Jerod Mayo has retired
- Thread starter RedOctober3829
- Start date
I understand why, but it's a shame. Too many injuries. One of my favorite Patriots, and I will miss him. As E5Yaz notes above, class all the way.
Edit - I'm an idiot.
I was under the impression that they would save additional space by Mayo retiring versus him being cut. But the $4.4M in dead money was from signing/option bonuses so it's obviously counted against the cap.
New Cap Space available $13M based on Miguel's numbers.
Here are Miguel's most recent tweets:
I was under the impression that they would save additional space by Mayo retiring versus him being cut. But the $4.4M in dead money was from signing/option bonuses so it's obviously counted against the cap.
New Cap Space available $13M based on Miguel's numbers.
Here are Miguel's most recent tweets:
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I hope that in 10 years we all look back and fully grasp how great he was during his too short prime. Injuries took their toll, but he was a superb player for about 6 years. I will miss him.
A great player--and seemingly as good a person. Belichick was effusive in his praise for his smarts and leadership pretty much from Mayo's first training camp. To add to the echo, I'd love to see him stay with the team as a coach--or any capacity really.
Saw that in a Reddit thread. How in the world did Kraft get that nickname?
He really did. Cleaned up everybody's mess for a while. True grinder. Peace.
I'll also fondly remember Mayo as the 10th pick of the 2008 draft, after trading for it in 2007 (Niners) then moving down from the 7th spot (Saints). Per Wiki, this is how it went down:
This is how it went down on draft day: http://www.patriots.com/news/2015/04/24/bill-belichick-patriots-draft-day-flashback-jerod-mayo
- San Francisco → New England (PD). San Francisco traded its first-round selection in 2008 and a fourth-round selection in the 2007 draft (No. 110, traded to the Oakland Raiders for Randy Moss, used to select John Bowie), to New England for one of its first-round selections in 2007 (No. 28, used to select Joe Staley).[11]
- New England → New Orleans (D). New England traded its first- and fifth-round selections (No. 7 and 164) to New Orleans for New Orleans' first- and third-round selections (No. 10 and 78)
This is how it went down on draft day: http://www.patriots.com/news/2015/04/24/bill-belichick-patriots-draft-day-flashback-jerod-mayo
I love Mayo, though I always wondered why he was chosen for those Old Spice commercials. Didn't think he would get that much recognition outside New England.
He is the man. Glad Mayo will keep his wits about him and enjoy life - good on Jerod Mayo, good on the Patriots, good on New England.
On a side note:
I can't remember the last time a player left the organization and had one bad word to say about Kraft and/or Belichick (maybe Malloy in 2003?). For all the shit that the organization gets outside of NE, there is never a bad word spoken about the org from former players. It's sort of amazing when you think about it given how many years Belichick has been the coach.
I can't remember the last time a player left the organization and had one bad word to say about Kraft and/or Belichick (maybe Malloy in 2003?). For all the shit that the organization gets outside of NE, there is never a bad word spoken about the org from former players. It's sort of amazing when you think about it given how many years Belichick has been the coach.
You never really know what goes on in players' lives off the field, but man Vince Wilfork truly appears to be the kind of person I want my kids to grow up to be.
And despite the injuries and inevitable decline I'll miss Jerod. 29 years old. Man it's a cruel game.
And despite the injuries and inevitable decline I'll miss Jerod. 29 years old. Man it's a cruel game.
As a player he had strength - physical strength, mental strength, intellectual strength, emotional strength. I kind of hate the trade marked sayings that teams try to push, but in his prime, you never had any fear of Mayo not doing his job and you never had any fear of him not doing it well.
While I refuse to see the crime in calling a football player of any skin color articulate, I did want to highlight a quote I read in this morning's Globe:
I had not heard this before. Is this a real ESPN report? Or is it more "they hate their coach" bashing from the NFL's unofficial publicity arm?
I bet that could be accurate if "some in the Patriots organization" meant other players..
It's possible they were surprised that he is retiring completely, as opposed to getting cut and looking for work on some other team. The PFW guys initially thought he would likely look to land elsewhere.
So why would folks inside the Patriots be "disappointed"? Mayo's retirement saves the Patriots from going through the motions of cutting him. I would understand if they used the word "surprised". But "disappointed" means something entirely different.
They would have declined his option and that would have made him eligible for a compensation pick?
