February 27, 2025 • 39 mins
In an anonymous players’ survey, the NFL Players Association ranked the New England Patriots as the second worst NFL franchise out of 32 teams. Why? The Pats received a grade of F for their weight room and team travel and a D for ownership. We discussed the Patriots’ full grades and rankings in each category and heard your thoughts!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Constin's radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Okay, welcome back nine o'clock hour here on a Thursday night,
and Red Sox are in spring training.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Ruins are losing to the Islanders, the.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Celtics took it on the chin last night in Detroit
against the Pistons, and of course the Patriots are gearing
up for next year.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
This is not a sports show.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
However, it was a really interesting article the Globe and
the Herald today, and for those of you who have
any interest in sports, I hope this caught your eye. Apparently,
the National Football League does at a survey every year
in which they ask all of their players to participate
(00:49):
in this anonymous player survey, and each team's anonymous answers
are collated and the teams then are given a ranking
a survey and as the Globe article said today, survey
(01:10):
says Patriots fail. And I read this Ben Volan's column,
and there was also a column on the same issue
in the Boston Herald and I read it and the
more that I read, the more frustrated I became. And
I don't know how many of you followed this stuff
(01:34):
because it's sports and something that you know, I'm interested in.
And the Patriots are ranked of the thirty two NFL
teams in terms of I guess you would call it
player satisfaction, maybe player comfort. They're ranked thirty first, second
(01:55):
to last. Only the Arizona Cardinals gave their team their organization,
and I'll explain how they came to that decision. That
there's only one team that thinks they're treated worse, and
just in terms of sort of the amenities. Okay, Now,
(02:15):
by way of background, you have to realize that to
be a professional athlete is an honor and a gift.
The number of people who have the honor to play
one of the major league sports, it's a small percentage.
I mean thousands of I should say millions of kids
(02:39):
start out in Little league, or they start out in
pop warner or pee wee hockey or some form of
you know, local club basketball. And the people who who
who make it to the top, they they're the best
of the best, no question. Even if you're a benchwarmer,
(03:00):
you're major league athlete, you generally are treated in the
first as first class. And as a matter of fact,
the way it is now, kids are identified by all
the colleges and the high schools earlier and earlier and earlier.
And of course even if you play Division one football,
(03:25):
that's probably you have treatments as a Division one football
player that are better than what the pro football players
are fifty years ago ever received. So let's look at
the scores that now, again, this is a composite score
(03:46):
that the Patriot players gave to the organization for which
they play, and the Patriot players, the Patriots organization was
thanked first the second worst organization in all of the
National Football League. Now, I'm not a Patriot player. I
(04:10):
don't know these facilities, but I do know that major
league teams they don't stay in redroof inns, a Motel
sixes at the Ritz or when they're on the road,
or they're at the Four Seasons Hotel. When they go
(04:32):
to the airport, they're not flying commercial, particularly pro football teams.
They are always flying on some sort of a private jet,
probably in many cases leaving from the most convenient airport,
whether it's Green Down in Rhode Island or maybe Hanscombe Field.
The Patriots have a plane. I think all of us
(04:52):
have seen that plane. I have to the Gillette Stadium
is what Now? Twenty three years old. Maybe it's one
of the newer stadiums for those of us who remember
Sullivan Stadium and back in the day, even before that
Harvard Stadium. I just think, what would Babe Peruli at
(05:17):
Geno Capelletti and the people who helped bring the Patriots
to life here in New England say about this well anyway,
So the treatment of families, I guess on game days
they try to make sure that the families are comfortable.
(05:38):
I don't think they all end up in swites like
Taylor Swift, but that's a story for another time. Treatment
of families, the Patriots players collectively give the Patriots organization
a C plus. That is kind of a Midland grade
because it's that the eighteenth in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
In terms of the food and dining.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Area, I guess this is somewhere in the bowels of
Jillette Stadium, twenty fourth in the NFL. Nutritionists and dietitians
twenty fifth in the NFL. The locker room the players
rated twenty second of all the thirty two NFL locker rooms.
(06:20):
The training room, oh bad, number thirtieth in the NFL.
The training staff twenty sixth in the NFL. The weight
room last dead last in the NFL. The strength coaches.
These are the guys who work with the Patriot players.
(06:41):
Twenty sixth in the NFL, team travel thirty first in
the NFL. They have a Patriots plane, but according to
the article that I've read, they feel that the plane
is not of the best gray, that it's a little older,
(07:03):
and it's a little more cramped. Again, I guess all
of us would love to have a private plane to
travel on. The best grade they give is to the
head coach, their own head coach, which is it's a
B plus, But it's the other players on the other
teams must really love their coaches, because this B plus
(07:25):
for Gerardmeo ranked him only twenty fourth, But that's the
highest grade the Patriot players gave to anything associated with
their experience and then ownership the Craft family, they gave
them a D. Now, I'm not an insider. I don't
cover the Patriots, but my sense is that the Patriots
(07:51):
need to shake this up. That this is a team
that went four to fourteen, so they didn't produce on
the field. They did give much protection either to their
veteran quarterback earlier in the season, to Kobe Brissett, and
they didn't give much protection to the new guy, the
rookie Derek May. And you know, there were at least
(08:17):
two or three of the players on the Patriots this
year who had some distractions, shall we say, because they
had to. They got themselves involved in either a confrontation
with a police officer or in some sort of a
domestic situation. I realized that every one of those cases,
(08:38):
there's two sides to the story, and maybe the cop
isn't the best cop in the world, maybe the player
said something that whatever. I know that there was one
player who ended up in a court of law and
was acquitted by the charges. But all of that is
a distraction to the team and to the teammates. So
(09:03):
when I look at these numbers, the impression I come
away with is these are overall spoiled, underachieving football players.
Now I don't know that I know any of these players.
I've known other Patriot players over the years, have had
(09:24):
some of them on the program as guests, and most
professional athletes are great guys to deal with. But it
just seems to me that if the Patriots had been
this year, the Patriots of old ending up in the
Super Bowl. Well they could, I think, criticize whatever they want.
(09:47):
But when you are not producing on the field and
you turn around and you want to say, well, we
got the worst owner, or one of the worst owners,
the fourth worst owner in in the in the NFL,
we have the worst weight room, We have the second
worst or the third worst training room. Our team travel
(10:11):
on our private plane is the second worst of all
the other teams. Boy, I can't help but walk away
with an attitude of they have drafted a bunch of
players who perhaps don't experience, don't appreciate the experience. So
if you think I'm being harsh or being too critical,
(10:35):
feel free to give me a call. If you feel
it doesn't matter, then don't give me a call, But
I'd love to talk with you if you're a football fan.
He is surprised by this result. They had a bad
year and they probably won't have a great year next year.
But they I think they should look in the mirror,
(10:56):
I guess, is what I'm saying, and worry a little
bit less about out what the accommodations are for the
family on game day, what the plane is like when
they fly across the country. Uh, it's part of it's
part of a job. It's part of a tough job,
but it's a part of a job that probably a
lot of people would love to have the opportunity to
(11:16):
have experienced. And they are fortunate enough through you know,
the blessings of either hard work or you know, genetic
blessings where they are are blessed with great I hand
coordination or strength or physical endurance or whatever. They're in
this position where they are honored and appreciated. But I
(11:40):
don't think the feeling is mutual. Six one, seven, two, five,
four ten thirty six one seven nine three one ten thirty.
Give us a call, let's talk about it. There is
there are so many athletes who come through Boston who
come to love it here uh and come to be
loved here, whether it's David Ortiz or Pedro Martinez or
(12:01):
a Dustin Pedroyer in baseball, whether it's a Ray Book
in in in hockey, uh and and and others in
in basketball. The the Celtics right now seem to have
an organization that is clicking h that that the players
seem to like playing here. But the Patriots at this point,
(12:22):
I think they they're going to need to have to
change that roster up quite a bit, because I think
he got a lot of guys in there who probably
are complainers. Uh, and we do a lot better playing
with another organization. Back of nights, I joined the conversation
coming back right after this.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nights Side Studios. I'm WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Well, it looks to me.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Like this is not a topic that people particularly want
to talk about, So I'm just gonna give it another
quick shot here and then we're going to move on
after the news at the bottom of the hour. In
the article by Ben Volin today in the great piece
by the Way in the Boston Globe, he writes the
Patriots weight room received a grade of F was ranked
the worst in the NFL for the second straight year.
(13:09):
The team's travel also received an F and again the
criticism there, ranking it thirty first, with players criticizing the
plane as too small, not having Wi Fi, and that
the seats have astros. Players specifically responded that our plane
is the worst thing size space safety, and it is
(13:31):
not conducive to preparedness for athletical For athletic performance, wrote
the Union that was a summary of what the Patriot
players had said. It to me is interesting that these
players who, as they say, in high school, the big
(13:52):
men on campus, they go to colleges, they you know,
some of them do great in colleges, and some of them,
you know, use that college degree and and they appreciate
that opportunity. And then a handful are selected for the
National Football Leagues. Not an easy job, no doubt about it.
But the accommodations that they're used to are our first
(14:16):
class when when you realize it, and again for them
to have this this anonymous player survey uh and come
up with nothing but complaints, UH, to me, it's it's
smacks of a of a team that that that needs
(14:37):
to be shaken up a lot, I mean a lot.
There there are I'm sure there were. There were good,
good citizens and people who appreciate what they're doing and
what they're being allowed to do or what they've been
blessed in some form or fashion to be able to do.
Maybe they got great coaching in high school and college
and and now they're playing in the NFL, but they're
(14:58):
not happy about it. And that's your New England Patriots,
Ladies and gentlemen who last year were four and fourteen.
So what I'm going to do is, if this is
a subject I guess when I do something different, many
of you are shocked and surprised, but I got to
be honest with you. I try to in the program
(15:19):
here is do what you would expect, but also every
once in a while, venture into an area where perhaps
you might want to offer an opinion, either in agreement
or disagreement. So what I'll do is just going to
spend a couple more minutes talking about this, and then
we will come back after the news at the bottom
(15:41):
of the hour and we can easily move on. I
am surprised, you know again. The Patriots right now are
the red headed step children of the Boston sports scene.
The Celtics are going great, the Red Sox seem to
have retooled themselves this spring, and they it seems like
(16:02):
their season could really be much better this year within
a year ago Coast time. We'll have to tell them that.
And the Bruins, who are struggling to make it into
the playoffs, may may change the composition of their team
with their trade deadline coming up in the next few
days pretty quickly. If they don't turn turn around in
(16:26):
the next few games, and they only have four games
left before the trade deadline. So what I'm going to
do is take an opportunity to give the number one
more time. Six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty
six one seven, nine three ten thirty. We're talking about
the New England Patriots. They are not a group of
happy campers, and they they didn't play like a group
(16:49):
of happy campers. So well, we got one call coming
in here from a sports fan. Let's go to Laurie
in Idaho. Laurie, I know you probably didn't this piece
in the Globes today unless you were looking at it
on the internet. But I find the number. I find
this kind of a shocking story. If I were Bob Kraft,
I'd be pretty upset tonight.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
Well I did.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
I heard it on VD today and a couple of
other places too. I didn't real but I'm I'm appalled,
and I think we're seeing a big reason why this
team never won, because, you know what, I guess they
just didn't want to.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
My feeling is that that if all of a sudden,
you're you got guys who are upset with the plane,
I kind of imagine they could have been in any way,
shape or form upset with the hotel accommodations, because all
these teams go to the best hotels in this in
the cities.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
But they're completely about the weight room. They complained about
just about everything and everything. You know, there's not a
lot of focus then on the game.
Speaker 5 (17:55):
In my opinion, well, they were focused on the game,
maybe they would play. I mean, it sounds to me
like un just spoiled brats to not only didn't appreciate everything,
but they also didn't want to work. From what it
sounds like, Yeah, it sounds that way.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
A lot of excuses there.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
And again, I guess when you're four and fourteen, uh
and and the only game that they won was the
game that they shouldn't have won.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
They shouldn't have exactly, gave away the.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Number one draft pick. They'll get the fourth draft pick,
so they'll.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
They'll get it. They'll get a quality player. But you
got to really revamp the roster at that point. As
far as I'm contrited.
Speaker 6 (18:31):
Yeah, I'm disgusting.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
Praybille needs to embrace his inner Belichick.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Yeah, I think so. I think so.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
There was no complaining when when they were winning Super
Bowl no one was complaining about the team playing when
they were winning Super Bowls. No one was complaining about
the accommodations for the families. I mean, on Sunday, if
you're not focused on the game and you're wondering whether
or not you your girlfriend or or your wife or
the kids have a good place to watch the game, that's.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
That's a bunch of spoiled breaths and they need a
good lesson or the door.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I think so, I think a lot will be showed
to do it. Laurie, thanks for getting us going all
of a sudden. We do have some callers who are
coming in behind, so I appreciate it. You know, it's
funny when I when I do something that's a little different,
a lot of people kind of are slow to Maybe
they think they're listening to a sports radio program.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
I traded in my Friday Hall pass to do this.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
No, no, no, no, you get you get a hall pass.
You got a hall pass. Don't worry for tomorrow. Okay,
thanks Lauren much. Okay, I appreciate it. All right, we
will take a break. We will take a quick break
a week.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Come back.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
We'll talk with Maureen and Matt and Chris, and I'd
love to talk with you. Am I being too tough
on this team? Is Laurie being too tough on this team?
I think this team didn't produce on the field. And
now again, look, I've not been in these facilities. I
assume they're probably pretty good facilities. Uh, there's no reason
why they wouldn't be.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Uh. And when I travel.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
On my own dime, on my family's dime, uh, the
teams were smaller. I'm assuming that when when they retire
and they're traveling on their own dime, they're going to
Pine for the days of the Patriots playing and the
charter flights which they probably were able to go autobus
(20:31):
get screened very easily, very quietly, take the bus out
of the plane, walk up onto the plane, and get comfortable.
But again, if anyone wants to defend them, tell me
what great players they really are. And now that the
four and fourteen record didn't reflect badly, feel free six one, seven, two, five, four, ten, thirty, six, seven,
(20:55):
nine thirty. We will talk later on tonight about autonomous
driving vehicles. So I kind of picked two little different
type subjects tonight. I wanted to change it up. We
could go back and talk politics every night, but that's
not what I want to do. Okay, we talk enough politics.
I want to incorporate this to bring other people to
the to the broadcast as well. Okay, we'll take a
(21:17):
quick break, coming right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
It's Night Side with Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
All right, let's talk to some of the listeners and
find out what they think. I'm I was really disappointed
to see that article in both the Globe and the
Herald today. It was good article in both papers. These
are not happy football players, and the results kind of
kind of showed Maureen and Brockton. Hey Maureen, thank you
for calling and how are you tonight?
Speaker 7 (21:48):
Oh I'm great. Thank you for taking my call. And
I hope you're well too. So I was listening to
you earlier and I got to tell you what came. Well,
first of all, yeah, I think there were a bunch
of you know, babies, So I mean, yeah, they're professional athletes.
Yes they have a talent and you know, but you
(22:11):
know what I was remembering, and again, you know, you
might be more familiar with this many years ago. There
was something I either saw or heard and it had
to do with Johnny Pesky, and I believe basically, I mean, obviously,
baseball wasn't twelve months a year. So when he wasn't
playing baseball, he had to go up and work a
(22:31):
full time job. I mean, can you imagine, but can
you imagine these pros?
Speaker 6 (22:37):
Right?
