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Randy Moss, Like Manny Ramirez, Finding Out the Hard Way That Boston’s Winning Culture Doesn’t Grow on Trees

When are athletes going to learn it’s not a good idea to force their way out of Boston?

It took Manny Ramirez two years to figure out what Randy Moss realized in less than a month.

The grass is not greener away from the Hub.

Teams in Boston compete for championships. They have owners, general managers, coaches and players that are passionate about winning. They have organizations that are used to winning, know how to win and are willing to do whatever it takes to win. This type of culture is a privilege, not a right.

Sometimes, players forget this.

They don’t know how good they have it in Boston. They take the city for granted. They treat their team like a man who has a loyal wife, then turns around and dumps her for a young jezebel that looks good in a cocktail dress. It never works out.

Moss doesn’t deserve a second chance in New England. If he had kept his mouth shut and just focused on football, he’d still be catching passes from Tom Brady and being led by Bill Belichick.

Instead, he’s like 10 percent of America: out of work and looking for a job.

The chances of Moss signing with another team are good, but the chances of him finding another team as good as the Patriots are slim and none. And slim left town, just like Moss.

Think the wide receiver regrets his decision?

Listening to him shower the Patriots with love after the Vikings’ loss at Gillette Stadium on Sunday sure sounded like somebody who knew he’d made a monumental error in judgment. Moss sounded a lot like Ramirez did when he came to Fenway with the White Sox in September, when he apologized for his behavior and actions with the Red Sox.

Athletes are human. They make mistakes. But it’s hard to have any sympathy for any player who puts himself first before the good of the team, all while collecting a multimillion dollar salary.

The Moss and Manny tales are cautionary ones. What happened to them in Boston can happen to any star in any city. Maybe the next young athlete coming up who feels a sense of entitlement will remember the lesson those two taught us and just play.

It will save everyone a lot of unnecessary heartache.