great move by the patriots.only beli is smart enough to bring a guy in who retires before the first preseason game.if you can't see how great this is you obviously don't know football like the genius in n.e.this is why the jets are also rans,they don't know how to mke a move like this. //peter king
The Pats thought they could get one more year out of him. Apparently not. He wasn't doing too well in camp and the writing was on the wall that he probably wasn't going to make the team. Hey, for every Andre Carter or Mark Anderson there are plenty of Galleries, Ellises, and Fat Alberts. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. The thing that makes it work for BB is that he isn't afraid to say "we screwed up with this guy" and move on. I think that's exactly what the Jets were doing with Otah (Though the Pats spent some $$$ to find out Gallery was toast and the Jets didn't spend any)
When you're not a star in the NFL 31 is kind of where you're 50/50 to be out of the league every season. That's just what it is. The NFL is a meat-grinder that is not kind to mediocrity. That catches up to people when age slows them that extra 2% that makes them uncompetitive.
:lol: :lol: :lol: Well said. Probably noting all the health problems being reported later in players' lives, he weighed his priorities and made the decision.
I wonder what convinced him to retire, though, AFTER he signed? Then again, I'm sure having Belichick as a coach would make it a lot easier to call it quits...
We've seen guys report to camp and then realize they don't have the will to keep going 100% which is requisite to compete in the NFL. It was probably that plus possible looming health issues, I won't be surprised if linemen start retiring earlier.
Yeah, it's becoming increasingly obvious that the trench players are the ones who are under inhuman stress levels at this point. A decade ago it was the QB's and the WR's who were getting concussed all over the place and people like Troy Aikman and Wayne Chrebet made that so apparent that it could not be ignored any longer. Rules changes followed and now it is rare for a QB or WR to come off the field with a concussion and certainly to have multiple concussions in a series of games as used to happen. The evidence now is that the trench players have been taking quiet hits and actually staying on the field through concussions for decades. The NFL is going to be forced to deal with this the same way they did with the QB and WR problems. They've already taken the first step with the limitation on full contact practices put in place last year. That won't be the last step taken though. Fans of today's high-impact football really need to be enjoying the next few years because the game isn't going to be high impact like it is now in a decade. It's going to be more like wrestling in the trenches with the players in contact before the snap and strict rules on how that contact is allowed to be used. It'll be a game of leverage and quickness instead of hard collisions.
Word is, it was just the general physical demands of camp. Gallery spoke as though old, nagging injuries were keeping him down... something along the lines of "the mind is willing, the flesh is weak." Kind of throws a monkey wrench into a line that's already in pretty serious disarray. How things go from here probably depend on how soon Mankins comes back and whether or not Waters is going to play. If either of those guys aren't in the picture, the Patriots will be hurting for depth big-time.
The Patriots often bring players in to help them lately that become irrelevant. Gallery just realized it more quickly than others. Such a coincidence. Wes Welker is the exception now, not the rule.
Lol. For every Robert Gallery there has been a Wes Welker or Danny Woodhead or Andre Carter, and for every Corey Dillon there has been an Adalius Thomas or Albert Haynesworth or Joey Galloway. That has pretty much been the story all along. I don't know why you act like there is a trend one way or another. The only thing Belichick has been exceptionally good at is recognizing the mistakes early, and not allowing them to negatively impact the team. Do your really find it that unusual that a team picked up a veteran player near the end of his career, tried him out during training camp, and things didn't work out? Do you consider Torry Holt to be a "stain" on Belichick's record too, since we briefly had him in camp last year? I'd just as soon let him keep on making these moves, even if we have to "suffer" ten of these "embarrassments" just to get one Brian Waters or Rodney Harrison.
They've always brought in alot of players that don't pan out. But that's gonna happen when you take the chance to bring guys in. I disagree with the idea that a successful pick up is the exception rather than the rule for the Pats though. Last year they missed with Albert and Chad, but hit on Carter, Anderson, and Waters. I like that they aren't afraid to take a shot, and they aren't aren't afraid to admit it when it doesn't work out and cut their losses.
I like Gallery, he has done well since moving to right tackle. With that being said it is good to hear that the Patsies are losing him.
