|
The Associated Press reports that New Orleans tight end Jeremy Shockey said he plans to participate in the Saints final eight voluntary workouts and wants to turn the focus on him back to football. He missed much of last season because of a hernia injury and failed to score a touchdown in the NFL's top-rated offense. He did not attend the first four of the team's voluntary offseason practices and was back in the news two weeks ago when he was treated at a hospital for dehydration after being found unconscious at a pool party at a Las Vegas resort. He offered few specifics about the Vegas incident, but seemed to confirm that excessive consumption of alcohol mixed with the desert heat led to the dehydration.
Mancini’s Take: It’s nice to see that Shock Jock has finally come around to making football his primary focus. But his teammates have caught on to his act. In fact, in a recent interview, Drew Brees intimated that the Saints aren’t waiting for Shockey to get with the program. He clearly stated that you can win without him, as the Giants found out a couple of years ago. This fool had New York in the palm of his hand, but let outside distractions and his jealousy of Eli Manning get in the way of his development as a professional. At this point, he’s only half the player he could’ve been. Life will do that to you when you’re out getting blitzed instead of being committed to being the best football player you can be. New Orleans is stuck with an injury-prone head case, who drops a ton of balls and can’t run like he used to. Can you tell me again how the G-Men stole second and fifth-round picks from New Orleans for this jobber, Rosstradamus?
Mandel's Take: I can't lie, I take great pride in my Giants whenever a ridiculous Shockey story comes up, which is often. The Giants were as good as any used car salesman when they sold the Saints on this lemon of a tight end. "Look at the exterior of this baby! Isn't that a nice looking ride/tight end? No need to look inside to see what makes it/him tick..." Shockey looks great when he plays with his head screwed on straight...but that's maybe twice a season. He is deservedly taking back-up snaps in practice behind the immortal Billy Miller, and although it sounds nice that he's turning his focus back to football, the question that Saints fans want answered is: why wasn't your focus there to begin with? Shockey hasn't learned that being a stud in college doesn't mean you can simply walk on the field and be an NFL player. It fooled some people for a while, but time exposes everyone eventually. I still think he can be a valuable player, but until I see it for an entire season, I won't believe it.
 Trackback(0)
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed