New England Tells Richard Seymour: "It Is Payback Time."
by
Sonny
Scribe Written on September 09, 2009
Richard Seymour is not mad at the Raiders; Richard Seymour is mad at New England, and here's why...
When coach Cable said there was some issues that Seymour had to work out with New England, coach Cable was telling the truth.
Despite what all the media would like you to believe, New England did want Richard Seymour to sign an extension, and had been working with Seymour's agent on an extension.
Richard Seymour was given the impression by his agent that talks were going well. And Richard was expecting a new deal to finish his time in the NFL with the team that had drafted him. A trade was the last thing that he saw coming.
What Richard Seymour did not know is that New England, after talks with Seymour's agent over an extension, had decided that it was more than they wanted to pay.
New England also remembered the two times that Seymour had held out on them, forcing New England to cough up more money. At the time, Richard Seymour had stated on a TV show that it was "just business."
New England worked out a trade with Oakland without ever giving Richard Seymour or his agent the slightest hint it was going to happen.
Richard Seymour was under the impression that the extension talks were going well with New England, an impression no doubt given to him by his agent.
The end result is that New England traded Seymour and said goodbye. It is, after all, just business.
Richard Seymour had been blindsided by his team and his coach, and he's told coach Cable as much.
Richard Seymour wanted to take some time to talk to New England and his agent because he was under the impression, given to him from both New England and his agent, that he was getting an extension in New England.
That is what coach Cable was talking about when he stated that there were issues Richard Seymour had to take care of with New England.
Many in the media are coming up with all this speculation and know very little of what they are talking about.
For the Raiders' part, once Richard Seymour gets over the shock of New England blindsiding himin what was pure paybackhe has to move on.
So yes, Richard Seymour is not happy with being traded, and the media can and will twist that anyway they like.
Facts are that, because of the way it was done, Richard was not going to be happy no matter where he was traded, period.
My guess is that he realized he was played by both New England and his agent and was initially upset. But now he has settled down, and his agent has been talking with the Raiders on a long-term deal.
Either way, it does not really matter for the Raiders. If he shows up and plays, they win. If he decides to stay and not come out and play, the Raiders just call back in their No. 1 pick.
So no matter the anti-Raider spin the media wants to put out there, it is New England that has the most to lose if Seymour decides not to play in Oakland, not the Raiders.
My guess is that he will be at the Thursday practice. He has had plenty of time to let New England and his agent know just how much he feels they have screwed him.
But I guess that was just the New England way of saying goodbye to one of their great players, with the explanation that "it is just business."
But what a cold, cold business it is. I guess that is part of the reason it pays so well.
As for New England, you do not want to tick them offteam legend or notbecause they never forget, and payback is a bitch.