Speaker 7 (22:38):
Okay, So so that's what I was saying. And then
the other thing I thought was I wasn't a huge
fan of Larry Bird. I was a huge fan of
Kevin McHale. He was my favorite. But Larry Bird's like
his work ethic, like he would be and look at
the garden he would be practicing. He would just you know,
(22:58):
and I'm sure Tom Brady had a lot of those
similar work ethics. You know, I'm going to work and
do this. But to complain about, you know, be a plane,
I mean, or I mean, really, there's more things in
this world that people. You know, they're so lucky. They
make so much money.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Yeah, And I.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Realized that they make money only for a few years.
It's not a lifetime job. But many of them then, uh,
in their in their retirement as an active player, they're
if they're smart, they can move into broadcasting, they can
move into working with the team organization as a scout.
Some of them go into coaching, some of them going
(23:40):
to college coaching. There's there's there's a lot of opportunities
that open up for them just because of who they
are and what they do for a living as a
professional football player. There's a lot of businesses who will,
you know, hire these guys. It's it is really a
wonderful way to begin your career as a young person,
and you treated you treated like a god by many people.
(24:06):
I mean, the worst thing that you have to do
is sign a few autographs after a game, and people
might see with a restaurant and come over and try
to say hello. But again, those are the people who
are watching your games. Those are the people who are
buying the expensive beers and the expensive tickets to pay
your salary.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So I don't know it. Just when I read that today,
I thought to myself, no, wonder they.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Were foward fourteen and the Patriots have to have to
make that roster over as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 7 (24:38):
Well, and something came up the other night. There was
some and I can't recall what the what the topic was,
but something came up about coach Mayo. Now I mean
I was all I was, so you know, I loved them.
I was just so you know, I kept you know,
so I come on, coach, come on, coach, and just
you know, And I mean but again, I mean, I
(24:59):
don't think that they should have just cut him off
after one year because because even like you know, I
mean Bill Belichick, I mean again, I don't go there,
you know, prior to to the Patriots. But I mean,
but I'm sure Bill Belichick had you know, some rocky years.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
You know, coach with the Cleveland Browns. He was they
had losing seasons. His first season with the Patriots wasn't great.
But Gerard Mayo was a great guy. I had him
on the show several years ago. He had a he's
an animal lover, and he had a dog which I
think they had put in a kennel when when the
(25:35):
family went away on a trip, uh and the dog
was not treated well, and and and and he he
he took it publicly, and I had him on the show.
I liked the guy a lot, and I was rooting
for him a lot. And that team just didn't perform.
And again, a bunch of complainers and a bunch of
(25:56):
the players also became distractions, you know, in terms of
a couple of cases and a little bit of you know,
interchange with a police officer down in Rhode Island, and
none of that helps. But hey, they are what they are.
They're a four and fourteen football team, and I'll be
interested as to how many guys are on the roster
(26:17):
next year. I suspect not not the number when this.
Once this figure came out, it shows that they weren't happy.
And if you're not happy, it's tough to play winning,
winning football. It's as simple as that. Mauren, thanks so
much for calling. I really do approach. First two callers
are Patriots, Fians and female, and that's great. I hope
(26:38):
some of the guys will call in, and maybe some
of the guys want to criticize my position here, and
I'll be more than happy to hear from them as well.
Speaker 7 (26:44):
Marin, thank you much, well, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
All right, let's keep rolling here and see what others
might think. We will just do this until ten o'clock.
We're going to go next to Yeah, Matt and Franklin. Matt,
you were next on Nightside.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Welcome Dan.
Speaker 8 (27:01):
I agree with the survey. I think the franchise is
in deep trouble of crafts getting up there in age.
He's always been someone that's never wanted to spend money
on the team. It came out a couple of years
ago that he was having Pete carroll sair blowne and
Chief sandwiches for the players, and I mean he inherented.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
I'm not going to doubt you, but I never heard
that story.
Speaker 8 (27:26):
It came out when Belichick's Belichick's final year because a
lot of the other coaches were feeling bad based on
the state of the team, and it was really shocking
just how much the team fell off when Brady left.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
And yeah, when Joe Montana left the Patriots, team fell off,
when when Derry Bradshaw left the Steelers the team.
Speaker 8 (27:48):
But yeah, when Steve Young left the forty nine and
fell off. But yeah, that a lot of it to
do with But he won't spend money. It's like he
keeps like Nickel and diming everything, raising the prices. I mean,
he wouldn't pay Curtis Martin Parcels back in the day.
He fought with them, and his son also has a
huge role on the team. And he's not a very
(28:09):
like whkable individual. So I mean, I just.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Think you're talking about Bob Crafter or Jonathan Jonathan. Well,
I don't I've met Bob Craft. I don't know him.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
He wouldn't know me from a hole in the wall,
to the best of my knowledge, ever met Jonathan. Here's
my question to you, Matt okay, are you are you
a season ticket holder?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
You sound like you might be personally invested.
Speaker 8 (28:34):
No, I would never buy season tickets at the current
tym that they're in.
Speaker 6 (28:37):
I'm suck.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Okay, Well, let me.
Speaker 8 (28:38):
Ask you this.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Did you feel this way when the Patriots were winning
six of nine Super Bowls in the first.
Speaker 8 (28:45):
You know what during the lull in between when we
were putting together some of those awful teams and then
not drafting first round picks because they cost money, and
then not right resigning people because they cost money.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Yeah, that Craft didn't buy the team until was it
ninety four?
Speaker 8 (29:01):
He bought the team in ninety four? He inherited Bloodstelle
and to ourselves. I'm talking about when we won the
first couple of Super Bowls.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
And say, first of all, by the way, when when
we won, I didn't play in the team and you
didn't play in the team.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
When Day won.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Let's go at our pronouns correctly. Okay, unless you a
Jersey or the taxi squad.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
We'll be back at night Side right after this.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Now back to Dan Ray Mine from the window World
night Side Studios on w b Z.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
The news radio, getting everybody, and I promise we're going
to start it off with Chris down the cave.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Chris, where do you think? Am I? How? Am I
right or wrong? On this one?
Speaker 6 (29:43):
You're right?
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Hello?
Speaker 3 (29:45):
You there, we got you, Chris, go red ahead, You're next,
you run here, go ahead?
Speaker 6 (29:49):
Yeah, thanks h I tend to agree when I I
haven't read any opinion pieces on it, or Ben Bowen's
piece on it.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
It's a great piece.
Speaker 6 (29:59):
I skimmed it when it first came out a day
or so ago, and the first thing that jumped out
at me was who like in any survey or polling?
Who did the polling? What is the objectivity? What are
the relative rankings of the teams? What's the morale?
Speaker 8 (30:20):
Well?
Speaker 2 (30:22):
I gave the relative rankings, and these are the Patriot
players who gave the opportunity. Every player on every team
in the NFL had the opportunity to fill out anonymously.
So they could say whatever they want, and it's conducted
by the Players Association, which gives the them, you know,
a chance to find out, you know, how their players feel,
(30:44):
how they're being treated. The Players Association would do that.
But for the Patriots as a team of four and fourteen,
it's like, you know, the plane was horrible, the weight
trainers were horrible, the weight room was horrible. I mean,
there was very you know, last, second, last, third, last.
The only one who got it a decent grade was
(31:07):
the coach, Yeah, who I think is a great guy,
and the and the team failed him badly in my opinion.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
So yeah, see, that's what jumped out at me in
that survey as I skimmed it, that he got a
damn good rating considering the record that he produced. And
certainly he is not responsible for a lack ofam around
if the team is behind him to that extent. But
the rest of it, I sort of agree with you.
