DavidSeven":j92rtuia said:
Eh, I skimmed it, but there seems to quite a bit of pure speculation, hearsay and over-dramatization of the early season "QB controversy." For example, he says that Tate had "thrown in his lot with Wilson" because his girlfriend had become friends with Ashton. OK, really? Later he mentions the locker room being "unsettled." Says who?
And then there's five paragraphs on how one Terrell Owens drop somehow sabotaged a "near perfect game" from Matt Flynn and cost him everything.
The whole article feels like it has an agenda behind it.
To be fair, that TO TD drop was pretty huge. Flynn had played well and been on the mark, but without that TD it was easier to see the guy as a game manager while seeing RW as someone who could threaten downfield.
Although I remember Pete saying at the time that he scored that as a TD for Flynn anyhow.
As to whether Pete and Schneid misled Flynn, that's bull doodoo. I'm sure they did tell Flynn they wanted him to be their guy, but on the other hand there is no way Carroll did not say (probably several times and in rapid-fire ADD style) that it's all about competition. I think Flynn understood that.
And hey, the idea that Pete and Schneid were always pulling for RW because he was "their guy"...yeah okay sure, he was "their guy" like Portis and Whitehurst were "their guys". And Pete had no issues consigning Whitehurst to the dumpster almost from the very start when he saw the cat could not play. Whether it was Wilson or Flynn, finding the guy to take them furthest was going to reflect well on them either way. I think Pete did what Pete has always done here, stared at what he saw in practice and went with the guy he thought had "it".
HB saying it was the wrong decision...well I can't agree with that. There were many who thought it was a gamble, heck, put me in that category, and I remember saying to myself gee whiz starting Flynn is a win-win situation. RW gets a year on the bench, and if Flynn doesn't light it up then everyone will be on board with starting RW next year.
Well after the way it turned out I pretty much kneel before Pete's omniscience, and HB should be doing the same, rather than saying it's still a bad decision even if it turns out right. If Pete made a good decision that turned out like a disaster he'd own that mess, so he gets the credit if he bets it all on red and hits.