It's a fun snow day for Welker
Receiver shows his exuberance
FOXBOROUGH - Unlike the Arizona Cardinals, who were easily conquered by the Patriots and yesterday's harsh weather, Wes Welker took note of the wintry conditions and approached his job with the youthful exuberance of a kid eager to play sandlot football in the middle of a snow storm.
"A little bit, you know," Welker said following the Patriots' 47-7 pasting of the Cardinals at Gillette Stadium on the first official day of winter. "I was a little kid the last time I probably did see weather like that, so it did take me back a little bit.
"I think I was excited about it and getting a chance to practice in it this week gave us some good opportunities to get ready for the cold weather."
That enthusiasm was evident with the five punts Welker returned for 56 total yards, each of the team-high seven catches he made for 68 yards, and in the way he celebrated an 11-yard touchdown pass from Matt Cassel that gave the Patriots a commanding 28-0 lead with 1:52 left before intermission.
Once he crossed the goal line, Welker flopped down and began flapping his arms and legs to form a snow angel in the end zone. What once was considered a novel end zone celebration - first executed by long snapper Lonie Paxton during the Snow Bowl triumph over the Raiders - was now deemed to be unsportsmanlike behavior.
Since when?
Well, since NFL commissioner Roger Goodell began cracking down on such antics, allowing players to only go to the ground for prayer. Anything else constituted a premeditated celebration, which is a no-no. Snowballs and boos rained down on referee Bill Leavy after Welker was flagged.
"I think I just got a little bit too excited there, getting into the end zone and stuff," Welker said. "I don't know, I guess emotions kind of took over. It wasn't anything that was planned. I do remember a game growing up when Dallas played and there was a punt return, I think, by Kevin Williams, and I remember seeing him do it, so I think the same kind of deal came to mind."
Told of Paxton's snow angel, Welker said, "Really? OK, yeah, that's what somebody told me, that he did one a few years back. I figured every decade we'll throw another one up."
Asked if he attempted to plead his case to the officials by claiming he had slipped on the ice and couldn't get back up, Welker, tongue in cheek, replied, "Yeah, that's absolutely what happened. Hopefully, I won't get an envelope [from the league office] or anything on that, but I really didn't think it'd be a penalty. I wouldn't have done it if that had been the case."
Was he moved by the holiday spirit, perhaps? "I guess so," Welker said. "A little bit."
It was, in the grand scheme of things, a small transgression. But in no way did it diminish the contributions Welker made yesterday, especially on his first two punt returns of 28 and 14 yards.
"Yeah, Wes is a great returner," said Larry Izzo, New England's special teams captain. "Obviously, we see what he does every week as a receiver, but having him and Kevin [Faulk] back there, they're both big weapons for us. We were able to get him some space and let him do his thing."
Welker gave Patriots prime field position at the Arizona 33 and New England 45, respectively, on his first two punt returns and set up scoring drives culminating in LaMont Jordan runs of 1 and 3 yards that spotted the Patriots a 14-0 lead with just 11:14 elapsed.
"We had good field position that first quarter," said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. "It seemed like we were on their half of the field all day. It was a combination of kickoff coverage, defense, punt returns, and then the offense taking advantage of the field position and getting the ball in the end zone."
Did the conditions make it difficult for Welker on the punt returns?
"It really wasn't too bad," he said. "The hard part was all the snow flakes coming down at you and things like that. It was just really focusing in and making sure that I was securing the ball, making a move, and getting upfield from there."
Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com. 