(31:34):
Any of these players complaining about their salaries, yes, always,
just never enough. I remember the you know, as you
pointed out earlier, the Southern Stadium, what a disaster that
was that was going to white to the White stadium.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
You know, But the idea was that. Okay.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Without Sullivan Stadium, you wouldn't have I mean, the Patriots
previously were nomads. They played it bes and Field, Harvard Stadium,
Fenway Park. I watched Patriots game to Fenway Park. They
finally had a place of their own. Okay, And that
was the time that the AFC and the National Football League,
the American Football League were merging. And they're standing on
(32:14):
the shoulders of these players who came before. And you
probably if you probably said to most of the players,
who's Gino Cappelletti, who's Jim Hallins, they probably would have
no idea.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Well, it was.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
It was very disappointing to read this article and it
just shows to me that this this team was not
a good team and they should shake it up, as
simple as that. Chris, I got a.
Speaker 6 (32:34):
Bunch of the sims I might have of the survey
is I think it might be helpful, even though it
was done by the Players Association, to have independent reviews
of these venues to see how it matches in an
independent source. If you were, you know, a journalist going
to you know, going on this plane or checking that
(32:56):
plane out and all the rest. Does it match or
are there other attitudes that could have been in play.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
I never heard, I never heard.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
I think that Patriots complain about the planes of the plane,
I should say, when they were winning Super Bowls, right,
And I just think that the losing team develops a
losing attitude.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Simple ast simple as that. Chris, appreciate your call, Thank
you much, appreciate it. Thank you all right, welcome Ed
and wooster.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Ed.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Gotta be quick because I got a couple more behind you.
Go ahead, Ed, Hi.
Speaker 4 (33:27):
I agree with the previous scholar about you got to
look into the methodology and who's who's who's tabulating results.
But I don't think this survey has been done for
very long. You were comparing it to when they were
winning Super Bowls. I've only heard about this for like
the last two years or so.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
This was the third year.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
You could have been doing this for a long time.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Be right, No, this was the third year it was done.
You're correct.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
But what I'm saying is winning everybody feels better. I mean,
the locker room looks cleaner, the food taste better, the
seats in the plane are more comfortable.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Right.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
This was a bad football team that let down their
coach and let down their fans and now they're complaining
about everything. Well that's all.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Well, can I speak up in defense of the I mean,
I am not a huge fan of labor unions. I'm
particularly not a huge fan of professional sports player unions.
But if I want to say a word in defense
of the Players Association, of the people who answered this survey,
the players who answered the survey, to me, they're look
at how they've been evaluated ever since. Probably you know
(34:31):
junior higher before, who can run faster, who can jump higher,
who can lift more weights, who can do this better.
All they're really doing is doing that and doing it
back to the people who've been doing it to them
their whole lives.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Yeah, I understand that.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
But what I'm saying to you is that for the
most part that again, I think that this was a
team that was a losing football team, and these guys
don't appreciate what they have and a lot of them
are going to find them helves on the unemployment line.
They're not going to be picked up by other teams.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
And maybe they'll look back on this last season and saying,
maybe the food wasn't that bad after all, and maybe
that plane wasn't that bad. Try try flying commercial guys
and tell me, tell me how bad the Patriot's plain is.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
That's all I'm saying it.
Speaker 4 (35:19):
Yeah, yeah, I know, I mean not just the union.
It's done to light a fire under the management and
the owners.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
And that's what a union is.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Spas they want nothing, no problem with the union of
this one, that's for sure. ED appreciate a different point
of view as always.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Thank you much.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
I want to try to Thanks buddy, talk to you
some anytime. Let me go next real quickly. I got
Paul and Lynn, PAULI got you want to got room
for Sean and Beverly?
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Go ahead, Paul, Hey, I.
Speaker 9 (35:47):
Dan, I just call. They agree with everything you're saying
and be content in what you have. And I don't
think it would get to the point where mister Kraft
wouldn't take care of than not being comfortable before it
gets over his head. I think he would take care
of it right away.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
But you want to do These are the guys who
represent your team. You want to put your best players,
and you want to treat them well. If you're a
good businessman and a guy who won six out of
nine Super Bowls, I mean that's respect.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
Yeah, yeah, and I'll get it.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
A lot of these players who made these complaints, they're
going to look back five years and they're gonna remember differently.
Speaker 9 (36:30):
They're going to say, you know what, maybe not because
that's how they grew up in their household.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Maybe that's not a bad point. That's maybe not a
bad point. They got to get different.
Speaker 9 (36:40):
You go onto the next, onto the next one.
Speaker 4 (36:44):
I'm listening.
Speaker 9 (36:44):
I'm I agree, thanks man, right to the point.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
I appreciate it very much.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
All right, we got one time for one more caller,
and it is sewn from Beverly Sewn.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
You're the last of the hour.
Speaker 10 (36:54):
You go right ahead.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Oh, I'm doing great.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
What do you think of this survey of the results
and my comments on it?
Speaker 10 (37:01):
Yeah, I think I look at it both ways.
Speaker 5 (37:03):
Tell the truth.
Speaker 10 (37:04):
I think listen, players want the comforts right because the
other thing is too If you look at the numbers
and the ratings, I mean, three of the top four
highest scoring teams or all had losing records. So as
an example, like Las Vegas, they finished with the fourth
best rankings, but they also were four and thirteen like
the Patriots. Would you feel any better if we had
the fourth highest rating? From the from the players. If
(37:26):
they still finished four and thirteen, I don't know. And
it's also a weighted average too. I looked, I look
the the averages that's weighted, so like the head the
owner was the highest weight, they give fifteen percent weight
to that. So essentially, you know two and a I
just look at numbs a little bit. They looked at
two and a half times as much as they waited,
like the families being taken care of, consider et cetera.
So that really said a lot about negatively about craft.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
I thinks, well, again.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Uh craft, let's see ownership here. Just to be clear
of the D ownership was D. Team travel was f
these guys. They're on a private plane. Let them go
and work in the business world and see what it's
like to be a road warrior and you're not flying
(38:11):
on a team plane. I mean what happens is you
get a little fat, happy and contented. And I just
think there's a correlation between they were losing team and
I think a lot of these players to look they
can say what they want, okay, and maybe there's another
team that has a better locker room, Maybe there's another
team that has a better meal service. I don't know,
(38:32):
but I think the NFL and a lot of the
major league sports, with the exception maybe of the Oakland A's,
are pretty first class organizations, if you get my drift.
Speaker 10 (38:42):
Yeah, no, I don't disagree at all. And I think, honest,
a lot of it is just because, like you said,
they could kind of used to it. And I don't say
spoiled as much because you know that's what they do.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Yeah, there's a little factor there. They've been treated better
in their young lives than you've been in your life.
Whatever you do, I promise you, okay.
Speaker 10 (38:58):
No question. I think back that talent though, and look
at the Bruins. For years they played out Rescucio and
that was the worst with a joke of a rink
for their off season training, right, but they made it
work and they won a Cup when they were there.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
Yep, that's true. All right, Thank you, Sean, I appreciate it.
We had a lot of interesting viewpoints and that hour
was a success, a success. I want to thank Lauri
and Maureen who started us off that hour and the
lines lit up. We're going to talk about autonomous vehicles.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, I've been
(39:28):
in one, and I want to know what you think
is the future of autonomous vehicles. We talked with Mark
Shield drop a triple A right after the break for
the ten o'clock news. Stay with us
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ Constin's radio.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Okay, welcome back nine o'clock hour here on a Thursday night,
and Red Sox are in spring training.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
Ruins are losing to the Islanders, the.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Celtics took it on the chin last night in Detroit
against the Pistons, and of course the Patriots are gearing
up for next year.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
This is not a sports show.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
However, it was a really interesting article the Globe and
the Herald today, and for those of you who have
any interest in sports, I hope this caught your eye. Apparently,
the National Football League does at a survey every year
in which they ask all of their players to participate
(00:49):
in this anonymous player survey, and each team's anonymous answers
are collated and the teams then are given a ranking
a survey and as the Globe article said today, survey
(01:10):
says Patriots fail. And I read this Ben Volan's column,
and there was also a column on the same issue
in the Boston Herald and I read it and the
more that I read, the more frustrated I became. And
I don't know how many of you followed this stuff
(01:34):
because it's sports and something that you know, I'm interested in.