Once they decline his option, he still would have been under no obligation to sign elsewhere. Players retire every year, so unless ESPN can back up their assertion, I'm puzzled as to why Mayo's retirement would have been singled out as disappointing to the team.
I was surprised to see a complimentary blurb in Peter King's latest MMQB.
"And don't forget three others who recently retired and deserve your virtual applause one more time:
Jerod Mayo, linebacker. The 2008 Defensive Rookie of the Year averaged 118.5 tackles per season in his first five Patriot years, and was a leader from nearly the time he stepped on campus in Foxboro."
[the other two cited were Justin Tuck and Heath Miller; this after a long section praising 5 likely to retire players who would all be HOF-eligible in 5 years.
I'm also surprised how this whole thread seems so laudatory of Mayo, especially considering it wasn't so long ago that people here in BBTL were talking about how his tackles stats were misleading considering he played on some teams that were mediocre at best and designed to funnel all tackles to the Mike. These were the same people, in most cases, lamenting how few "plays" Mayo made in his career.
All of this makes me wonder where does Mayo stand in the pantheon of Patriot LB's (and do you need to have two categories, splitting ILB's and OLB's)? Leaving aside OLB's for now, it seems to me (and my memory only goes back to the mid-70's, that Mayo is behind Steve Nelson and Tedy Braschi, probably behind Vincent Brown (who is probably his best comp) and likely in line with Ted Johnson and Donta.
"And don't forget three others who recently retired and deserve your virtual applause one more time:
Jerod Mayo, linebacker. The 2008 Defensive Rookie of the Year averaged 118.5 tackles per season in his first five Patriot years, and was a leader from nearly the time he stepped on campus in Foxboro."
[the other two cited were Justin Tuck and Heath Miller; this after a long section praising 5 likely to retire players who would all be HOF-eligible in 5 years.
I'm also surprised how this whole thread seems so laudatory of Mayo, especially considering it wasn't so long ago that people here in BBTL were talking about how his tackles stats were misleading considering he played on some teams that were mediocre at best and designed to funnel all tackles to the Mike. These were the same people, in most cases, lamenting how few "plays" Mayo made in his career.
All of this makes me wonder where does Mayo stand in the pantheon of Patriot LB's (and do you need to have two categories, splitting ILB's and OLB's)? Leaving aside OLB's for now, it seems to me (and my memory only goes back to the mid-70's, that Mayo is behind Steve Nelson and Tedy Braschi, probably behind Vincent Brown (who is probably his best comp) and likely in line with Ted Johnson and Donta.
This is my opinion, but I left it out of this thread on purpose. And the caveat is that he was good at that role and it's what he was asked to do, so we'll never really know if he could have been more disruptive on a different defense. By the time they had the players to put in that defense he was probably not at his best due to injuries.
But yes, it is easier to rack up tackles on a defense that doesn't get off the field. The 2010 team was 25th in yards allowed and 30th in first downs allowed. The offense also played at a fast pace, so the defense was on the field for the 6th most plays in the league.
Does Mayo's retirement serve as a cautionary tale for re-signing Hightower? Mayo missed 5 games total in his first 5 seasons. The Pats signed him to a five-year, $48.5 MM deal towards the end of his fourth season; he made the Pro Bowl the next year, played just 6 games in his next two seasons, ending on IR both times, then played part-time this year, got hurt again in the playoffs, and retired. Hightower's probably been more of an impact player in the last two seasons than Mayo ever was, but he's already missed 10 games in four years. How much confidence should we have in him holding up and delivering value through his next contract?
I don't remember a ton of criticism of Mayo. Early in his career he was tremendously fast and never missed a tackle. I remember a lot of discussion of what a great pick he was, particularly since Keith Rivers and Vernon Gholston were picked a bit before and both were huge busts, and no other LB drafted that year ended up being anywhere near as good as Mayo.
Those defenses from about 2008-2012 gave up a ton of passing yards but IIRC the general consensus here was that it was due to a severe lack of pass rushing talent and decent defensive backs, not because Mayo wasn't getting enough picks or forced fumbles or whatever.
Those defenses from about 2008-2012 gave up a ton of passing yards but IIRC the general consensus here was that it was due to a severe lack of pass rushing talent and decent defensive backs, not because Mayo wasn't getting enough picks or forced fumbles or whatever.
Hightower has more to prove obviously, but playmaking-wise, I think he already shows more promise than Mayo. Both were very good, I think Donta has more upside.
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