Scathing, yes.. But I'm really sick of his mouth. Why does it seem the ONLY time we ever hear about Whitner is everything BUT Sunday afternoon?
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It doesn’t take a football authority to critique how much the Buffalo Bills have disappointed; not only thus far in 2010 but for the better part of the past decade. The Bills are 0-2 and look far more like a team ready for a fight to evade having the worst record in the entire NFL than a squad ready to halt a decade long playoff drought. It’s testing enough losing so habitually, but according to one Buffalo player, opponents have taken to (literally) laughing the Bills off the field.
In a post by Bills.com lead journalist Chris Brown, Bills safety Donte Whitner stated that Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and other players were getting a good chuckle out of the Bills near the conclusion of their 34-7 shellacking last Sunday.
“It happened last week,” Whitner told Brown. ”The Packers were laughing at us. Aaron Rodgers and a lot of those guys were laughing at us toward the end of the football game and that never feels good.”
Whitner also said in the interview that Green Bay hasn’t been the only team to get giggles at Buffalo’s expense. He claims this week’s opponent, the New England Patriots have done the exact same thing.
“Yeah, by the end of the fourth quarter they’re laughing at us,” Whitner also told Brown. ”It always happens. We can’t keep allowing that to happen. Guys go out there and they work too hard. When you don’t come out the way that you prepare all week and all offseason to come out then there’s obviously something wrong.”
I find it peculiar that Whitner is the one publicly doing the complaining. Along with teammate Drayton Florence, Whitner typically leads the weekly brigade in Twitter smack talk. He rattles off several tweets boasting how ready and prepared his team is to win up until game time, then threatens to “block” frustrated fans come Monday morning when they’re ready to sound off after another abysmal team performance that he’s a big part of.
I understand Whitner’s frustration. He’s an athlete and a man with plenty, maybe even too much pride. I also get that the meat and potatoes of his gripe with opposition laughter is because of his team’s own performance.
One area where Whitner is undoubtedly correct is the only way to shut up the Patriots or other teams from suffering comedic induced bellyaches is by going out and winning. Since he is one of the team leaders, it’d be a good start for him to be the one who steps up and creates game-impacting plays.
He’s in his fifth season in the league and up until this point, that unmistakably hasn’t happened. Maybe in part they’re laughing at the eighth overall pick of the 2006 draft that’s started 55 games yet only has four interceptions, two forced fumbles and one sack—for his career.
Or maybe they’re laughing at an offense that’s produced 17 points in two games and is dead last in the league in total yards.
Or maybe they’re laughing at a defense that had plenty of preseason self-hype yet has produced zero interceptions, zero forced fumbles and only three sacks in two weeks.
This is the same guy who guaranteed the Bills would make the playoffs in 2008. Buffalo finished the season 7-9.
That’s hard to not laugh at.
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It doesn’t take a football authority to critique how much the Buffalo Bills have disappointed; not only thus far in 2010 but for the better part of the past decade. The Bills are 0-2 and look far more like a team ready for a fight to evade having the worst record in the entire NFL than a squad ready to halt a decade long playoff drought. It’s testing enough losing so habitually, but according to one Buffalo player, opponents have taken to (literally) laughing the Bills off the field.
In a post by Bills.com lead journalist Chris Brown, Bills safety Donte Whitner stated that Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and other players were getting a good chuckle out of the Bills near the conclusion of their 34-7 shellacking last Sunday.
“It happened last week,” Whitner told Brown. ”The Packers were laughing at us. Aaron Rodgers and a lot of those guys were laughing at us toward the end of the football game and that never feels good.”
Whitner also said in the interview that Green Bay hasn’t been the only team to get giggles at Buffalo’s expense. He claims this week’s opponent, the New England Patriots have done the exact same thing.
“Yeah, by the end of the fourth quarter they’re laughing at us,” Whitner also told Brown. ”It always happens. We can’t keep allowing that to happen. Guys go out there and they work too hard. When you don’t come out the way that you prepare all week and all offseason to come out then there’s obviously something wrong.”
I find it peculiar that Whitner is the one publicly doing the complaining. Along with teammate Drayton Florence, Whitner typically leads the weekly brigade in Twitter smack talk. He rattles off several tweets boasting how ready and prepared his team is to win up until game time, then threatens to “block” frustrated fans come Monday morning when they’re ready to sound off after another abysmal team performance that he’s a big part of.
I understand Whitner’s frustration. He’s an athlete and a man with plenty, maybe even too much pride. I also get that the meat and potatoes of his gripe with opposition laughter is because of his team’s own performance.
One area where Whitner is undoubtedly correct is the only way to shut up the Patriots or other teams from suffering comedic induced bellyaches is by going out and winning. Since he is one of the team leaders, it’d be a good start for him to be the one who steps up and creates game-impacting plays.
He’s in his fifth season in the league and up until this point, that unmistakably hasn’t happened. Maybe in part they’re laughing at the eighth overall pick of the 2006 draft that’s started 55 games yet only has four interceptions, two forced fumbles and one sack—for his career.
Or maybe they’re laughing at an offense that’s produced 17 points in two games and is dead last in the league in total yards.
Or maybe they’re laughing at a defense that had plenty of preseason self-hype yet has produced zero interceptions, zero forced fumbles and only three sacks in two weeks.
This is the same guy who guaranteed the Bills would make the playoffs in 2008. Buffalo finished the season 7-9.
That’s hard to not laugh at.
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