{"id":44230,"date":"2018-06-04T18:16:27","date_gmt":"2018-06-04T22:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonnfl.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=44230"},"modified":"2018-06-04T18:16:27","modified_gmt":"2018-06-04T22:16:27","slug":"players-question-effectiveness-of-the-new-england-patriots-patriot-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2018\/06\/04\/players-question-effectiveness-of-the-new-england-patriots-patriot-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Players Question Effectiveness of the New England Patriots “Patriot Way”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New England Patriots<\/a> are no strangers to criticism. If anything, it seems that the team endures wave after wave of negativity every year. Media pundits question Bill Belichick<\/strong>‘s authority or Tom Brady<\/a><\/strong>‘s effectiveness. Now, with less than 100 days until kickoff, Patriots players of past and present have found themselves embroiled in a debate regarding how well the tried and true “Patriot Way” really works.<\/p>\n

Players across the NFL have started to question the “Patriot Way”<\/h1>\n

The Naysayers<\/h2>\n

Cassius Marsh<\/a><\/strong> – the guy who lasted less than three whole months on the Patriots roster – recently went on record<\/a> to bash New England’s system.<\/p>\n

“They don’t have fun there. There’s nothing fun about it. There’s nothing happy about it. I didn’t enjoy any of my time there, you know what I’m saying? It made me for the first time in my life think about not playing football because I hated it that much.”<\/p>\n

Marsh definitely makes it sound like his time in New England was cut short because he wanted to leave, and not at all because he just wasn’t performing up to New England’s fairly reasonable standards: “Do Your Job” or get out. At the end of the day, Marsh’s comments about “not having fun” in New England don’t make a whole lot of sense. Football may be a sport, but for these guys, it’s also their livelihood. Hating your job is fine, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t work hard to prove yourself. Something that, as many Patriots fans have pointed out, Marsh failed to do on several occasions.<\/p>\n

Lane Johnson<\/a><\/strong>, a guy who’s never even played for the Patriots, also chimed in<\/a> after Marsh’s comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody wants to talk about rings, rings […] I get a ring, it will be put away in a box. The only thing you\u2019ll remember from your playing days \u2013 you won\u2019t remember the scores \u2013 you\u2019ll remember the people who you played with and how you felt. That\u2019s the truth. You can have your rings, you can also have 15 miserable years.”<\/p>\n

Unlike Marsh, Johnson isn’t totally wrong here. Rings get put away – as we saw in the Tom vs. Time special on Facebook<\/a>, Brady has all of his rings locked up in a safe – and most players will likely remember their teammates rather than the scores. That being said, I’m sure the players with a few championships under their belts will look back on their careers a little more fondly than the players without.<\/p>\n

Another Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> player, Brandon Brooks<\/a><\/strong>, agreed with Johnson<\/a>. Brooks played under Bill O’Brien<\/a><\/strong>, who himself worked in New England between 2007 and 2011. According to Brooks, O’Brien brought some of that “Patriot Way” to Houston.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been this way for like a decade. You\u2019ve seen \u2014 Reggie Wayne<\/a> did it. He retired. He went there for a training camp and retired. Shit is not fun there. I was under the same regime in Houston. I almost retired. Shit was miserable, every day. Every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Except Reggie Wayne was eager to set the record straight himself.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can promise you Bill Belichick is not a party planner, […] That\u2019s not what he\u2019s in it for. I think he\u2019s in it for winning championships, winning games for that organization.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

No fun in Foxborough? @reggiewayne_17<\/a> says that\u2019s NOT why he left the Patriots.
\u201cIt was time for me to be an all pro dad.\u201c
\u201dI knew going into it, it was going to be different.\u201c
\u201dBill Belichick isn\u2019t a party planner.\u201c pic.twitter.com\/3LU148gKQP<\/a><\/p>\n

— Lindsay Rhodes (@lindsay_rhodes) June 1, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n