And the Patriots are ranked of the thirty two NFL
teams in terms of I guess you would call it
player satisfaction, maybe player comfort. They're ranked thirty first, second
(01:55):
to last. Only the Arizona Cardinals gave their team their organization,
and I'll explain how they came to that decision. That
there's only one team that thinks they're treated worse, and
just in terms of sort of the amenities. Okay, Now,
(02:15):
by way of background, you have to realize that to
be a professional athlete is an honor and a gift.
The number of people who have the honor to play
one of the major league sports, it's a small percentage.
I mean thousands of I should say millions of kids
(02:39):
start out in Little league, or they start out in
pop warner or pee wee hockey or some form of
you know, local club basketball. And the people who who
who make it to the top, they they're the best
of the best, no question. Even if you're a benchwarmer,
(03:00):
you're major league athlete, you generally are treated in the
first as first class. And as a matter of fact,
the way it is now, kids are identified by all
the colleges and the high schools earlier and earlier and earlier.
And of course even if you play Division one football,
(03:25):
that's probably you have treatments as a Division one football
player that are better than what the pro football players
are fifty years ago ever received. So let's look at
the scores that now, again, this is a composite score
(03:46):
that the Patriot players gave to the organization for which
they play, and the Patriot players, the Patriots organization was
thanked first the second worst organization in all of the
National Football League. Now, I'm not a Patriot player. I
(04:10):
don't know these facilities, but I do know that major
league teams they don't stay in redroof inns, a Motel
sixes at the Ritz or when they're on the road,
or they're at the Four Seasons Hotel. When they go
(04:32):
to the airport, they're not flying commercial, particularly pro football teams.
They are always flying on some sort of a private jet,
probably in many cases leaving from the most convenient airport,
whether it's Green Down in Rhode Island or maybe Hanscombe Field.
The Patriots have a plane. I think all of us
(04:52):
have seen that plane. I have to the Gillette Stadium
is what Now? Twenty three years old. Maybe it's one
of the newer stadiums for those of us who remember
Sullivan Stadium and back in the day, even before that
Harvard Stadium. I just think, what would Babe Peruli at
(05:17):
Geno Capelletti and the people who helped bring the Patriots
to life here in New England say about this well anyway,
So the treatment of families, I guess on game days
they try to make sure that the families are comfortable.
(05:38):
I don't think they all end up in swites like
Taylor Swift, but that's a story for another time. Treatment
of families, the Patriots players collectively give the Patriots organization
a C plus. That is kind of a Midland grade
because it's that the eighteenth in the NFL.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
In terms of the food and dining.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Area, I guess this is somewhere in the bowels of
Jillette Stadium, twenty fourth in the NFL. Nutritionists and dietitians
twenty fifth in the NFL. The locker room the players
rated twenty second of all the thirty two NFL locker rooms.
(06:20):
The training room, oh bad, number thirtieth in the NFL.
The training staff twenty sixth in the NFL. The weight
room last dead last in the NFL. The strength coaches.
These are the guys who work with the Patriot players.
(06:41):
Twenty sixth in the NFL, team travel thirty first in
the NFL. They have a Patriots plane, but according to
the article that I've read, they feel that the plane
is not of the best gray, that it's a little older,
(07:03):
and it's a little more cramped. Again, I guess all
of us would love to have a private plane to
travel on. The best grade they give is to the
head coach, their own head coach, which is it's a
B plus, But it's the other players on the other
teams must really love their coaches, because this B plus
(07:25):
for Gerardmeo ranked him only twenty fourth, But that's the
highest grade the Patriot players gave to anything associated with
their experience and then ownership the Craft family, they gave
them a D. Now, I'm not an insider. I don't
cover the Patriots, but my sense is that the Patriots
(07:51):
need to shake this up. That this is a team
that went four to fourteen, so they didn't produce on
the field. They did give much protection either to their
veteran quarterback earlier in the season, to Kobe Brissett, and
they didn't give much protection to the new guy, the
rookie Derek May. And you know, there were at least
(08:17):
two or three of the players on the Patriots this
year who had some distractions, shall we say, because they
had to. They got themselves involved in either a confrontation
with a police officer or in some sort of a
domestic situation. I realized that every one of those cases,
(08:38):
there's two sides to the story, and maybe the cop
isn't the best cop in the world, maybe the player
said something that whatever. I know that there was one
player who ended up in a court of law and
was acquitted by the charges. But all of that is
a distraction to the team and to the teammates. So
(09:03):
when I look at these numbers, the impression I come
away with is these are overall spoiled, underachieving football players.
Now I don't know that I know any of these players.
I've known other Patriot players over the years, have had
(09:24):
some of them on the program as guests, and most
professional athletes are great guys to deal with. But it
just seems to me that if the Patriots had been
this year, the Patriots of old ending up in the
Super Bowl. Well they could, I think, criticize whatever they want.
(09:47):
But when you are not producing on the field and
you turn around and you want to say, well, we
got the worst owner, or one of the worst owners,
the fourth worst owner in in the in the NFL,
we have the worst weight room, We have the second
worst or the third worst training room. Our team travel
(10:11):
on our private plane is the second worst of all
the other teams. Boy, I can't help but walk away
with an attitude of they have drafted a bunch of
players who perhaps don't experience, don't appreciate the experience. So
if you think I'm being harsh or being too critical,
(10:35):
feel free to give me a call. If you feel
it doesn't matter, then don't give me a call, But
I'd love to talk with you if you're a football fan.
He is surprised by this result. They had a bad
year and they probably won't have a great year next year.
But they I think they should look in the mirror,
(10:56):
I guess, is what I'm saying, and worry a little
bit less about out what the accommodations are for the
family on game day, what the plane is like when
they fly across the country. Uh, it's part of it's
part of a job. It's part of a tough job,
but it's a part of a job that probably a
lot of people would love to have the opportunity to
(11:16):
have experienced. And they are fortunate enough through you know,
the blessings of either hard work or you know, genetic
blessings where they are are blessed with great I hand
coordination or strength or physical endurance or whatever. They're in
this position where they are honored and appreciated. But I
(11:40):
don't think the feeling is mutual. Six one, seven, two, five,
four ten thirty six one seven nine three one ten thirty.
Give us a call, let's talk about it. There is
there are so many athletes who come through Boston who
come to love it here uh and come to be
loved here, whether it's David Ortiz or Pedro Martinez or
(12:01):
a Dustin Pedroyer in baseball, whether it's a Ray Book
in in in hockey, uh and and and others in
in basketball. The the Celtics right now seem to have
an organization that is clicking h that that the players
seem to like playing here. But the Patriots at this point,
(12:22):
I think they they're going to need to have to
change that roster up quite a bit, because I think
he got a lot of guys in there who probably
are complainers. Uh, and we do a lot better playing
with another organization. Back of nights, I joined the conversation
coming back right after this.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nights Side Studios. I'm WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Well, it looks to me.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Like this is not a topic that people particularly want
to talk about, So I'm just gonna give it another
quick shot here and then we're going to move on
after the news at the bottom of the hour. In
the article by Ben Volin today in the great piece
by the Way in the Boston Globe, he writes the
Patriots weight room received a grade of F was ranked
the worst in the NFL for the second straight year.
