TecmoSuperJoe Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 (edited) If you aren't familiar, Duane Thomas was a running back that played for the Cowboys from 1970 to 1971. He was first round pick out of West Texas State. After his rookie campaign where he was name NFL Rookie of the Year, and rushed for over 100 yards in two playoff wins he wanted his 3 year rookie contract to be rewritten. I believe at the time, Tex Schramm the GM of the Cowboys was notorious for underpaying his players. There was a contract dispute, resulting in Thomas not reporting to camp. A potential trade to the Patriots was on the table, but it fell through. Thomas was sent back to Dallas, but took a silent oath all season long not speaking to the media, teammates, management, and maybe coaches as well. He rode that silent oath all the way to Dallas' Super Bowl victory over the Miami Dolphins that year. He was named All Pro in 1971 as well, but in 1972 following his continued shunning of seemingly everyone, he was sent to the Chargers. Thomas' career never recovered as he bounced from team to team. I find this one of the more underrated footnotes in NFL history. I was wondering if someone did this today though. Could they survive not speaking to anyone unless it was vital? And not even necessarily out of spite because of a contract. What if they just literally didn't speak because they were selective mute or something. Could they still be an NFL player if they were talented enough? Would coaches, fans, teammates, and management just shrug and say "Eh, that's just Kevin". Would society still brand a player, a popular player, as someone that isn't "NFL material" because they didn't speak? What if someone just didn't partake in the locker room bravado, or anything like that. What if all the touchdowns they scored, they didn't celebrate with teammates and went back to the bench to sit by their lonesome self? Perhaps it really would depend on the scenario as to why they aren't speaking. I do think if Aaron Rodgers or George Kittle decided to just random stop talking to anyone, it would get a ton of backlash...because, I guess that's just not normal, and they've had no issue talking in the past. But what if it was just in someone's nature not to speak or act demonstrative? Less than someone like Marvin Harrison even. The closest we've had in recent years was Marshawn Lynch for a while not saying anything to just the media. From media people that seemed to ruffle some feathers. Also, Kwahi Leonard in the NBA just rarely talks in general. During the offseason where he was distancing himself from the Spurs he literally did not say anything all offseason. He has no presence online, and just didn't say anything publicly for months from what I recall. And in online communities he was branded a child, coward, etc. as if he owed the public something. It was a strange saga I won't soon forget. Edited September 8, 2020 by TecmoSuperJoe 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkippyX Posted September 8, 2020 Share Posted September 8, 2020 It takes all types. AFAIK Marvin Harrison was extremely aloof and had no interest in being friends with anybody. I don't know if that carried over to interviews but he did his job and then clocked out and left. I'm also not a Colts fan and did not live in Indy during his career so this could have been an exaggeration. I know that Lynch did all of his required interviews and just gave cute answers so he would not have to pay the fine. He even got a TV commercial out of doing that because enough people thought what he was doing was cute. I will take Lynch being cute and Belichick not suffering fools over a true scumbag like John Tortorella just spitting venom at reporters for doing their jobs any day. Broderick Thompson of the 1994 Eagles was forced to take a pay cut right before the season (rookie owner Jeff Lurie did this) Thompson had a couple quotes that made it clear they were probably getting discount effort along with the discounted pay. https://www.nytimes.com/1994/09/01/sports/pro-football-eagles-new-threat-salary-cut-end-run.html Andre Iguodala did not feel like going to Memphis this year but he did feel like getting paid. Antonio Brown declared war on the Steelers and the Raiders in the same calendar year. Maybe this would be the closest to Duane Thomas. Add in social media and a players union where players are almost equal partners to owners in revenue split Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter2_1 Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Depends who it is. If Mahomes decided not to talk to media, is he really going to see any comeuppance? Whereas if it's...Brian Poole, they may just go 'ok Bye'? Dunno, just guessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilflamingo Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 5 minutes ago, Hunter2_1 said: Depends who it is. If Mahomes decided not to talk to media, is he really going to see any comeuppance? Whereas if it's...Brian Poole, they may just go 'ok Bye'? Dunno, just guessing. Probably hard to be a QB and not speak though. Maybe it'd work for a guy like Goof where McVay could have someone else yell out his calls. For a running back or WR though, I don't think it'd matter much if they were mute as long as they were good and not total headcases outside of the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter2_1 Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 2 hours ago, evilflamingo said: Maybe it'd work for a guy like Goof where McVay could have someone else yell out his calls. 😂 I think you'll catch a few here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patriotsheatyan Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 If he’s good it’s fine. If he’s only average, it will give some people bigger problems than if he beat his wife or knocked up 7 different women he abandoned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 On 9/7/2020 at 11:16 PM, TecmoSuperJoe said: Could they survive not speaking to anyone unless it was vital? In 2014, Arian Foster answered every single question with "I'm just working hard, trying to be the best teammate I can be..." in a mockery to then-new HC Bill O'Brien. The media took it as a shot at them, but Bobby Feeno was just bashing BoB ahead of schedule. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoundrel Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 1 hour ago, ET80 said: In 2014, Arian Foster answered every single question with "I'm just working hard, trying to be the best teammate I can be..." in a mockery to then-new HC Bill O'Brien. The media took it as a shot at them, but Bobby Feeno was just bashing BoB ahead of schedule. When are they finally going to fire Bombs Over Baghdad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET80 Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 1 hour ago, Counselor said: When are they finally going to fire Bombs Over Baghdad? Won't be this season... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrry32 Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 6 minutes ago, ET80 said: Won't be this season... Do you think GM BOB has the balls to fire HC BOB? Or will HC BOB fire GM BOB? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrILL! Posted September 10, 2020 Share Posted September 10, 2020 I get not speaking to the media. That’s been done numerous times. I can even see not speaking to mgmt bcuz you can let your representatives do that. But how do you not speak to coaches or teammates? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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