Whenever the New England Patriots are in the news, you can be sure the New York tabloids will be there with some dumb, paper-thin take.
Well, the New York Post delivered the goods Saturday night.
The Post’s Mark Cannizzaro reacted to news of Antonio Brown signing with the Patriots by saying New England deserves “hell” for the move. In fact, he said Brown joining the Patriots was all part of some “scheme.”
From Cannizzaro’s column:
“Shame on the Patriots. They should get what they deserve with Brown, which at the very least is a collective season-long migraine headache, but at the worst a team torn apart by the nonsensical distractions Browns brings with him.
“Raiders head coach Jon Gruden and his team, whose offseason and training camp were marred by one incident after another involving Brown (each more unbelievable and ridiculous than the other), should hope they parted ways in time to save their 2019 season.”
Cannizzaro added:
“Brown — for all his greatness on the field, for his 837 career receptions for more than 11,000 yards and for the 74 touchdowns he’s produced in nine NFL seasons — is not worth the trouble. Not even for Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the Patriots. The world of sports is full of enablers. Count the Patriots as the kings of the enablers today.”
OK.
You easily can make the point the Patriots are enabling a miscreant by bailing out Brown. The 31-year-old receiver hardly has acted like someone who deserves millions. But saying the Patriots deserve “hell?” That’s a little excessive. Welcome to the world of professional sports, Mark — talent always trumps character.
As for this “scheme,” we assume Cannizzaro is talking about the belief that Brown conspired to join the Patriots from the beginning, and New England knew about it. And, in fairness, there’s some meat on that bone. However, Cannizzaro never addresses that point in his article. He just threw it in the headline to garner eyeballs.
As for Brown, he arrived in New England on Sunday to (a few) adoring fans. He is not eligible to play in the Patriots’ regular-season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
