Seau back with Patriots
It seems improbable that a 39-year-old who hasn't played football for more than nine months could go from the sunny comforts of the beach to the cold brutality of an NFL field in a matter of days. But then, extraordinary feats are nothing new to Junior Seau.
The Patriots, decimated by injuries at linebacker, officially signed the 12-time Pro Bowl today, bringing him back for a 19th NFL season and his third with the Patriots. To make room for Seau on the 53-man roster, the Patriots placed linebacker Adalius Thomas (broken right forearm) on injured reserve, ending his season.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick indicated during his morning press conference that Seau will travel with the team to Seattle for Sunday's game, and while he didn't say the linebacker would play against the Seahawks, he didn't rule it out, either.
"Junior hasn't even practiced yet, so we'll see how it goes," Belichick said this morning. "I'm not saying he can or can't, but we'll take a look at it in practice and make a determination going into the game."
Seau was present at practice this afternoon, wearing No. 55 and stretching with fellow veterans Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel, and Larry Izzo.
Belichick joked that while he was quizzing certain players on the Seahawks' tendencies, he had to ask Seau the following question: Who are we playing? But Belichick made it clear that he has a great amount of respect for Seau, who, while spending much of his free time surfing the beaches of Southern California, has remained in outstanding physical condition.
"That's part of the whole makeup of Junior that is so phenomenal," Belichick said. "He is ready to play football. He's a football player. You look 'football player' up in the dictionary and Junior Seau, Troy Brown, those are the guys who define it -- in every sense of the word.
"He went from the surfboard to the football field. He probably makes that transition better than any player that's ever played."
Seau, who arrived in the Boston area late yesterday afternoon after Belichick and vice president of player personnel Scott Pioli called him Wednesday night, said he's excited to be back with New England, though he admitted he is uncertain how much he might contribute right away.
"I'm still brushing off the wax from the surfboard," Seau said this afternoon. "I got a pretty good tan, but I think I'll be losing that in the next 2-3 weeks. Other than that, it's going to be fun.
"I'm here just as a number right now. I don't know what they have in store in terms of implementing me into the scheme and what have you. I'll definitely talk to Coach Belichick to see how much he wants me to play this week, if he wants me to play. I'm just going in there, just cramming, trying to do a crash course for things that will happen this week."
Seau, who was a defensive captain in 2007 and finished fifth on the team with 76 tackles, said during the offseason that the only team he would come back to play for was the Patriots. Today, he said it was an easy decision to make, even so late in the season.
"What it took was that a coach you respect made a call to come out and help guys that you have a lot of love for," said Seau, who had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in February and has since recovered. "Obviously there is a lot of history here with us. It wasn't a hard decision."
Nor did Seau make it sound like a particularly sentimental one.
"I have no time to get all drama, I just don’t. I don’t want to go Oprah on you,” Seau said. "It is what it is. I was cutting up oranges for a cooler for [daughter] Cindy Seau and now I’m here putting on cleats. That’s life. You have to make adjustments and make them quick."
The Patriots have suffered significant attrition recently at linebacker. They re-signed veteran Rosevelt Colvin Wednesday, and the position has been hit by injuries to Pierre Woods (jaw), Tedy Bruschi (sore knee) and Vince Redd (ankle), as well as Thomas. The Patriots had held out hope that Thomas, who was injured during the Patriots' 20-10 victory over the Bills Nov. 9, would return at some point before season's end, but that door was closed today with the decision to place him on injured reserve.
"We wanted to monitor the situation and get all the information, and take as long as we could," Belichick said. "We just felt like at this point, we needed to do what was best for the team. [Getting Thomas back this season] was probably a longshot, but we just wanted to keep it open as long as could."
Belichick reiterated that adding a player of Seau's ability and character is worthwhile under any circumstances.
"I think Junior is good for your football team at any time of year -- September, November, January, February, July," Belichick said. "He's just good for your football team, period. He's a good player. He's a good person. He loves the game, and I think that enthusiasm and passion carries over to everybody who is around him -- players, coaches, other people in the organization. He's a special guy, and a special player. He brings a lot.
