Chargers Great Shawne Merriman Can't Even Rip His Old Team Without Taking a Backhand Slap at the Patriots. Sad!

Lenny Ignelzi. Shutterstock Images.

You know, it can be sad and even a little tragic when a proud old retired warrior can't let go of the battle long after it's over. My beloved uncle who lived across the street from us used to resent anyone driving a Japanese car because he fought against them in the Pacific. Until finally one day he conceded that 80s American cars were garbage (seriously you guys in your 20s have no idea how much better today's cars are) and he came home driving a Toyota. Which young me took as a sign positive sign that Uncle Phil was learning to let go and move on. 

Unfortunately, not every old warrior has that in him. For some, those old resentments linger and they end up fighting the last war forever. Consider Shawne Merriman. One time NFL DPOTY. Badass. Genius for self promotion who turned "Lights Out" into the slogan that sold a million crappy t-shirts. But who has never been able to let go of the fact that the Patriots of his era couldn't be defeated. And still can't, judging by this show of frustration after yesterday's utter disintegration of his once proud Chargers. 

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Why Shawne, why? Yes, we can all agree changes need to be made. That was a team that flat out got bullied in their own multi-billion dollar monument to bad investments. They probably quit a little bit. Did God knows what level of damage to their young franchise quarterback who had the worst game of his rookie campaign by far. 

And got so inside their own heads that their punt team lost the ability to count to 12:

But you can admit that without turning it into a dig against the team that humiliated them. New England is 6-6. Not to make excuses for them, but they lost more in terms of manpower and lost time to Covid opt outs and positive tests than any team in the league. They also lost on the goal line in Seattle and a red zone fumble in Buffalo. That's not bad luck; that's on them. But saying "they're not a good team this year" just to further vent your frustration at your own team is just unnecessary and undignified. It's the talk of someone who still hasn't gotten over blowing the most winnable playoff game in franchise history. Which is obviously still the case. 

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None of those 2006 Chargers was ever able to recover from losing to the Patriots at home that year. When they had 50 chances to close the sale against a team that had Reche Caldwell as their No. 1 receiver. That had an 8-point lead with 6:25 to go and picked off Tom Brady on 4th down, only to have Troy Brown steal the ball back from Marlon McCree. If McCree had simply not caught the interception, they'd have won that game and maybe the Super Bowl. Instead Brady led a game tying drive and another to go ahead by 3. But then the Chargers missed a kick as time expired. Some Patriots did the Lights Out dance on the midfield logo. LaDanlian Tomlinson questioned Bill Belichick's "class." And the rest, as they say, is history. 

Just not to the men who are still living it. Merriman for one.

And again, it's sad. Just profoundly sad. One franchise was able to move on. The other is still fighting the war. And yesterday's stunning defeat at the hands of their old enemy is still causing old wounds to hurt. I hope that the next time New England thrashes this pathetic franchise and it's three dozen followers that Merriman, Tomlinson and the rest will have found peace.