In case you missed it, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t bring this Donte Stallworth story about the 2007 Patriots team to your attention. The 2007 Patriots are the greatest, most dominant team I’ve ever seen and were the most fun I’ve ever had watching football. They were straight up dismantling the league, blowing everyone out as a response to the NFL hosing them with the overblown and hypocritical Spygate scandal.
This was also the first year Tom Brady had real weapons around him like Wes Welker, Stallworth and of course Randy Moss. This season finally helped put to rest the Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning argument. Yes, when TB12 has Hall of Famers catching his passes he can put up 50 TDs too. Some of the plays these guys made were just outrageous though and it turns out some of them were legitimate accidents. Just Brady and Moss out there improvising and freestyling like only two first ballot Hall of Famers can.
Another great backstory here. Randy lined up wrong and we ran an improvised play here literally on the fly. This is the result. https://t.co/93H0yHvAyR
The Undefeated – “Just like Rajon Rondo used to set up the fast break for the Boston Celtics, he is setting up a vacation with his former Celtics teammates from the 2008 NBA championship team to celebrate the nearing of the 10-year anniversary of their title. This party, however, doesn’t include an invite to ex-Celtics star guard Ray Allen. “I asked a couple of the guys. I got a no, a no head shake,” said Rondo to The Undefeated when asked why Allen wasn’t invited.”
If there’s anyone that can hold a grudge it’s Rajon fucking Rondo. It’s been five years since Ray Allen ditched the Celtics to chase a ring with blood rival Miami. And Rajon still wants Ray dead.
“It will be a long story about that, but it is what it is,” Rondo, who plays for the Chicago Bulls, told The Undefeated. “I don’t know a good analogy to put this in. It just wasn’t the greatest separation. It wasn’t the greatest thing that could’ve happened to us as a team, a bond. We were at war with those guys [Miami]. To go with the enemy, that’s unheard-of in sports. Well, it’s not so unheard of. It’s damn near common now.”
I actually find it refreshing. Everyone is friends in the NBA now. It’s the AAU generation, all these guys grew up playing on teams together and then once they’re playing against each other in the NBA they just publicly opine about how they wanna play together or in Miami’s case massively collude to get it done. We need more venom in this league.
Now I’m sure all those stories over the years of how Rajon and Ray just didn’t ever get along contribute to this. For whatever reason they just always kind hated each other. Kinda like Jesus Shuttlesworth and his dad really, but I digress…
It’s not only Rondo though. Garnett and Pierce are like old college roommates, they’re still boys. But Ray never seems to be included in that circle of trust. It sounds like he always kind of kept his teammates at arms length, even in the good old days. I remember a story of how Ray was the only guy not to show up for teammates’ charity events like a total asshole. This isn’t football where theres like 50+ guys on the roster. This is basketball where you only have to deal with 10-12 guys.
Even Pierce let some venom slip in an old interview. This seems more like someone who got dumped w/o explanation and harbors resentment for the way it ended.
“That was a tough situation because we thought it was betrayal,” Pierce said. “That’s why the whole thing evolved like it did with us not talking to him. Ray didn’t really have the best relationship with Rondo anyway. That was nothing. [Rondo], me and Kevin, he didn’t have any talk with us [before his Miami decision].”
And don’t forget when KG basically told Ray to go piss up a rope when he came back as a member of the Heat and tried to dap him up. Denied.
It’s a shame the Celtics didn’t win another title when Garnett, Pierce and Allen were all here. Seems like they definitely should’ve won 2 if not 3 rings together. Ray did exactly what he set out to do though. He jumped ship and singlehandedly saved LeBron’s ass and pretty much delivered him a ring with that corner 3 in Game 6 of the 2013 Finals, which is probably what hurts his former teammates the most.
The 300s 