"It's pretty remarkable what he's doing, the fact he played as much as he did last year, at his age, at that level, is pretty remarkable, especially at that position. I'm lucky to have coached a couple guys like that -- Clay Matthews, Junior. That's rare at that position. A lot of those guys don't make it to 30, let alone 40."
Mike Reiss and Christopher L. Gasper of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
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No other NFL team can come up with two good, experienced linebackers from nowhere on the spot. Scott Pioli is winning a GM of the year award.
If he asked Hobbs and O'Neil the same question they would say San Diego. They know who we play just not how close to play them.
Welcome back Jr. You are one of the bests all time. Time to bring some more leadership back to the defense and hopefully stop a few 3rd down conversions. Hope you stayed in great shape like you did last year. Best of Luck. GO PATRIOTS!!
Welcome back, Junior Seau!
At this point, I do not know whether the Seau signing was a desperation move or whether it fit into a patented, genius Bill Belichick scheme of some sort.
However, I do know that it is touching and refreshing to see such an example of commitment and loyalty to the Patriots - "I wouldn't want to fight for anyone else but Kraft and Belichick." Does Junior really expect a Super Bowl ring out of this? Probably not, but he still, at the age of forty, and after his second "graduation," came to the team's aid when asked to. If nothing else, his love of the game and the team will bring a fresh sense of purpose and enthusiasm into the locker room.
Good article guys. I think the this is great news for the Pats who have caught the injury bug pretty bad this year. However, I like the moral points made on Junior's character and the story was well written. I know I'm probably a biased Pats fan, but it should be recognized that the Pats have a very successful system and players are always willing to come back and play for Bellichick. I think the Pats are fortunate that there seems to always be a lot of 'floaters' out there who come back an play. The fact that the Pats groom them into their system makes them unattractive to other teams because of the specialties of each position and how Bellichick can find a way to maximize a player's strengths in various schemes. If only Lawyer Milloy or Ty Law would learn that chasing the money isn't the same as chasing a dream. I garantee those guys don't play at the age of 39.
Best,
John P.
St. Pete, Fl
This is a great move. I know a lot of people on this will comment that we don't need anymore old guys, but having someone come in who has a knowledge of the system and a fresh set of legs will help immensely. Players are worn down and beat up come this time of the year and having 2 pro bowl caliber (in their hayday) linebackers, Rosie and Seau, come back will do wonders for our depleted defense.
Bill Romanowski is banging out the dents in his cup while studying up on his old playbook!!
In the case of both Seau and Colvin, Coach Belichick doesn't bring these guys back if he doesn't think they can play and contribute. If the Patriots somehow make it to the playoffs this year, Belichick and his crew will have performed smoke and mirrors magic like nobody has ever seen before. To the team's credit, there have been no excuses, no finger pointing, and no notable decline in attitude after some pretty tough losses this year. It's a tribute to the way the Patriots' organization works.
They need to go for the trifecta and sign Troy ...... he's better than Deltha !
Excellent! Can't wait to see Junior back out there. Besides, he was taking all the good waves out here in Carlsbad, CA! Go Pats!
If Warren doesn't play, could be a long day for Pats D. Hopefully offense can put up a lot of points.
Why not sign Troy since we need help at the corner spot. Troy showed that he could excel at it.
They'll need Seau when Colvin goes on season-ending IR after the Seattle game. With all the players the Pats are throwing on IR, it's hard to ignore the theory that they are gunning for a healthier team in '09. They'll try to salvage what they can from this year, but it's hard to imagine the Pats trying to out muscle the Titans and Steelers with half a team.
Has-beens.
If they go down, it will be with a fighting spirit. Junior is a quality guy and will always bring what he has to the field. Hard not to root for that.
Troy and what about Matt Chatham???
