Brady a Father and some thoughts on Samuel

Tom Brady has left Massachusetts to visit his new born baby boy.  Congrats Tom!  Hopefully being a father won’t detract too much from his on the field game.  I am confident it won’t and hopefully it will onliy make him a more content player.

On an unrelated note I can’t help but feel confused as to why Asante Samuel hasn’t shown up at camp yet.  It seems as though he is only shooting himself in the foot by not practicing with the team, playing a losing game with management while they have the upper hand.  If he returns after the tenth game of the season it would be hard to imagine that he would play at the same level as the receivers he’s covering.  This must hurt his credentials as a free agent, which he would be only if he isn’t franchise tagged again for 2008.  Maybe he’s hoping he’ll stink bad enough that they won’t franchise tag him.  I suppose he is just betting on being traded like Deion Branch and working out a contract with another team that way.  Much of the say in what happens to Samuel seems to be with management, so I am pleading with him to just show up already! 

Also, listening to WEEI Patriots Monday this week when Dale and Holly interviewed Tedy Bruschi, Richard Seymour and Rodney Harrison one could hear the tinge of sadness in the players’ voices when released Safety Artrell Hawkins was mentioned.  It seemed as though they had nothing but glowing reviews for the guy and Harrison in particular seemed grateful for Hawkins filling in when he was injured.  There has been talk of Hawkins trying his hand with broadcasting but hopefully he’ll make his way back to Foxboro some day soon.