The Patriots' handling of the drafting -- and subsequent
release -- of fifth-round pick Christian Peter was the focus of
more media attention over the weekend. Peter, whose rights the
Pats released after learning more on his past criminal record,
told ESPN that team officials asked him about his arrests and
convictions before the draft. Peter: "I spoke with about five
coaches, scouts and I laid it all on the line. I let them know
everything I've been involved with" ("SportsCenter," 4/26). The
BOSTON GLOBE's Will McDonough also refuted reports the team did
not have all the information on Peter: "The information was
there, they knew the information and they still made the pick"
("Sports Weekly," ESPN, 4/28). In his GLOBE column, McDonough
notes the NFL report on Peter "was not complete as it could have
been, but the [Patriots] scouting department knew everything it
needed to know. ... To try to throw the blame back on the NFL is
a cop-out" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/27).
HE'S JUST MISUNDERSTOOD: Peter, on why he thinks the team
let him go: "I know that decision was not made by the coaching
staff. I know it was made by someone up a little bit higher.
Someone who doesn't have enough guts to come out and defend a
player he just drafted. ... Christian Peter is the victim, I'm
not Attila the Hun. ... To know me is to love me" ("Sports
Weekly," ESPN, 4/28).
PATS GET BLASTED: McDonough gives the team credit for
having "enough sense to get rid of him. But how they could ever
think they could pull off making such a pick in this city which
is so politically correct is hard to comprehend" (BOSTON GLOBE,
4/27). ESPN's Bill Conlin: "The Big Tuna [coach Bill Parcells]
comes off looking like Moby Dork in this. How could he possibly
think that this was going to slide through the cracks?" Mike
Lupica: "[Owner] Bob Kraft and Bill Parcells ought to be ashamed
of themselves. ... They both come up looking like phonies"
("Sports Reporters," ESPN, 4/28). In Dallas, Kevin Blackistone
writes the Pats are "commended for not compounding their mistake
and keeping Christian Peter around. They can let someone else
take the heat -- and believe it, someone will" (DALLAS MORNING
NEWS, 4/28). In a GLOBE op-ed, NPR's Bill Littlefield writes of
Pats Dir of PR Don Lowery's inability to explain the difference
between Lawrence Phillips and Christian Peter: "Such a frank
admission in the land of pro sports ... could cost a man his job"
(BOSTON GLOBE, 4/28).