(13:09):
The team's travel also received an F and again the
criticism there, ranking it thirty first, with players criticizing the
plane as too small, not having Wi Fi, and that
the seats have astros. Players specifically responded that our plane
is the worst thing size space safety, and it is
(13:31):
not conducive to preparedness for athletical For athletic performance, wrote
the Union that was a summary of what the Patriot
players had said. It to me is interesting that these
players who, as they say, in high school, the big
(13:52):
men on campus, they go to colleges, they you know,
some of them do great in colleges, and some of them,
you know, use that college degree and and they appreciate
that opportunity. And then a handful are selected for the
National Football Leagues. Not an easy job, no doubt about it.
But the accommodations that they're used to are our first
(14:16):
class when when you realize it, and again for them
to have this this anonymous player survey uh and come
up with nothing but complaints, UH, to me, it's it's
smacks of a of a team that that that needs
(14:37):
to be shaken up a lot, I mean a lot.
There there are I'm sure there were. There were good,
good citizens and people who appreciate what they're doing and
what they're being allowed to do or what they've been
blessed in some form or fashion to be able to do.
Maybe they got great coaching in high school and college
and and now they're playing in the NFL, but they're
(14:58):
not happy about it. And that's your New England Patriots,
Ladies and gentlemen who last year were four and fourteen.
So what I'm going to do is, if this is
a subject I guess when I do something different, many
of you are shocked and surprised, but I got to
be honest with you. I try to in the program
(15:19):
here is do what you would expect, but also every
once in a while, venture into an area where perhaps
you might want to offer an opinion, either in agreement
or disagreement. So what I'll do is just going to
spend a couple more minutes talking about this, and then
we will come back after the news at the bottom
(15:41):
of the hour and we can easily move on. I
am surprised, you know again. The Patriots right now are
the red headed step children of the Boston sports scene.
The Celtics are going great, the Red Sox seem to
have retooled themselves this spring, and they it seems like
(16:02):
their season could really be much better this year within
a year ago Coast time. We'll have to tell them that.
And the Bruins, who are struggling to make it into
the playoffs, may may change the composition of their team
with their trade deadline coming up in the next few
days pretty quickly. If they don't turn turn around in
(16:26):
the next few games, and they only have four games
left before the trade deadline. So what I'm going to
do is take an opportunity to give the number one
more time. Six one, seven, two, five, four ten thirty
six one seven, nine three ten thirty. We're talking about
the New England Patriots. They are not a group of
happy campers, and they they didn't play like a group
(16:49):
of happy campers. So well, we got one call coming
in here from a sports fan. Let's go to Laurie
in Idaho. Laurie, I know you probably didn't this piece
in the Globes today unless you were looking at it
on the internet. But I find the number. I find
this kind of a shocking story. If I were Bob Kraft,
I'd be pretty upset tonight.
Speaker 4 (17:11):
Well I did.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
I heard it on VD today and a couple of
other places too. I didn't real but I'm I'm appalled,
and I think we're seeing a big reason why this
team never won, because, you know what, I guess they
just didn't want to.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
My feeling is that that if all of a sudden,
you're you got guys who are upset with the plane,
I kind of imagine they could have been in any way,
shape or form upset with the hotel accommodations, because all
these teams go to the best hotels in this in
the cities.
Speaker 3 (17:43):
But they're completely about the weight room. They complained about
just about everything and everything. You know, there's not a
lot of focus then on the game.
Speaker 5 (17:55):
In my opinion, well, they were focused on the game,
maybe they would play. I mean, it sounds to me
like un just spoiled brats to not only didn't appreciate everything,
but they also didn't want to work. From what it
sounds like, Yeah, it sounds that way.
Speaker 3 (18:07):
A lot of excuses there.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
And again, I guess when you're four and fourteen, uh
and and the only game that they won was the
game that they shouldn't have won.
Speaker 5 (18:18):
They shouldn't have exactly, gave away the.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Number one draft pick. They'll get the fourth draft pick,
so they'll.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
They'll get it. They'll get a quality player. But you
got to really revamp the roster at that point. As
far as I'm contrited.
Speaker 6 (18:31):
Yeah, I'm disgusting.
Speaker 5 (18:33):
Praybille needs to embrace his inner Belichick.
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Yeah, I think so. I think so.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
There was no complaining when when they were winning Super
Bowl no one was complaining about the team playing when
they were winning Super Bowls. No one was complaining about
the accommodations for the families. I mean, on Sunday, if
you're not focused on the game and you're wondering whether
or not you your girlfriend or or your wife or
the kids have a good place to watch the game, that's.
Speaker 5 (19:05):
That's a bunch of spoiled breaths and they need a
good lesson or the door.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
I think so, I think a lot will be showed
to do it. Laurie, thanks for getting us going all
of a sudden. We do have some callers who are
coming in behind, so I appreciate it. You know, it's
funny when I when I do something that's a little different,
a lot of people kind of are slow to Maybe
they think they're listening to a sports radio program.
Speaker 5 (19:29):
I traded in my Friday Hall pass to do this.
Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
No, no, no, no, you get you get a hall pass.
You got a hall pass. Don't worry for tomorrow. Okay,
thanks Lauren much. Okay, I appreciate it. All right, we
will take a break. We will take a quick break
a week.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Come back.
Speaker 2 (19:45):
We'll talk with Maureen and Matt and Chris, and I'd
love to talk with you. Am I being too tough
on this team? Is Laurie being too tough on this team?
I think this team didn't produce on the field. And
now again, look, I've not been in these facilities. I
assume they're probably pretty good facilities. Uh, there's no reason
why they wouldn't be.
Speaker 3 (20:06):
Uh. And when I travel.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
On my own dime, on my family's dime, uh, the
teams were smaller. I'm assuming that when when they retire
and they're traveling on their own dime, they're going to
Pine for the days of the Patriots playing and the
charter flights which they probably were able to go autobus
(20:31):
get screened very easily, very quietly, take the bus out
of the plane, walk up onto the plane, and get comfortable.
But again, if anyone wants to defend them, tell me
what great players they really are. And now that the
four and fourteen record didn't reflect badly, feel free six one, seven, two, five, four, ten, thirty, six, seven,
(20:55):
nine thirty. We will talk later on tonight about autonomous
driving vehicles. So I kind of picked two little different
type subjects tonight. I wanted to change it up. We
could go back and talk politics every night, but that's
not what I want to do. Okay, we talk enough politics.
I want to incorporate this to bring other people to
the to the broadcast as well. Okay, we'll take a
(21:17):
quick break, coming right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
It's Night Side with Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (21:27):
All right, let's talk to some of the listeners and
find out what they think. I'm I was really disappointed
to see that article in both the Globe and the
Herald today. It was good article in both papers. These
are not happy football players, and the results kind of
kind of showed Maureen and Brockton. Hey Maureen, thank you
for calling and how are you tonight?
Speaker 7 (21:48):
Oh I'm great. Thank you for taking my call. And
I hope you're well too. So I was listening to
you earlier and I got to tell you what came. Well,
first of all, yeah, I think there were a bunch
of you know, babies, So I mean, yeah, they're professional athletes.
Yes they have a talent and you know, but you
(22:11):
know what I was remembering, and again, you know, you
might be more familiar with this many years ago. There
was something I either saw or heard and it had
to do with Johnny Pesky, and I believe basically, I mean, obviously,
baseball wasn't twelve months a year. So when he wasn't
playing baseball, he had to go up and work a
(22:31):
full time job. I mean, can you imagine, but can
you imagine these pros?
Speaker 6 (22:37):
Right?
Speaker 7 (22:38):
Okay, So so that's what I was saying. And then
the other thing I thought was I wasn't a huge
fan of Larry Bird. I was a huge fan of
Kevin McHale. He was my favorite. But Larry Bird's like
his work ethic, like he would be and look at
the garden he would be practicing. He would just you know,
(22:58):
and I'm sure Tom Brady had a lot of those
similar work ethics. You know, I'm going to work and
do this. But to complain about, you know, be a plane,
I mean, or I mean, really, there's more things in
this world that people. You know, they're so lucky. They
make so much money.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Yeah, And I.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Realized that they make money only for a few years.
