being listed as a starter. Was this a strong enough statement about inappropriate behavior, or just the equivalent of a rap on the knuckles?

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