Bill Belichick benches Wes Welker for Rex Ryan foot jokes

Posted by Michael David Smith on January 16, 2011, 4:41 PM EST

This weird week leading up to the Jets-Patriots game got a little weirder in the minutes before kickoff.

CBS reported just prior to game time that Wes Welker, the Patriots’ No. 1 receiver, will not be in the starting lineup.

The reason? Patriots coach Bill Belichick benched Welker for making jokes this week about the involvement of Jets coach Rex Ryan and Ryan’s wife in foot fetish videos.

Belichick told all his players not to say anything that would serve as bulletin board material, and he was apparently serious. So Welker won’t start.

UPDATE: Welker took the field for a punt return, then went to the sideline and stayed there throughout the Patriots’ first offensive possession. He was back on the field for the Patriots’ second possession.

Permalink 37 Comments Feed for comments Back to top

37 responses to “Bill Belichick benches Wes Welker for Rex Ryan foot jokes”

  6. “Hey, Bellyache, did you hear the one about the………………………..aw, never mind……….”.

  11. Good for him! Mess with the bull you get the….

    It’s like having a child. If you tell them not to do something and they do it and you do nothing, you are going to have one a-hole of a child. This ain’t rocket science.

  13. “C’mon Bill. Hit the guy in his wallet…. don’t punish the team.”

    This is why he’s a great coach. Hitting them in the wallet does NOTHING. They make too much. What’s he going to do, fine him $250k? All these guys (the good ones) don’t want to let their team down. So fining them does not acheive the goal. Make them dissapoint their teamates. That’s what it takes.

  14. Brady throws his first interception in 355 attempts. Folk misses his first field goal inside the 40 for the first time in 14 tries. What kind of game is this going to be? Wow!

  22. I respect Bill B. as a coach but he really is quite the meglomaniac. I would have an easier time accepting him punishing Welker if not for spygate. So let me get this straight Mr. Belechik: your rules are important but not the league’s rules?

  23. Welker’s was, by FAR, the best “trash-talking” EVER in sporting history. They should be buying him dinner instead of benching him.

  24. 3 sacks. You think the Jet defense isnt mad about that last game? Jets offense is killing them, though. Can they put Brad Smith in?

  27. Gotta hand it to the Yets defense…. after a rough start they’ve started to get to Brady’s head. Three sacks and an INT and now he’s looking way too tentative throwing the ball.

    Time to start using BJGE a bit more to take off some pressure, and see if you can throw a deep one in there a bit.

  28. OH WOWWW he benched him for 3 plays what a drill sargeant he is… ha lol, belichick knows he needs him, he gonna get dumped on by the jets !

  29. You guys are missing the point. Welker didn’t skip practice or blatantly defy Belichick’s bulletin-board rule by getting into a verbal war with a Jets player. He engaged in some tongue-in-cheek humor he probably didn’t think was a problem. Belichick disagreed and had him sit out a series to embarrass him and make sure he’d think twice next time. It was like a time out. If it had been a bigger violation, it would have been a bigger punishment. I’m not a fan, but respect BB’s methods.

  32. I don’t care who wins, but the Jets seem to show up for these big games, while the Patriots don’t. Still plenty of time left…

  34. It’s a playoff game. Why would you bench your top receiver for even one series? That’s really the best way to make a statement and still try to win?

    OK, perhaps you think he should be punished for his inappropriate comments. Why? These guys are being paid millions to play a freakin’ game. Let them have some harmless fun. I’d be more worried if Welker was intentionally trying to injure someone, not making ten references to feet.

    I hate the Pats with the burning fire of a thousand suns, and I still laughed at Welker’s conference. I’m having trouble figuring out why I should care if he makes a few wise-cracks.

  35. This Bill should have worried more about the opponent instead of his own player ?? These are adults Bill, the joke was funny.

    I also think Welker was a shoe in for the opening kickoff, LOL.

  37. Disclaimer: This post is shows extremely bad taste on my part, but so help me, I can’t stop myself.

    It’s obvious that the Patriots weren’t prepared to really put their best foot forward.

    They just weren’t able to toe the line and they certainly didn’t look as though they were able to think on their feet.

    I was really expecting to see some fancy footwork.

    Perhaps next year they won’t step on each others’ toes and get their feet all tangled up.

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to leave a comment. Not a member? Register now!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.