It's not a lifetime job. But many of them then, uh,
in their in their retirement as an active player, they're
if they're smart, they can move into broadcasting, they can
move into working with the team organization as a scout.
Some of them go into coaching, some of them going
(23:40):
to college coaching. There's there's there's a lot of opportunities
that open up for them just because of who they
are and what they do for a living as a
professional football player. There's a lot of businesses who will,
you know, hire these guys. It's it is really a
wonderful way to begin your career as a young person,
and you treated you treated like a god by many people.
(24:06):
I mean, the worst thing that you have to do
is sign a few autographs after a game, and people
might see with a restaurant and come over and try
to say hello. But again, those are the people who
are watching your games. Those are the people who are
buying the expensive beers and the expensive tickets to pay
your salary.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
So I don't know it. Just when I read that today,
I thought to myself, no, wonder they.
Speaker 2 (24:29):
Were foward fourteen and the Patriots have to have to
make that roster over as far as I'm concerned.
Speaker 7 (24:38):
Well, and something came up the other night. There was
some and I can't recall what the what the topic was,
but something came up about coach Mayo. Now I mean
I was all I was, so you know, I loved them.
I was just so you know, I kept you know,
so I come on, coach, come on, coach, and just
you know, And I mean but again, I mean, I
(24:59):
don't think that they should have just cut him off
after one year because because even like you know, I
mean Bill Belichick, I mean again, I don't go there,
you know, prior to to the Patriots. But I mean,
but I'm sure Bill Belichick had you know, some rocky years.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
You know, coach with the Cleveland Browns. He was they
had losing seasons. His first season with the Patriots wasn't great.
But Gerard Mayo was a great guy. I had him
on the show several years ago. He had a he's
an animal lover, and he had a dog which I
think they had put in a kennel when when the
(25:35):
family went away on a trip, uh and the dog
was not treated well, and and and and he he
he took it publicly, and I had him on the show.
I liked the guy a lot, and I was rooting
for him a lot. And that team just didn't perform.
And again, a bunch of complainers and a bunch of
(25:56):
the players also became distractions, you know, in terms of
a couple of cases and a little bit of you know,
interchange with a police officer down in Rhode Island, and
none of that helps. But hey, they are what they are.
They're a four and fourteen football team, and I'll be
interested as to how many guys are on the roster
(26:17):
next year. I suspect not not the number when this.
Once this figure came out, it shows that they weren't happy.
And if you're not happy, it's tough to play winning,
winning football. It's as simple as that. Mauren, thanks so
much for calling. I really do approach. First two callers
are Patriots, Fians and female, and that's great. I hope
(26:38):
some of the guys will call in, and maybe some
of the guys want to criticize my position here, and
I'll be more than happy to hear from them as well.
Speaker 7 (26:44):
Marin, thank you much, well, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
All right, let's keep rolling here and see what others
might think. We will just do this until ten o'clock.
We're going to go next to Yeah, Matt and Franklin. Matt,
you were next on Nightside.
Speaker 3 (26:58):
Welcome Dan.
Speaker 8 (27:01):
I agree with the survey. I think the franchise is
in deep trouble of crafts getting up there in age.
He's always been someone that's never wanted to spend money
on the team. It came out a couple of years
ago that he was having Pete carroll sair blowne and
Chief sandwiches for the players, and I mean he inherented.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
I'm not going to doubt you, but I never heard
that story.
Speaker 8 (27:26):
It came out when Belichick's Belichick's final year because a
lot of the other coaches were feeling bad based on
the state of the team, and it was really shocking
just how much the team fell off when Brady left.
Speaker 3 (27:37):
And yeah, when Joe Montana left the Patriots, team fell off,
when when Derry Bradshaw left the Steelers the team.
Speaker 8 (27:48):
But yeah, when Steve Young left the forty nine and
fell off. But yeah, that a lot of it to
do with But he won't spend money. It's like he
keeps like Nickel and diming everything, raising the prices. I mean,
he wouldn't pay Curtis Martin Parcels back in the day.
He fought with them, and his son also has a
huge role on the team. And he's not a very
(28:09):
like whkable individual. So I mean, I just.
Speaker 3 (28:12):
Think you're talking about Bob Crafter or Jonathan Jonathan. Well,
I don't I've met Bob Craft. I don't know him.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
He wouldn't know me from a hole in the wall,
to the best of my knowledge, ever met Jonathan. Here's
my question to you, Matt okay, are you are you
a season ticket holder?
Speaker 3 (28:31):
You sound like you might be personally invested.
Speaker 8 (28:34):
No, I would never buy season tickets at the current
tym that they're in.
Speaker 6 (28:37):
I'm suck.
Speaker 3 (28:37):
Okay, Well, let me.
Speaker 8 (28:38):
Ask you this.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
Did you feel this way when the Patriots were winning
six of nine Super Bowls in the first.
Speaker 8 (28:45):
You know what during the lull in between when we
were putting together some of those awful teams and then
not drafting first round picks because they cost money, and
then not right resigning people because they cost money.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Yeah, that Craft didn't buy the team until was it
ninety four?
Speaker 8 (29:01):
He bought the team in ninety four? He inherited Bloodstelle
and to ourselves. I'm talking about when we won the
first couple of Super Bowls.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
And say, first of all, by the way, when when
we won, I didn't play in the team and you
didn't play in the team.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
When Day won.
Speaker 2 (29:14):
Let's go at our pronouns correctly. Okay, unless you a
Jersey or the taxi squad.
Speaker 3 (29:19):
We'll be back at night Side right after this.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
Now back to Dan Ray Mine from the window World
night Side Studios on w b Z.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
The news radio, getting everybody, and I promise we're going
to start it off with Chris down the cave.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
Chris, where do you think? Am I? How? Am I
right or wrong? On this one?
Speaker 6 (29:43):
You're right?
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Hello?
Speaker 3 (29:45):
You there, we got you, Chris, go red ahead, You're next,
you run here, go ahead?
Speaker 6 (29:49):
Yeah, thanks h I tend to agree when I I
haven't read any opinion pieces on it, or Ben Bowen's
piece on it.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
It's a great piece.
Speaker 6 (29:59):
I skimmed it when it first came out a day
or so ago, and the first thing that jumped out
at me was who like in any survey or polling?
Who did the polling? What is the objectivity? What are
the relative rankings of the teams? What's the morale?
Speaker 8 (30:20):
Well?
Speaker 2 (30:22):
I gave the relative rankings, and these are the Patriot
players who gave the opportunity. Every player on every team
in the NFL had the opportunity to fill out anonymously.
So they could say whatever they want, and it's conducted
by the Players Association, which gives the them, you know,
a chance to find out, you know, how their players feel,
(30:44):
how they're being treated. The Players Association would do that.
But for the Patriots as a team of four and fourteen,
it's like, you know, the plane was horrible, the weight
trainers were horrible, the weight room was horrible. I mean,
there was very you know, last, second, last, third, last.
The only one who got it a decent grade was
(31:07):
the coach, Yeah, who I think is a great guy,
and the and the team failed him badly in my opinion.
Speaker 6 (31:13):
So yeah, see, that's what jumped out at me in
that survey as I skimmed it, that he got a
damn good rating considering the record that he produced. And
certainly he is not responsible for a lack ofam around
if the team is behind him to that extent. But
the rest of it, I sort of agree with you.
(31:34):
Any of these players complaining about their salaries, yes, always,
just never enough. I remember the you know, as you
pointed out earlier, the Southern Stadium, what a disaster that
was that was going to white to the White stadium.
Speaker 3 (31:51):
You know, But the idea was that. Okay.
