Lame Lito

More and more I understand why liTO and TO were such great friends:

Sheppard was asked yesterday whether his contract-trade-playing time situation had affected his play.

"Yes," he said, with extra emphasis. "There's just a lot that goes on . . . Not to make any excuses - you are what you put on the film - but there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes that affects players individually."

Sheppard said he thought the focus should be on the team right now, not on his dissatisfaction.

"That's the goal; play hard, do your best for this team, the guys that are fighting hard alongside you," he said.

Not to make excuses, but here are all my excuses.

At this point, I'm not sure I'd trust Sheppard to cover the quarterback when an opponent goes to the Wildcat.  What a waste.

Comments

[Thorin]

You know, this is a situation where Lito gave an honest answer. And he gets skewered for it.

Andy Reid evades questions, he gets skewered for it.

Donovan McNabb's Momma answers a question, he and she get skewered for it....

Derek, what you're really saying here, and what the media is constantly chanting in this city, is that he didn't tell the lie you wanted to hear and convince you he meant it. I don't think that's a reasonable criticism of an athlete. A politician or media person, yes, because their job is to tell you the lies you want to hear, but not an athlete.

[Derek]

No, what I'm saying is that he didn't get a new contract so he decided to pout about it and let it affect his play on the field. Who cares whether or not he lies about it after the fact?

[Eric]

I just don't see how you can complain you're not a starter, have your agent post a youtube video of how you're better than your teammate, and play so poorly.

I honestly believe if he came in on nickel situations and had 3 or 4 INTs this year and some other big plays that this front office might actually reward him in some way.

I still think they could get a decent draft pick for him (maybe a 3rd) simply because the overall performance of a lot of corners on the lower tier teams is that bad. Plus, dumping his contract would be a very good thing for this offseason.

[Thorin]

"No, what I'm saying is that he didn't get a new contract so he decided to pout about it and let it affect his play on the field. Who cares whether or not he lies about it after the fact?"

You get demoted at work, and you don't think you'd pout and let it affect your performance? Plus, you know at some point soon they're probably going to fire you? You would. Almost anyone would. I don't think there's a person alive who could honestly answer that question by saying "no, it doesn't affect me at all."

I'll say it again: you're calling Lito out for not telling the lie (OK, a lie, I suppose several flavors would work) you wanted to hear.

[Derek]

Dude, I don't care whether or not he admits turning into Roger Dorn. All I care is that he has, in fact, turned into Roger Dorn. The fact that he admits it is simply further proof, in case our eyes had been deceiving us all this time.

And no, getting demoted is not a legitimate reason to stop working hard. It's a reason to buss your ass to get back out there.

You think Omar Gaither is rolling into the NovaCare complex late these days, just because it's annoyed he got benched? Doubt it, but even if he is, that would be just one more reason to bury him even further down the depth chart.

[Derek]

Or Todd Herremans. All summer he heard the talk that MJG was going to take his job. So what did he do? Worked his ass off the whole time, got into the best shape of his life, and made himself the best lineman we've got out there this year.

[Tracer Bullet]

In Lito's defense, at least he didn't spike himself.

[Jerry Riddle]

Pros try harder, punks cave in. There are lots of benchings, demotions, etc. in professional sports. Re-births are regular occurences. When you're demoted in a typical job, you're not expected to recover, and it's usually a signal that you'd be better off elsewhere. Not so much, in sports. Lito decided to mail it in this year, get with a new team, and start trying again next year. Anyone doubt if his head was right he couldn't be starting?