NFLPA grievance: New England Patriots doctor put team ahead of patient

[Yavin4]

A grievance letter sent by the players’ union cites an e-mail from former team physician Thomas Gill that the NFLPA contends shows Gill telling Patriots owner Robert Kraft and President Jonathan Kraft that he was “trying to put together a case” that would compel former defensive end Jonathan Fanene to return $3.85 million after he suffered a knee injury in 2012. The letter further asserts that Patriots Coach Bill Belichick directed Gill to delay any surgery on Fanene’s knee while an effort was made to persuade the player to retire, thus forgoing his bonus.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/nflpa-grievance-new-england-patriots-doctor-put-team-ahead-of-patient/2014/12/11/cfae238e-814a-11e4-8882-03cf08410beb_story.html


Again, if this was the Cowboys, Yankees, Lakers, USC, or any of the DU Sports Forum designated "Teams of Evil", this would be triple posted. BUT, this is a Boston team, and we all know that Boston teams are morally superior to ALL other teams until they are not.

[madinmaryland]

1. K&R for the Cheatriot fans!!

[joeybee12]

2. Only a fan who worships Satan would post an article with

allegations and assume it's facts without letting the matter play out.

[Yavin4]

3. Never stops you

Does it?

[joeybee12]

4. Shall I post some A-Rod stuff?

Or is that simply allegations in your world?

[Yavin4]

5. Nice deflection, but don't hijack the thread

This is about the "morally superior" Pats.

[joeybee12]

6. And you're whining because you have a letter that "alleges" things

happened...they might or might not have...but God forbid you should not hear another side and just accept an allegation as fact.

[Yavin4]

7. "but God forbid you should not hear another side and just accept an allegation as fact."

You know what. Let's accept that we both won't do this going forward. Agree?

[JonLP24]

9. Now I see Yavin's point

I have seen you pretty biased against teams & players you hate to the point it clouded your judgment but now, over this you take an open minded view. You're right in that it is an ongoing case but it would surprise me if it wasn't true, doctors regularly hand out narcotic pain killers like candy, are pressured to return players back to the game. They're hired by the team's front office so they're obviously compromised by their paycheck to put team first regardless whatever rules there are that require them to put player's first.

The Redskins doctor practically calling himself a liar is a good example of this though Shannahan already had a prior known history of pushing injured players back onto the field.

[joeybee12]

10. Give it a rest..

It might very well be true, but did you even read his OP? Talking about how Boston is holier than thou...bull-fucking shit...it's flamebait...glad you agree with garbage like this.

[JonLP24]

8. New England is considered part of the axis of evil

There's just a lot of Boston fans here but really this is something all teams or most of them are guilty of, an exception is we're finding out about it here. Remember the Redskins doctor who basically called himself a liar after he said that RGIII was led away from him. Brady Hoke was one who violated concussion protocol as well as other teams and players themselves.

I remember Steven Tasker saying even the doctors are competitive, everyone wants to win. Of course, sanctions are necessary so I don't mean to imply that I'm defending, just understanding the situation.

[mythology]

11. Why would this come as a surprise

The New England Patriots tried to get a player who was diagnosed with diabetes to retire as well. It's amazing to me that, their coach has been alleged to pay players to start fights, and openly cheated at an organizational level.

But you're right about Boston sports fans not acknowledging the local teams' faults. Take for example the person in this thread who immediately jumped to talking about Alex Rodriguez, but not mentioning that local baseball heroes like Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were also busted for performance enhancing drugs.