How come as the season progresses, the Patriots seem to embody the team from the Replacements. I know this connection doesn't really correlate due to the injuries as opposed to a strke and the high quality veterans we are bringing in. I hope Cassel can emulate Keanu Reeves and squeeze us into the playoffs. Great season nonetheless.
i hope we dont dump him after this season... hopefully it is not too much to ask of him to participate in 30% of the snaps? maybe we can work his way in when playing against practice teams(seahawks,raiders)
Hahaha I agree TPJ sign Troy, he's smarter, in better shape and would be a much better corner then Deltha "I occaisionally run but never fly" O'neill...
Anyone for Vinny while we're at it?
good move but a little too late. seau can only help guys like mayo and guyton. they will have four games together and then its time to look to next season.
I know this is probably blasphemy, but if Seau plays like he did last year, he's probably a better option than Mayo in the base D. Mayo has been impressive, he's fast and is as good a tackler as you can get. But he's out of position WAY too often. Rookie mistakes, that's all. I expect he'll continue to improve. But from the weak side, nobody shot the gap like Seau. And he played with an unbelievable level of energy. It's exactly what this D needs.
I'm not saying bench Mayo or anything. I think they just need more of a rotation. Like when the Steelers were running all over the Patriots in the last game, that's where I want to see Bruschi and Seau out there. They even had Mayo lined up outside the DE on a couple plays, which could be another interesting use of Bruschi/Seau/Mayo...
RESIGN TROY
Ease up on the man crush BB!! Who's next Otis My Man Smith and Big Play Willie Clay??
This made my day! Welcome back Junior. Show 'em how it's done!
Pure desperation. This is what happens when you neglect the LBers on draft day and instead take 6 TE's. You guys think these geezers are going to just roll off of the couch onto the field and be effective?? Keep Dreaming!!!
What a sad way for Junior to end his career. After be so brilliant for so many years, the last time we're going to see him on the field is as a slow, old man trying to help a mediocre team into the playoffs. He's following in the footsteps of so many great athletes who hung on a year or two longer than they should have. I still hate thinking of Larry Bird playing in his last year with his bad back. He was just a shadow of the guy who was so brilliant.
Ease up on the man crush BB!! Who's next Otis My Man Smith and Big Play Willie Clay??
i been saying it since August!
FINALLY. Welcome back Junior! Now let's go and kick some backside!
I see Junior, Tedy, Vrabel and Willie McGinest playing for the Pats until they're using canes! I say Willie 'cause I think he'll be back after Romeo gets canned in Cleveland. Playing for Romeo was the only reason Willie went there in the first place (and maybe the money).
Jerod Mayo should thank his lucky stars that he'll get to learn from Junior Seau first hand. _That's_ the real value of this move.
So . . . what about John Lynch?
Mike,has to be a Jet/Yankee Fan,His Ignorance just jumps out at ya,there is no question Mike is a MORON.JUNIOR is the best,and all us true Pats Fans are Truely grateful for Juniors Loyalty to us.
These moves are fine. Lets not pretend Belichick wants to start Seau and Colvin in game one next year (or even have them on the roster). Who else are they going to get at this point? This team will beat awful teams like the Seahawks, Raiders, and Bills. They only make the playoffs if they beat the Cardinals or get SERIOUS help. They have already lost every tiebreaker imaginable. PLUS! Fitzgerald vs. Hobbs? Bolden vs. O'Neal? Somebody shoot me!
Again, what's the point of this signing? Are they now trying to give up 3rd and 20's instead of just 3rd and 15's? They might have the worst middle of the field defense in the NFL now.
I think it's great we are turning to local nursing homes for our defensive talent. Way to go suckatriots, another superbowl dream down the tubes.
If Only Seau Had Stayed In Shape
He Would Be On The Field Teachin
Mayo How To Get Things Done
And Finish Em
Experience Against No Experience
Usally WIns Until The Old Guys Get
Tired
Im a patriots fan again. Lets go Seau show fuck face mike what you still got in your tank. Larry bird with a bad back and Seau at forty against Ditka; Larry and Seau by three.
WAY TO GO SEAU we need all the help we can get i think its going to be ok and i cant wait till you get you first hit of the season if only we hwd Ted Johnson
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