Speaker 2 (31:53):
Without Sullivan Stadium, you wouldn't have I mean, the Patriots
previously were nomads. They played it bes and Field, Harvard Stadium,
Fenway Park. I watched Patriots game to Fenway Park. They
finally had a place of their own. Okay, And that
was the time that the AFC and the National Football League,
the American Football League were merging. And they're standing on
(32:14):
the shoulders of these players who came before. And you
probably if you probably said to most of the players,
who's Gino Cappelletti, who's Jim Hallins, they probably would have
no idea.
Speaker 3 (32:25):
Well, it was.
Speaker 2 (32:26):
It was very disappointing to read this article and it
just shows to me that this this team was not
a good team and they should shake it up, as
simple as that. Chris, I got a.
Speaker 6 (32:34):
Bunch of the sims I might have of the survey
is I think it might be helpful, even though it
was done by the Players Association, to have independent reviews
of these venues to see how it matches in an
independent source. If you were, you know, a journalist going
to you know, going on this plane or checking that
(32:56):
plane out and all the rest. Does it match or
are there other attitudes that could have been in play.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
I never heard, I never heard.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
I think that Patriots complain about the planes of the plane,
I should say, when they were winning Super Bowls, right,
And I just think that the losing team develops a
losing attitude.
Speaker 3 (33:16):
Simple ast simple as that. Chris, appreciate your call, Thank
you much, appreciate it. Thank you all right, welcome Ed
and wooster.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Ed.
Speaker 3 (33:23):
Gotta be quick because I got a couple more behind you.
Go ahead, Ed, Hi.
Speaker 4 (33:27):
I agree with the previous scholar about you got to
look into the methodology and who's who's who's tabulating results.
But I don't think this survey has been done for
very long. You were comparing it to when they were
winning Super Bowls. I've only heard about this for like
the last two years or so.
Speaker 3 (33:44):
This was the third year.
Speaker 4 (33:45):
You could have been doing this for a long time.
Speaker 3 (33:47):
Be right, No, this was the third year it was done.
You're correct.
Speaker 2 (33:50):
But what I'm saying is winning everybody feels better. I mean,
the locker room looks cleaner, the food taste better, the
seats in the plane are more comfortable.
Speaker 3 (34:00):
Right.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
This was a bad football team that let down their
coach and let down their fans and now they're complaining
about everything. Well that's all.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Well, can I speak up in defense of the I mean,
I am not a huge fan of labor unions. I'm
particularly not a huge fan of professional sports player unions.
But if I want to say a word in defense
of the Players Association, of the people who answered this survey,
the players who answered the survey, to me, they're look
at how they've been evaluated ever since. Probably you know
(34:31):
junior higher before, who can run faster, who can jump higher,
who can lift more weights, who can do this better.
All they're really doing is doing that and doing it
back to the people who've been doing it to them
their whole lives.
Speaker 3 (34:43):
Yeah, I understand that.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
But what I'm saying to you is that for the
most part that again, I think that this was a
team that was a losing football team, and these guys
don't appreciate what they have and a lot of them
are going to find them helves on the unemployment line.
They're not going to be picked up by other teams.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (35:05):
And maybe they'll look back on this last season and saying,
maybe the food wasn't that bad after all, and maybe
that plane wasn't that bad. Try try flying commercial guys
and tell me, tell me how bad the Patriot's plain is.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
That's all I'm saying it.
Speaker 4 (35:19):
Yeah, yeah, I know, I mean not just the union.
It's done to light a fire under the management and
the owners.
Speaker 3 (35:28):
And that's what a union is.
Speaker 2 (35:29):
Spas they want nothing, no problem with the union of
this one, that's for sure. ED appreciate a different point
of view as always.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
Thank you much.
Speaker 2 (35:35):
I want to try to Thanks buddy, talk to you
some anytime. Let me go next real quickly. I got
Paul and Lynn, PAULI got you want to got room
for Sean and Beverly?
Speaker 3 (35:44):
Go ahead, Paul, Hey, I.
Speaker 9 (35:47):
Dan, I just call. They agree with everything you're saying
and be content in what you have. And I don't
think it would get to the point where mister Kraft
wouldn't take care of than not being comfortable before it
gets over his head. I think he would take care
of it right away.
Speaker 2 (36:06):
But you want to do These are the guys who
represent your team. You want to put your best players,
and you want to treat them well. If you're a
good businessman and a guy who won six out of
nine Super Bowls, I mean that's respect.
Speaker 3 (36:22):
Yeah, yeah, and I'll get it.
Speaker 2 (36:24):
A lot of these players who made these complaints, they're
going to look back five years and they're gonna remember differently.
Speaker 9 (36:30):
They're going to say, you know what, maybe not because
that's how they grew up in their household.
Speaker 3 (36:35):
Maybe that's not a bad point. That's maybe not a
bad point. They got to get different.
Speaker 9 (36:40):
You go onto the next, onto the next one.
Speaker 4 (36:44):
I'm listening.
Speaker 9 (36:44):
I'm I agree, thanks man, right to the point.
Speaker 3 (36:47):
I appreciate it very much.
Speaker 2 (36:49):
All right, we got one time for one more caller,
and it is sewn from Beverly Sewn.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
You're the last of the hour.
Speaker 10 (36:54):
You go right ahead.
Speaker 3 (36:55):
Oh, I'm doing great.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
What do you think of this survey of the results
and my comments on it?
Speaker 10 (37:01):
Yeah, I think I look at it both ways.
Speaker 5 (37:03):
Tell the truth.
Speaker 10 (37:04):
I think listen, players want the comforts right because the
other thing is too If you look at the numbers
and the ratings, I mean, three of the top four
highest scoring teams or all had losing records. So as
an example, like Las Vegas, they finished with the fourth
best rankings, but they also were four and thirteen like
the Patriots. Would you feel any better if we had
the fourth highest rating? From the from the players. If
(37:26):
they still finished four and thirteen, I don't know. And
it's also a weighted average too. I looked, I look
the the averages that's weighted, so like the head the
owner was the highest weight, they give fifteen percent weight
to that. So essentially, you know two and a I
just look at numbs a little bit. They looked at
two and a half times as much as they waited,
like the families being taken care of, consider et cetera.
So that really said a lot about negatively about craft.
Speaker 3 (37:48):
I thinks, well, again.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
Uh craft, let's see ownership here. Just to be clear
of the D ownership was D. Team travel was f
these guys. They're on a private plane. Let them go
and work in the business world and see what it's
like to be a road warrior and you're not flying
(38:11):
on a team plane. I mean what happens is you
get a little fat, happy and contented. And I just
think there's a correlation between they were losing team and
I think a lot of these players to look they
can say what they want, okay, and maybe there's another
team that has a better locker room, Maybe there's another
team that has a better meal service. I don't know,
(38:32):
but I think the NFL and a lot of the
major league sports, with the exception maybe of the Oakland A's,
are pretty first class organizations, if you get my drift.
Speaker 10 (38:42):
Yeah, no, I don't disagree at all. And I think, honest,
a lot of it is just because, like you said,
they could kind of used to it. And I don't say
spoiled as much because you know that's what they do.
Speaker 2 (38:49):
Yeah, there's a little factor there. They've been treated better
in their young lives than you've been in your life.
Whatever you do, I promise you, okay.
Speaker 10 (38:58):
No question. I think back that talent though, and look
at the Bruins. For years they played out Rescucio and
that was the worst with a joke of a rink
for their off season training, right, but they made it
work and they won a Cup when they were there.
Speaker 2 (39:08):
Yep, that's true. All right, Thank you, Sean, I appreciate it.
We had a lot of interesting viewpoints and that hour
was a success, a success. I want to thank Lauri
and Maureen who started us off that hour and the
lines lit up. We're going to talk about autonomous vehicles.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, I've been
(39:28):
in one, and I want to know what you think
is the future of autonomous vehicles. We talked with Mark
Shield drop a triple A right after the break for
the ten o'clock news. Stay with us
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