Thursday, June 07, 2007

Samuel and a lack of class

I've been debating whether or not to address this for some time...until I read the following by Don Banks at Sports Illustrated, "Moss last week traveled with his new teammates to New Orleans for the wake of Patriots defensive lineman Marquise Hill -- who drowned May 27 after his jet ski flipped in Lake Pontchartrain -- a player he had barely met."

Reports in the Boston Globe and Boston Herald noted Samuel's absence from the funeral. I wasn't thrilled about it at the time, as Samuel had been Hill's teammate on the defensive side of the ball for Hill's entire professional career.

Samuel has repeatedly claimed to understand that the NFL is a business, but it seems to me, when a person spurns a teammate's funeral during a contract dispute, then the dispute is moved into the personal. Maybe he had a family emergency...maybe. Or maybe he wanted to avoid having to face the Patriot front office which attended.

Either way, I think he needs to explain his absence. That event wasn't about team. It was about our connection to each other as individuals - and right now I'm seeing someone for whom money is king over all else. I don't know if that's a teammate I would want back.

4 comments:

Dave said...

I totally missed that. I did read Moss went, which was a classy move. But if Samuel has that little respect for his own teammates...well, don't let your door hit ya, Asante.

Kevin Smith said...

From Karen Guregian, Boston Herald, June 5, 1st paragraph (http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=1004881)- Asante Samuel did not join his Patriots teammates at Marquise Hill’s wake Friday in New Orleans, nor did he attend the funeral, according to several people who were at the services.

BklynSoxFan said...

Kevin: Thanks for the link to my site. I'm putting one up for you there today.

John

Kevin Smith said...

Happy to help out a fellow blogger.