Reading this article reminded me that Jeremy Shockey plays for the Panthers and that he’ll be going up against the Saints this weekend. I’ll be honest, I almost forgot. Shockey has been that absent in my mental space during this football season, and frankly I kind of love it.
The story throws out a few poignant quotes to create a little controversy like “If I was one of his favorite players I might still be there” (Shockey referring to Sean Payton), “This game can’t come fast enough for me” or “I’m not going to sit here and say I don’t have a bitter taste in my mouth about being pushed off to side”… but I don’t really find anything Shockey said particularly offensive or scandalous. What do you expect from Shockey? Honestly, given his history, these quotes are all pretty tame and I expected worse.
Here’s something the article said that did catch my attention as more significant:
“Coach Ron Rivera said Shockey’s status “looks very promising” for Sunday, but added Shockey first needs to be cleared by an independent doctor.”
“”This game can’t come fast enough for me,” Shockey said, who’s also dealing with a broken finger he suffered in the season opener against Arizona.”
“Jeremy Shockey doesn’t plan to let a mild concussion keep him out of Sunday’s game”
Stop me if you’ve heard this before. As annoying as his loud mouth and lack of maturity is, my biggest gripe with Shockey as a fan is that he was always a cripple out there. Always limping for some reason. I see nothing has changed.
In this article he also says: “I’m at the tail end of my career and I would rather walk away than crawl away”. Um, Jeremy, you’ve been crawling on the field. How does he plan to walk away from the game when he can even walk on the field? And he wonders why the Saints got rid of him. Just read the article about the health issues, yet again, he’s dealing with going into this game. Yes he’s tough and I commend him for playing through injuries, I’m definitely not questioning his toughness, but at what point is playing through constant pain just stupid?
I know I sound like a hater and I don’t mean to. I love J-Shock and I will always appreciate his contributions to the Saints. But again, all you have to do is read this article to figure out why it wasn’t worth paying him $5 million a year. I guess the Panthers are now the ones overpaying for his lack of health and antics. Good on them.
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