Though the pipeline between New England and New York typically involves former Patriots players and employees sliding through to the Jets, there's one member of the Pats who swam against the current in 2009.
Tight end Chris Baker.
And Baker has jumped into the pro wrestling verbal runup to Sunday's game.
In his first year with the Pats after seven with the Jets, the Queens native was asked by Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald whether it was difficult for Baker to divorce himself from his hometown team.
"Honestly, I had already divorced myself from them when I went through my contract thing with them last year," Baker said. "I was there to do my job, but I knew I was going to be moving on after the season, so it didn't take me very long. I was more than happy to come here and I had moved on. I still have a lot of really good friends, but as far as being part of the being part of the organization, I divorced myself a long time ago from that. That wasn't a problem."
Baker was one of three veteran players during the Eric Mangini era who claimed that promises to address their contracts had not been honored. Baker ultimately received a deal that either would get him paid more money or give him freedom.
In his Week One debut with the Pats, Baker had one catch for seven yards. He'll likely be ready to do a lot more when he gets a chance to play his old team on Sunday.
Chris Baker jumps into Pats-Jets fray
Posted by Mike Florio on September 19, 2009 1:05 PM ET
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Watch out for the Refs Jets fans!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxA95K5gP9s
I wonder why PFT refuses to talk about this, I just think it is odd.
What Chris Baker said does not live up to the billing of the ".....jumps into fray". Chris Baker simply said he has moved on. Where in the hell is the story?
Florio, you and your staff are doing as much as anybody to fuel this fire. You are now writing stuff like teen-aged girls.
you have a different opinion of jumping into the fray than i do , florio . a guy talking about his contract talks isn't pro wrestling style unless a blog writer is trying to satisfy his nbc weasel boss's with artifical hype .
They refuse to talk about it because it wasn't cheating. It was just another ref mistake. They're annoying, but they didn't do it to directly help the patsies. I'm sure all teams sooner or later are benefited by these bad calls.
Ryan35 says:
I wonder why PFT refuses to talk about this, I just think it is odd.
Because they dont want to look like idiots implying the refs were cheating on something that is obviously not.
What he said really doesn't seem to be a big deal. He just took an entire mouthful to basically say "no." Sounds like he's moved on. There's nothing controversial here.
Not true that the flow has typically been Patriots players moving to NY. Bryan Cox won a Super Bowl or two as a Patriot after playing for the Jets, Lamont Jordan became a Patriot after starting his career as a Jet. Belichick of course went from Jets DC to Jets HC to Patriots HC in a matter of hours. Rick Lyle, Roman Phifer, Dedric Ward, Otis Smith, etc. It's gone both directions, largely because the coaches have swapped around both ways.
What always kills Jet fans though is how the Patriots use former Jets against them, such as how the Patriots ran all over the Jets with Lamont Jordan last year, who otherwise mostly rode the bench. Expect at least one TD out of Chris Baker tomorrow.
Florio, those are some seriously volatile words. That's the first time I've ever heard a player say something like:
"I was there to do my job, but I knew I was going to be moving on after the season..."
"I still have a lot of really good friends, but as far as being part of the being part of the organization, I divorced myself a long time ago from that." (translation Florio: I don't play for THOSE guys anymore, I now play for THESE guys so I am NOT part of that organization anymore).
Is "divorce" a fightin' word in West Virginia? Then again, since they just passed that law in W VA that finally makes it illegal to marry your sister in I'm sure some of the natives have issues with the term.
Maybe Mangini charged him $1000 for a bottled water
Ryan, ever wear a tin-foil hat?
Whoa - talk about Bulletin Board material!
There should be a disclaimer on this posting Mike. Those are some outrageous comments!!! I mean he might as well cry "Fire" in a crowded room!
Stiller, (What a stupid handle that is) We'll be looking forward to kicking your asses again.
After reading the title of this entry and the actual article, calling Florio an idiot is a compliment.
How does this qualify as "jumping into the fray". He was baited by a reporter and responded with a fairly simple and basic explanation of the situation.
He did not call out Rex Ryan or any of the Jets players, he did not make any comments on the upcoming game.
Survey say ? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
I agree. This is a reach at best to compare his comments to what has been said by the Jets.
Must be a very slow morning there in PFT Land. Maybe they should spend some time fixing the PFT log-on problem instead of coming up with worthless dribbles such as this. Add the Comment Ratings while your at it.
I miss the old site.
How about the Jets signing former Pats QB Kevin O'Donnell to help prep them for this game?
I am sure he will be gone within moments after the game.
www.fantasy-football-first.com breaks down this game and picks the Pats to win and cover the spread.
Amazes me someone wants to whine about a bad spot (which is all that is) when they conveniently ignore the bad call against Wilfork, who had a clean hit on a QB who intentionally grounded a ball to avoid a safety.
talk about a non-story . . .
The call on Wilfork was at the very least to put him on notice that this season his usual cheap crap won't be tolerated. How soon they forget--remember his incredibly cheap hit on Losman that didn't draw a penalty. To this day Pats* fans think there was nothing wrong with that play, but were all over Pollard last year when he was blocked into Brady's knee.
Don't worry, Ryan, Commissioner Goodell is all over that video (i.e., he's put it in the trash can next to the Spygate tapes and lord knows what else he found in that cheating organization--maybe some more HGH? Or perhaps opposing teams' headsets that go out at inopportune times? Could be any number of things where the Cheats* are concerned).....
"In his Week One debut with the Pats, Baker had one catch for seven yards."
I don't understand why the Baker situation continues to be an issue. Why can't people realize that the above statement most definately reflects the reasoning behind why the Jets did not want to commit to Baker on a long term basis... as this is typical of what his production resembled week in and week out... a few catches for minimal yards.
Why would franchise want to commit long-term big-money, which is exactly what Chris was looking for, on a weak TE like that? Sure he can block well, but the Jets, Schotty in particular, wanted a catching TE first and foremost, which they got in Dustin Keller, who will eventually become a very good TE in this league.
Listen, Baker might go out tomorrow and have a big game, I don't know;but the fact remains that, at as Jet, year after year, game after game, he did not produce!
The reason this non-story is up here is because Florio is a hardcore Patriots Homer and can't help stoking the flames of a non-existent fire... good job D-bag!
Ryan,
I thought the same thing at first, that the pats got a way with one, but on replay it looks like ESPN's line is wrong. The ball was spotted on the 36 at the beginning of the 2nd and 10 play. At the end of the play the Welker lands directly on the 26 yard line where the ball was spotted.
When the clock is winding down the official has to make a quick call or stop the clock and measure it. If he stopped the clock to measure it, it would have been to the Pats benefit and the Bills fans would have been up in arms. If the Bills were concerned with the spot, they could have thrown the red flag.
Finally, if McKelvin doesn't run with the ball like Marlon McCree and just sits down as soon as he's about to get hit, then the Bills just need a first down to win the game and you are celebrating a great Bills win instead of talking about this.
multiplemiggs,
I'm a Pats fan......and THAT was the post of the week!!!! Good stuff!!
"Watch out for the Refs Jets fans!!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxA95K5gP9s
I wonder why PFT refuses to talk about this, I just think it is odd"
Where does it say anything about cheating? I specifically said I think it is odd. Who would ever think professional refs would cheat or that the Patriots would for that matter?
I agree with you now Dana after seeing the play before hand.
Hey Rash1023, big man behind your moms computer.
Just for the record Im a Raiders fan and I couldnt care less who won the Bills and Pats game.