Originally Posted by Ray Ray19
I thought Philbin and the Dolphins came away looking like cowards for how they handled the Johnson release.
When news first broke, I thought for sure that could mean the end for Johnson, but I have been anxious to see what actually happened, what went on, Johnson has never crossed the line like this, not with the law, he's always been a character, but something just seems real weird about what happened in that incident with his wife, and I don't condone AT ALL what he did, IF INDEED that happened.
But Hardknocks really exposed a poor poor handling of the entire matter, Philbin IMO comes away looking extremely soft and cowardly. He pre-judges Johnson, and it's apparent he had his mind made up before he had the chance to even sit down with Johnson, the fact that HK had it all on tape is damning evidence. Did Philbin even ask him for his side of the story, did he ask him what his role was in the matter, ask him about what happened?
To me, the right way to handle it, is to talk to the player, get his side of the story, tell him that you don't know what you're going to do but that his actions does not help the organization, that he needs to make a decision for the better of the team, but wants to do right by the player too, that it would be hard, but that he would have to make a tough decision either way, and fast. I realize Philbin probably didn't want this to drag on, I get it, but don't end it right there, in front of the player, give yourself and the player an opportunity to sleep on it, at least. Philbin was the judge and jury before an opportunity of a trial. Horrible.
In fact, I have a soft spot for Chad, always have, I love his character, and he is a character. He IS crazy too, but I don't ever get the sense that he isn't a good teammate, and doesn't do anything but BUST his ass in everything he does, even if he lost a little off of his "fastball."
And actually, I have changed my stance on whether to think if the Jets should consider a move for Johnson, the team that does consider him, gets him at a time where he is real down on himself, and wants one opportunity to make it right, that team could reap a big benefit from that. Johnson is now facing a time in his life where he needs to re-evaluate his life, his image, and decide that from this point forward, he needs to change that image for the better. A team could really benefit from this if he still has something to offer. The dropped pass looked bad in the game, but to me, he still looks to me like a player who can still play. The response from some of the Dolphin key players also speaks volumes to me, they were not happy with how the team handled it.
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