Who needs trolls when you have "fans" like these?

[Biggs3535]

Luke's a Christian, but I won't hold that against him.

How big of you.

[1sparkybuc]

We have "fans" here that attack Luke McCown at every opportunity. He is the leading candidate to be our starting QB in September. What is the point in undermining his confidence and treating him like he's the enemy? He's on our team. He's our guy. How about showing a little encouragement and support for a change. He's had ONE start with the first string and clinched the division title with 14 seconds left on the Saints home field. Cut him some slack. Support the guy until he proves he can't handle it. Three starts two years ago, is not enough evidence, one way or another.

Gruden kept him on the bench all last season, just like he kept Graham on the bench all those years. It was a mistake with Graham and a mistake with McCown. They both just needed game experience and Gruden was afraid to give it to them. Gruden was fired because of bad personnel decisions. Gruden is an abrasive fowl-mouthed lout, who knows his Xs and Os. McCown is one of those guys who wouldn't say crap if his mouth was full of it. I believe Gruden just couldn't relate to that kind of person. He felt uncomfortable cussing him out, knowing Luke was the better man. The only way he knew to deal with it was to make him third string. Morris won't have that problem, and Luke will have a great season IMO.

Luke's a Christian, but I won't hold that against him. The only concern for me is durability. He will become more decisive with experience. In every other area, he is superior to Garcia and Griese.

Support the team by holding off on the attacks until they are justified.

[jaybuc88]

Luke's a Christian, but I won't hold that against him. The only concern for me is durability. He will become more decisive with experience. In every other area, he is superior to Garcia and Griese.

How sweet of you

[1sparkybuc]

Luke's a Christian, but I won't hold that against him.

How big of you.

There's no need to flatter me.

[GhostRider]

If Luke were a Muslim, how many Christians here would hold that against him?  

How many Christians poked fun at the idea Jeff Garcia might be gay...

[Biggs3535]

If Luke were a Muslim, how many Christians here would hold that against him?  

Nobody, probably.

How many Christians poked fun at the idea Jeff Garcia might be gay...

The same number of non-Christians who did.

[4bucs]

oh but it was ok to blast Garcia all last year...and Gruden got blamed for everything under the sun...roles on this board have been reversed...now posters rooting hard for Luke ,Dominik and Morris will now be called homers...like we were last year...wake up and smell the coffee...its just the persective of the way things are now .

[keeponbucn]

If Luke were a Muslim, how many Christians here would hold that against him? 

How many Christians poked fun at the idea Jeff Garcia might be gay...

uh oh, here we go

[warrenfb12]

We have "fans" here that attack Luke McCown at every opportunity. He is the leading candidate to be our starting QB in September. What is the point in undermining his confidence and treating him like he's the enemy? He's on our team. He's our guy. How about showing a little encouragement and support for a change. He's had ONE start with the first string and clinched the division title with 14 seconds left on the Saints home field. Cut him some slack. Support the guy until he proves he can't handle it. Three starts two years ago, is not enough evidence, one way or another.

Gruden kept him on the bench all last season, just like he kept Graham on the bench all those years. It was a mistake with Graham and a mistake with McCown. They both just needed game experience and Gruden was afraid to give it to them. Gruden was fired because of bad personnel decisions. Gruden is an abrasive fowl-mouthed lout, who knows his Xs and Os. McCown is one of those guys who wouldn't say crap if his mouth was full of it. I believe Gruden just couldn't relate to that kind of person. He felt uncomfortable cussing him out, knowing Luke was the better man. The only way he knew to deal with it was to make him third string. Morris won't have that problem, and Luke will have a great season IMO.

Luke's a Christian, but I won't hold that against him. The only concern for me is durability. He will become more decisive with experience. In every other area, he is superior to Garcia and Griese.

Support the team by holding off on the attacks until they are justified.

