Fan Forum: Wes Welker’s Intentions Obvious in Poking Fun at Rex Ryan

“Foot soldiers.”

He lost everyone with “foot soldiers.” Had he not said “foot soldiers,” we all probably would have said it was mere coincidence. But because he said “foot soldiers,” his cover was blown.

The comments in question, of course, came from Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker, a guy who’s not known for Antonio Cromartie-esque trash talk. It’s rude to say a guy is boring, so let’s just say that Welker is nonprovocative when he speaks with the media. That’s why the group of reporters assembled at Gillette Stadium didn’t even realize that Welker was having a grand old time by referencing feet as many as 11 times.

Check it out here, if you haven’t yet seen it.

You could understand saying “best foot forward,” you could see why he said Darrelle Revis and Deion Branch have “great feet,” you can buy into “being on your toes” just being a cliche and maybe — just maybe — you could believe the “toe in the water” line, if not for the “foot soldiers” remark.

“Really, just us going out there and being good little foot soldiers and making sure we’re going out there and doing everything Coach [Bill Belichick] asks us to do,” Welker deadpanned in a near-monotone.

Since Welker uttered his comments, they’ve become national news. Have the Patriots launched their first piece of trash talk toward the Jets? Did Belichick instruct his player to take a shot at the opposing coach? Is Wes Welker a terrible human being?!

It is, really, a bit of an overreaction. If Welker was being anything, it was a weisenheimer — a jokester, a guy having some fun. He probably bet some teammate that he could say “feet” or “foot” or “toes” 10 times during his news conference without laughing, and he pulled it off with great execution.

None of that makes Welker a terrible person. It’s not as if he came out and blurted expletives about Revis or Cromartie, and he didn’t say anything that could ever fire up the opposition. You think Rex cares? That guy loves his wife’s feet!

Plus, frankly, dry comedy isn’t exactly picked up on in many NFL locker rooms. I have a feeling that the Jets don’t gather on Friday nights to watch The Royal Tenenbaums — their general manager excluded, perhaps.

Fans who believe Welker’s foot remarks were nothing more than words and had no other intentions have pointed to Welker’s past quotes. As a 29-year-old man, Welker’s undoubtedly said the word “foot” several times in his life, but he’s never said it 11 times in a span of a few minutes.

So yeah, Welker was trying to be funny, and if you don’t believe what he said was intentionally geared at Mr. Ryan, you’ve got your head somewhere I don’t want to even imagine.

Were Welker’s comments intentional? Share your thoughts below.

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