Jerod Mayo Said His Players Should Feel Free to Rip Him and the Patriots if They're Unhappy. And Matthew Judon is Taking Him Up On It.

I haven't read this article. And no doubt I'm like you when I ask how you can rank a guy the third worst anything, when he's never done that thing. Which is like giving a student an F before the semester begins or eliminating a pageant contestant before she's had the chance to tape her nipples inside her evening gown. It seems to me the very worst grade you can give Jerod Mayo at this point in his career is an Incomplete. But whatever. At the moment he's dealing with wolves a lot closer to his wagon than what kind of grades McNewspaper is giving him before he's even thrown his first challenge flag. 

Specifically, he's dealing with this:

Which came, not coincidentally, after this:

Patriots.com - Q: Is it undermining at all to people in leadership positions whether it's you or Eliot [Wolf], to be talking about it (Judon's contract) in that way at this point?

 

JM: No, no. Look, I'm good with it. I don't want to put a cap on it. If the guy feels a certain type of way, he has that privilege to come out here and tell you guys how he feels. I have to respect it no matter what. At some point in time, there's going to be a player that comes up here and says, 'You know what, I hate Coach Jerod' or, 'I hate Mayo.' That's how they feel, and I respect that. I know we want to keep as much stuff in-house, but there will be times they come out here and express themselves. I think it's good.

Spoken like a true former player. As well as someone who was drafted by, played for, hired by, and coached under the most buttoned up, cautious and on-message coach of this media-obsessed age. Mayo lived and worked under the yoke of Bill Belichick keeping everything "in-house." Saw what happened to any teammate who strayed from the messaging and tried to do business in public. 

Hell, Mayo was on the 2010 team when Randy Moss went all Broken Arrow after a 41-14 win at Miami when Moss had zero catches on one target and griped about his contract in the postgame presser. And he was gone by the trading deadline. Deion Branch was brought back for next to nothing, and the offense improved. And there are dozens of more examples just like it. 

But Mayo was a player. One with the universal respect of his teammates. And he wants to show that same respect to his current players and treat them like grown men, free to express themselves. Even their displeasure. With their contracts. With team management. Even with Mayo personally. And that is noble. 

Just be careful what you wish for. Because Mayo's very disgruntled Edge player is "Don't Mind if I Do"-ing him. Because within hours of the heated "We're not fighting; we're having a discussion" exchange on the practice field, this interview dropped in which Judon laid out his case for a new contract and a major bump in pay:

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Great stuff. And as much of a distraction as it is to a once-proud franchise struggling to crawl out of the NFL's Pit of Despair:

… and become respectable again, it's weirdly refreshing to hear a player's side of things for a change. It's especially good hearing if from Judon, who has been the furthest thing from a malcontent like professional bitchers from years past like say, Adalius Thomas or Cassius Marsh. Judon has brought an unmistakable positive energy to go along with his 3-down production. And it's good to hear someone with his bona fides speaking candidly about the downside of NFL life for a 32 year old on the back end of his career. 

In fact, it's hard to hear him talk about his perspective without defaulting to the epic "Every time I call it a game, you call it business" speech from North Dallas Forty:

Which is so great not because John Matuszak was the Brando of his generation. But because you just know he wasn't acting. That these were thoughts he'd carried around in his soul for his nine-year career. (On a side note, I have to mention that the cold, heartless bastard coach he's yelling at is Charles Durning. Who in real life fought in Normandy. Was wounded by a German mine and spent six months recovering. Fought the Battle of the Bulge, and was awarded a Silver Star and a Bronze Star to go with this three Purple Hearts, and is buried at Arlington. Actors were built different in his day.) And you can just hear those same sentiments echoed in Judon's words.

The downside is that this interview probably makes it all the more likely Judon never sees the inside of a Patriots uniform again. Encouraging your players to express themselves freely about matters you'd prefer to keep in house sounds great in theory. When they start actually expressing themselves freely about matters you'd prefer to keep in house? That's when the reality hits and it becomes infinitely harder to coach them. Especially when said player has been to three Pro Bowls and you're currently looking up at 29 other head coaches in the national power rankings. So Mayo might want to start to rethink that approach.

I hope I'm wrong. That cooler heads prevail. Signatures go on the lines which are dotted. And Judon, Mayo, and the Pats all get to look back on this time and have a good laugh over it. I just don't see it happening.