The only thing I have a problem with here is this Gruden kept players on the bench even though they were good thing. People have to get off that. Listen, Gruden is an NFL coach, he wants to win superbowls. Does he have an ego? Sure. However, if Gruden felt that Luke McCown would win him superbowls he would play him. Winning a superbowl would do nothing but increase his ego and his league status, why would he not want that? If Gruden knew EG was good he would have played him. Gruden admitted several times that it was a mistake keeping EG on the bench. At the same time, the guy had invested $$ in Carnell and a high pick. Carnell when healthy and especially his rookie year, is better than EG. EG also had to compete with other guys on the depth chart such as Michael Pittman and Mike Alstott. I don't think Gruden is about to bench any of those guy, regardless of what undrafted player he has backing them up. Obviously, just because a player is a high draft pick does not mean that he is better than an undrafted player. At the same time, you have to look at it as, well we scouted this guy, he has an excellent pedigree and we have seen what he can do, lets invest millions in him and see what he has got for a few years. Not hey Carnell hasn't be able to run the past few games lets bench him for Graham.

[warrenfb12]

But you know hindsight is 20/20, especially when your a Fan GM.

[keeponbucn]

The only thing I have a problem with here is this Gruden kept players on the bench even though they were good thing.

Everything happens for a reason, whose to say that time behind the other RB's didn't help EG become the player he is today. You have to look at both sides here. What's funny is people bring up Gruden's ego but wins feed the ego, to sit the best players would go against that entire notion.

[GhostRider]

But you know hindsight is 20/20, especially when your a Fan GM.

Does anyone hold it against Bellicheck for not starting Brady until Bledsoe got injured?

[1sparkybuc]

I supported Garcia in '07 and learned he did not deserve my support in '08. I always supported Gruden, just not blindly. When he made personnel decisions I didn't agree with, I said so. I never expected to agree with him about everything. The runs on third and long, and the long (as possible) passes on third and short were too predictable and frustrating, but I endured that with only a few choice cuss words. My support for Bruce Allen, and the FO staff, remains even after their departure. The Glazers screwed up there IMO.

I will support Luke in '09 and then decide if he deserves my support in '10. I will also root for JJ to give him serious competition for the job. Griese has a lock on the emergency backup position since he is past his peak. I will support Morris, not blindly, and I expect to disagree with him less because I believe communication will be two-way more often in the new regime. Dominik wasn't prepared for free agency. That's on him. I'll look at our approach to the draft to see if he has made any adjustments. The real test for him is free agency next year. I believe he will be ready. We will just have to wait and see.

The point is, I need actual evidence in order to make a decision. Thanks to Jon Gruden, we don't have enough evidence on Luke to make an informed decision. The new regime will correct that situation and I will root for him (and JJ) to be the best they can be.

[cyberdude557]

McCown is unproven. He's 1-6 as a starter. And there may very well be a reason he was kept on the bench by Gruden that you don't realize. I dont buy the idea that Gruden was holding him back purposely. That makes no sense.

Sure he had a great game in New Orleans. But that was against a very terrible Saints defense and the vast majority of the throws were under 10 yards. One of the few throws over 10 yards was a very ugly interception. The following week in San Fran he threw 2 other ugly interceptions. When he played 5 games in Cleveland, he had 4 TDs and 7 Ints.

We will soon see what he's got and will get a chance. But as of right now I havn't seen anything to suggest he is franchise QB material.

[ufojoe]

Three starts two years ago, is not enough evidence, one way or another.

You're right. We should wait until he gets a shot this year before we judge him either way.

Gruden kept him on the bench all last season, just like he kept Graham on the bench all those years. It was a mistake with Graham and a mistake with McCown. They both just needed game experience and Gruden was afraid to give it to them.

Whoops! You just made a judgment. You have no idea if keeping him on the bench was a mistake or not. And you have no idea if game experience is going to turn Luke into a success story. Maybe it will and maybe it won't.

Let's hope he's another Graham and he surprises a lot of us.