Building of a Cassel

By Evan White

In week one New England Patriots fans lost hope within eight minutes, boy were they wrong.

It was in that time that the best player in team history, quarterback Tom Brady went down with a major knee injury.

Eight weeks later, there is great optimism in New England, despite Thursday night’s 34-31 loss to the New York Jets. I don’t want to take anything away from the Jets, they won and in the process, seized first place in the ultra-competitive AFC East, but Cassel tore them apart. Cassel amassed 462 yards in the game, it was the best game he’s played and likely won him a big payday for another team next year.

It’s been a slow road for Cassel, sitting for three years prior to ’08, but each week the offense gets better. In his first two weeks the Pats snuck by abysmal Kansas City, and the tentative Jets, before getting slapped around 38-13 at home by Miami. For the first five weeks New England stuck to short passes and plenty of runs, The Pats averaged thirty carries during that span. It all changed when they faced Denver. Cassel was 18-24 with three touchdowns against the Denver Bronco’s in what became a 41-7 route. No Denver doesn’t play much defense but this was the turning point game for Cassel. The Patriots still rely heavily on the run, rushing for 138 yards per game (7^th in the NFL), but Cassel’s improvement with reading defenses and not throwing costly interceptions shows that he’ll be a solid quarterback in this league for years to come. It does help to have a coach like Bill Belicheck who knows how to develop young talent, and Cassel has been in the same offense for his whole career, but one can’t ignore his extraordinarily quick improvement.

Other NFL teams aren’t ignoring it either. I expect to see several suitors go after Cassel as he becomes a free agent at years end. There’s no question that Tom Brady will be New England’s starting quarterback once he’s healthy in 2009, which is why Cassel at 26 has a great chance to start elsewhere in 2009.

Look around the NFL and you’ll see just a handful of teams with solid signal callers. Take a quarterback with the NFL education and natural poise Cassel has played with this season and there should be no doubt clubs will throw starters money at him, as the Texans did with Matt Schaub in 2007. Schaub backed up Michael Vick in Atlanta before being traded in 2007 to Houston. Schaub had ONE good game in his career, playing in only handful. Want to guess who it was against? The New England Patriots. He torched their defense to the tune of three scores in three point loss to the Pats in 2005. Two years later, Houston traded a draft choice and gave the other Matt, a six-year deal worth a reported $48 million dollars. Expect Cassel to start the negotiating there.

Teams that may want to purchase a Cassel in 2009:

Minnesota: The Vikings have a stellar defense, great running back and are missing two vital positions.

A quarterback, and top receiver. Add Cassel to a team with this cast, and they may be a threat to go deep into the playoffs in 2009.

Tennessee: Sure the team is unbeaten, but their ancient quarterback Kerry Collins is a free agent too. After playing this well, I don’t see him taking the backup job again. What about week one starter Vince Young? Do you think its possible he’s outworn his welcome in Nashville with reckless play, injuries, and questionable character? I do.

Tampa Bay: Jon Gruden loves quarterbacks like Henry Paulson loves talking bailouts. Will a starting gig in the sunshine state, load of cash and superb defense entice Mr. Cassel? It might.

Carolina: Jake Delhomme has been a solid player for the Panthers, but his numbers are worse the Cassel’s and he’s 33. His team’s passing offense? 23^rd. The Patriots are 12^th.

New York (Jets): This is by no means a dark horse. The Jets spent millions on free agents last year, so I’m not sure how they could afford him, but with uncertainty surrounding Favre, and the idea of stealing a poor man’s Brady, I’m sure Jets coach Eric Mangini could figure something out.

If you are like me and don’t get the NFL Network you may have missed what Brandon Marshall did during Thursday nights game against the Cleveland Browns. Then again, thanks to Youtube and ESPN, maybe not.

Marshall scored a touch down with just over one minutes left in the fourth quarter then tried to celebrate in an odd way. Marshall reached into his pocket for a black and white glove. In a post-game news conference Marshall said he would slipped on the glove and raised a fist as a tribute to President Elect Barack Obama. Teammate Brandon Stokely, fearing a penalty, kept it from happening.

Marshall compared the glove idea to actions taken during the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City where Olympic medal winners Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their hands with black gloves making a political statement as Smith’s website puts it of “liberty and solidarity.” This was during one of the nation’s most chaotic times. This however, from a civil rights standpoint, is not. That year Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated in addition to rioting in Chicago’s Grant Park. Marshall’s interest in making a political statement is admirable, especially one he said was a symbol of unity. In my opinion he should have picked a different platform to do it. Not on the field.

I’m a proponent of outspoken athletes who want to be involved with politics or address issues they desire, but the playing field isn’t the platform to use.

It’s hard to forget former heavyweight champ and outspoken politician figure Muhammad Ali, who spent four years outside the ring for ignoring his draft notice during the Vietnam war. Ali made a statement, and a sacrifice, it was a lot more powerful than it would have been had he demonstrated in the ring, as Marshall tried to do. Like the demonstrations of Smith and Carlos, Ali’s actions took place during an extremely restless time for African Americans. While racism and inequality in my eyes isn’t over, quite a bit has changed for equality in 40 years.

Brandon Marshall is a brilliant player but this wasn’t a brilliant nor timely act.

Marshall could do a lot with his talent and fame to show his political views, but should chose a different platform. I think it would have been just as effective for Marshall to give an interview to media prior to the game to give his thoughts on the Presidential election. A heartfelt personal account of what Barack Obama’s win meant to budding superstar Brandon Marshall. That in my mind, would have garnered more support than his post-game statement. The act also could have resulted in a penalty which is reportedly the reason Stokley stopped him.

This move was a glorified end zone dance that could have hurt his team, and Marshall knows it.

He’s better, hopefully for the Broncos he gets better, and learns from this. His team is in a playoff hunt, and there’s plenty of time to demonstrate outside of the end zone.