It took nearly a week but there's final a nugget of news from the endless hype and bluster of Super Bowl week in Indianapolis: tonight in a weirdly timed move, the Patriots released wide receiver Tiquan Underwood and promoted defensive end Alex Silvestro to the 53-man roster.
There's a couple way to read this move which basically swaps the last guy on the team for a guy on the practice squad that played in one game earlier this season. A) The Patriots want to rotate their defensive ends and linemen often and B) Chad Johnson is going to be active.
I can't argue that this transaction on the surface seems heartless but you have to think it serves some purpose, otherwise why would New England take a risk like this on the eve of its biggest game in four years?
With two weeks to talk about Super Bowl 46, many have come to the silly conclusion that Johnson, who was on the field for one play against Denver and wasn't active vs. Baltimore in the AFC Championship, could be a sort of secret weapon. I wish I could be that delusional but the fact is that if Chad had 15 catches all season, what makes you think he'll do anything in the Super Bowl? What has he done in 2011-12 to show you that he's a clutch performer? I rest my case.
Let's be real, Underwood was lucky to get a free trip to the Super Bowl. He is a fringe NFL player at best and nobody in the world would recognize him or know who he is if he didn't sport an absurd Kid N' Play style high top fade. Don't feel bad for him, he had three catches in five games this season. He was playing on borrowed time.
Tweet
Follow @RichSlate
No comments:
Post a Comment