I think what it all came down to was one in-depth expose too few for Ladainian Tomlinson this past week. He’s got the Walter Peyton hill in his back yard and had the entire NFL color squad from coast to coast (minus the Boston area) shouting out the kind of thoughtful endorsements that would prompt even Deion Sanders to turn the volume down on his television prior to gameday. But of course it’s not about the quality of the first expose or whether the ego remains chubby by the last one. Shawn Merriman’s shriveled testes could absolutely agree with the notion that in the end, the San Diego Chargers simply could not garner enough praise leading up to this game, and for my money the blame for their losing falls squarely on the shoulders of Boomer Esiason. One commentator had the audacity to suggest that the Chargers wouldn’t win this one going away, and once word that everyone in the entire sporting press wasn’t backing them made its way into the huddle prior to kickoff, in my mind their collective psyche was rattled.
Patriots players made things even worse by performing Merriman’s “signature dance” at the 50 yardline once the final score was decided, which forced Tomlinson to break out of his squeaky-clean zone and venture onto the street. Justice wouldn’t be had in the heat of that moment, but he certainly had a sermon on the mount moment for all of us at the post game press conference, where he criticized the celebration and chastised the entire Patriots team for their lack of class, and suggested that it was most likely a character flaw passed down by their no-class head coach, Bill Belichick.
He makes a good point. And there certainly are lines that should never be crossed. Sure, win the game, have a chance at earning that championship ring Tomlinson wants so badly, but for God’s sake don’t clown on another man’s signature dance move! Is nothing sacred? David Givens did the same thing in the super bowl two years ago by imitating poor Terrell Owens’ touchdown wing-flapping routine,
and that was bad enough. You’d think that the Patriots would have learned from such mistakes, but as NFL MVP Touchdown Record Breaking All-Galaxy Star Running Back Ladanian Tomlinson points out, the Patriots have no class, and because of that, the sanctity of Shawn Merriman’s patented “Lights Out” celebration dance is gone forever.
Now a man of less maturity and character would most likely think that the moral of the story is not to have a “patented celebration dance” to begin with, therefore not opening oneself up to imminent heartbreak when a rival uses it against you. Well, Tomlinson isn’t the MVP for nothing, and everybody knows that from the Ickey Shuffle on, the gentleman’s rule was clear on such matters. The true wisdom in LT’s words today led me to wonder why Troy Brown didn’t have a dance move of his own to throw down after forcing the game-saving fumble on the interception play that should have iced the game for San Diego? Perhaps Troy Brown simply isn’t classy enough to have his own dance.
Posted by Al Swearengen in sports
