naptownskinsfan Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Just now, MikeT14 said: That's the biggest thing to me. No one has really backed up that initial article since it came out as far as I have ever found. It’s also not beyond the realm of possibility that a former #2 overall pick, clinging to not being labeled a failure as a starting QB, would not report that his knee was in bad shape. We think all of the time about how a few coaches like BB would work around the injury reporting process, but how many players don’t self-disclose those things? I think the comment about players not being robots was pretty telling about that. He hasn’t done it since, in any event. If he goes home a second time after losing a competition, then we can call a spade a spade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Mc Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 (edited) 1 hour ago, naptownskinsfan said: But some people are going to be mad that he “quit” on his team. Which according to the story later, isn’t necessarily the case and is an oversimplification of what happened. Ok... you are entitled to your opinion on the situation, but here are the facts. 12/4/22 - Falcons lose to Steelers 19-16. 12/7/22 - Mariota and his wife welcome daughter, Makawao. 12/8/22 - Mariota meets in person with Arthur Smith and gets news of demotion for performance based issues. 12/13/22 - Arthur Smith mentions in press conference that Marcus Mariota is not with the team and would be having surgery on his knee, likely to hit IR. Smith reiterates that Mariota's benching was for performance issues and had nothing to do with injury. https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/12/13/falcons-qb-marcus-mariota-left-team-demotion “(The knee) is nothing that has been an issue this season, but that’s (Mariota’s) prerogative,” Smith said, via The Athletic’s Josh Kendall. “Of course, you want all your guys to be here, but guys have to make decisions. It’s part of professional sports. You have to have contingency plans.” Now that the facts of the timeline are out of the way, here is my opinion and some others. Marcus deserved to be benched. I don't think anyone would argue this. They had a rookie QB waiting in the wings, they were 5-8 and were on a 1-4 skid. Marcus having a child had no impact on his decision to step away. Now lots of you are going to dispute this and say it's untrue, remember this is my opinion and perception of the events. The fact that he was back at the team facility the day after his child was born, shows his commitment, while he was the starting QB. Arthur Smith let's him know they want to go with Ridder the final four games and Mariota reportedly did not take it well. https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/news/atlanta-falcons-marcus-mariota-understand-benching-desmond-ridder-first-start-arthur-smith "A source says Mariota took the benching very hard, which isn't uncommon in the sport. He didn't understand why he was being benched, though the bye week was a natural time for the Falcons to make the switch from their struggling quarterback." - CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones Mariota immediately left the team facility after benching. He then had his representation reach about to notify the team of his intention for surgery. Now I pose the question to all you Mariota sympathizers: If Mariota was NOT benched, does he have the surgery right then? Does he take time off to "spend time with his newborn daughter"? Everyone that is claiming he didn't quit is simply making excuses. His daughters birth isn't the reason he left. His knee injury wasn't the reason he left. He left because he could not handle being benched AGAIN and he absolutely quit on his teammates and the team. As an aside, it is very interesting to see the number of people defending him or claiming he didn't quit and then retrospectively look at those same posters opinions of Trent Williams, who absolutely quit on this team and forced his way out. What makes Mariota different to you guys? Is it because it didn't happen to us? Edited March 27 by Slappy Mc 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Mc Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 1 hour ago, MikeT14 said: That's the biggest thing to me. No one has really backed up that initial article since it came out as far as I have ever found. https://www.si.com/nfl/falcons/news/atlanta-falcons-quarterback-marcus-mariota-quit-on-team-after-losing-job-desmond-ridder https://bloggingdirty.com/posts/netflix-doc-doesn-t-change-the-fact-mariota-quit-on-the-atlanta-falcons-01h5a8t8nt3r https://www.sportstalkatl.com/nfl-agent-surprised-eagles-signed-marcus-mariota-after-quitting-on-falcons/ Again, you can have your feelings too, but these are people from Atlanta and they share my opinion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naptownskinsfan Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Clearly we have different opinions, but the birth/death of a child and major medical diagnoses (including mental health) for you/your spouse are just about the only things I can get behind for someone to go MIA from a job. Trent Williams basically having his employer botch treatment for potential cancer falls under that category for me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT14 Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 I can’t watch the videos but I assume those are fan videos? I’m referring to people in the NFL not likeminded conspiracies. I think the SI article was the original one, no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Mc Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 4 minutes ago, naptownskinsfan said: Clearly we have different opinions, but the birth/death of a child and major medical diagnoses (including mental health) for you/your spouse are just about the only things I can get behind for someone to go MIA from a job. Trent Williams basically having his employer botch treatment for potential cancer falls under that category for me. Again, that's not what happened. He made the decision for surgery after he quit on the team. He had already left. As you said, you and I won't see it the same. He will always be a quitter in my eyes and I will never support him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naptownskinsfan Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 2 minutes ago, Slappy Mc said: Again, that's not what happened. He made the decision for surgery after he quit on the team. He had already left. As you said, you and I won't see it the same. He will always be a quitter in my eyes and I will never support him. We also don’t know if he played through it and didn’t want to lose his job. We often see coaches manipulating the injury report. What about players who don’t report things? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Mc Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 1 minute ago, MikeT14 said: I can’t watch the videos but I assume those are fan videos? I’m referring to people in the NFL not likeminded conspiracies. I think the SI article was the original one, no? The original SI article. https://www.si.com/nfl/2022/12/13/falcons-qb-marcus-mariota-left-team-demotion The other one was in January after things were coming to light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Mc Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Just now, naptownskinsfan said: We also don’t know if he played through it and didn’t want to lose his job. We often see coaches manipulating the injury report. What about players who don’t report things? You are trying to justify a situation by making excuses. What about all of those teammates that loved having him in the locker room. He left them high and dry because he couldn't handle getting benched. It wasn't because he was injured. Again, we won't agree on this, but expect anytime someone tries to claim he didn't quit that I chime in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naptownskinsfan Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 10 minutes ago, Slappy Mc said: You are trying to justify a situation by making excuses. What about all of those teammates that loved having him in the locker room. He left them high and dry because he couldn't handle getting benched. It wasn't because he was injured. Again, we won't agree on this, but expect anytime someone tries to claim he didn't quit that I chime in. As someone who employs quite a few people, and have dealt with this same situation with someone losing a job, it’s not making excuses. Things happen, situations change, those kind of things always lead to emotional decisions. It could very well be that he quit on them. It could be the other things. It’s an opinion at this point, because the two people in the room are saying it wasn’t that, and both have the platform to contradict the other at any time they want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeT14 Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 Got it. It’s an unnamed NFL agent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naptownskinsfan Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 10 minutes ago, MikeT14 said: Got it. It’s an unnamed NFL agent. We know all about anonymous sources Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Mc Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 12 minutes ago, naptownskinsfan said: As someone who employs quite a few people, and have dealt with this same situation with someone losing a job, it’s not making excuses. Things happen, situations change, those kind of things always lead to emotional decisions. It could very well be that he quit on them. It could be the other things. It’s an opinion at this point, because the two people in the room are saying it wasn’t that, and both have the platform to contradict the other at any time they want. Arthur Smith said this in response to this question: Q: Marcus, do you anticipate him going on IR? A: I would anticipate that yeah. And that had nothing to do with the move here, Josh. But there's you know, alot of athletes, something chronic, nothing that's been an issue this season, but that's their prerogative. So, as this happens, that's why we signed Logan on Saturday, to make sure we would have depth there. And once that decisions made ill update ya, but he's not here right now. Just giving you full transparency. Q: But if you had not made the switch, this knee thing wouldn't come out? A: Josh I am not a medical expert, I'm just telling ya it had nothing to do with the decision. He quit. Arthur Smith felt the same way in his press conference but he could not come out and say it. Ya'll can feel how you want, but he is a quitter. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Mc Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Again, what good does it do to publicly call out Mariota? What team would do that first and foremost? These are professional organizations and as a someone that handles employees @naptownskinsfan, you should know that even if you can empathize with Marcus in the situation, he quit. The organization gains nothing from openly blasting him, knowing that they can just release him and end it "amicably". If I am at a job and I get demoted and don't show up to work the next day, I get fired. Even if the conversation included something like "Sure Marcus, take some time, spend time with your family and come back when you are ready." The following day after his benching he decided he wanted to have surgery and never go back to the team. There is no way to watch Arthur Smith's press conference and not feel that Marcus quit on the team, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slappy Mc Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 11 minutes ago, naptownskinsfan said: 22 minutes ago, MikeT14 said: Got it. It’s an unnamed NFL agent. We know all about anonymous sources Show me one teammate that openly said he didn't quit. I've looked and I can't find a single one. Dude bailed on his brothers in the locker room. Guys that, the day of Arthur Smith's presser, said they got his back before the change was made. https://www.oregonlive.com/nfl/2022/12/we-ride-with-marcus-some-atlanta-falcons-players-voice-strong-support-for-marcus-mariota.html After that though, radio silence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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