« Wednesday morning practice | Main | Jarvis Green Foundation Gala »

August 15, 2007

Dope of the week: the return

Hey all --

Dope of the Week has been on the shelf for a while, and even though Michael Vick is a more than worthy contender (actually, he might get the lifetime achievement award), we've found a more "local" dope.

And this one pains me a bit because it's a fellow Orangeman. Person. Whatever.

Tennessee linebacker Keith Bulluck was clearly sniffing glue before the comments he made to the Tennesseean yesterday about still harboring bad feelings toward the Patriots after last year's season-ending 40-23 home loss.

"Just the way they were acting after the game kind of irked me. A couple of the guys on the team weren't being too professional. It is only a preseason game, but No. 87 (Reche Caldwell) needs to keep his head on a swivel, that's all I've got to say.''

Bulluck even called out the Pats' Methuselah, Vinny Testaverde: "I hope his old (butt) is in there too."

Testaverde threw a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, extending his NFL record of consecutive seasons with a scoring pass to 20; Caldwell was apparently seen waving to the Titans' bench at the end of the game (the loss knocked the Titans out of the playoffs) and also had a 62-yard score.

We have several issues with Bulluck's statements, chief among them this: it is a preseason game. He even noted that himself in that first quote there. Preseason games, for starters like Bulluck, are for getting ready, hitting a little bit, and mostly not getting hurt.

Rodney Harrison will already be trying to suppress the anger he still feels for the way his trip to LP Field ended last year, when a questionable-but-legal block from Bobby Wade (now with the Vikings) gave him a season-ending knee injury. Harrison said Titans players were laughing as he lay on the ground writhing. Now you want to give him more ammo? Although to his credit, Harrison essentially said this week that the game was in the past and would stay that way.

Secondly -- this is a two-parter -- Testaverde isn't with the Patriots right now. And besides that, Tennessee was losing, it was a bit of history for a guy that's mostly respected, and if you didn't want him to get the record, then maybe you should have, I don't know, tried to prevent it from happening (hello!). Or maybe even one of the four touchdowns or two field goals New England scored before that...that's me though.

Bottom line: Bulluck should have known better. The Patriots feed on locker-room stuff like this, and have been known to manufacture it at times to further their cause.

But welcome to our list of honorees, Keith.

Posted by Shalise Manza Young  at 12:41 PM | Permalink

Comments

Posted by: bob at August 15, 2007 3:19 PM