Leonard on what happened the last couple of weeks
 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBmpcMPN-rc

He thinks complacency set in

lack of leadership of the players

The Colts collapsed when it mattered most. What anyone says about it is irrelevant.

Leonard seems to be one of the most vocal players, but he’s a talker not a leader. There is a huge difference.

absolutley

How would you know?

Exactly JAFF, great post, awesome, how the fuck would you know? I know the answer though, he refused to take the jab, so therefore he is not a leader according to some.

I call Bullshit on this. Like JAFF stated how the hell do you know that he is not a leader? He has his beliefs and didn't back off from them. in my opinion, that is a fucking leader whether you like it or not.

He is a very vocal anti-vax idiot. Case closed.

o


Being a "leader" is not easily quantifiable ...... it's certainly not something that I would want to be asked to define, especially if I was not on the team and privy to what goes on and/or what is said in the locker room, on the sidelines, and on the playing field.

o

Case may be closed for you Columbo, but just because people don't agree with your way of thinking does not make them a non-leader.

Well, you can take a look at what Leonard has stated himself publicly.

He has stated that prior to this year, he hasn't really focused on being a leader. He + the defense relied on Anthony Walker to fill that role.

So he may need some time to develop those skills.

Okay, I have played sports all the way through college. Can someone explain to me what being a leader on a sports team is. Being vocal? Something else?

Just asking?

Leonard basically equated it to being a coach on the field.

He stated that Walker did a ton of film study before games and would come to meetings prepared to ask the coaches questions about the game plan for about every single position.

He also said that when players had questions about assignments while out on the practice field, that they went to Walker as often as the coaches.

And he also stated that Walker would hold each player accountable - that was something that Leonard said he would need to work on instead of only worrying about himself.

Okay, thank you ASII.

Nope, facts.

Nope, your opiniated facts. Not actual facts..

As has been said - a combination of his own words and, yes, his vax stance. I think his comments on Walker are self explanatory. You are free to disagree on his vax stance being a lack of leadership, but to me it obviously was. Being vaxed was a competitive advantage. The rules were designed to make it so. Not sure how anyone can argue otherwise. A leader models the way to win and helps get others to follow suit through actions and, often, words. Leonard did the opposite of that. His actions and words promoted a disadvantage. Was it coincidence the team fell apart once it was hit with Covid? Maybe. But a few of us said the teams vax status demonstrated a lack of commitment and leadership. Watching this team at the end of the season it sure seems like that was the case. Teams with good leadership don’t fall apart like that, they don’t become complacent and miss the playoffs. It wasn’t one bad game, they lost two games they should have won.

I’ll also add this interview reinforces my opinion. Every time he talks about the negative stuff of being complacent he says “guys” or “people”, not “we”. “Guys” start believing we can’t lose. “People” get a little complacent. He hopes “guys” use the loss as motivation and “guys” learn that nothing is given to you. Very few “we’s” and never in the right context. The way I hear that is Leonard wasn’t part of the issue - it was the other “guys”. Funny, I don’t really remember him playing well in those two games. Regardless his words admit there was a leadership problem and he is supposed to be one of the leaders. I’m sure it was the other “guys” though, just don’t include him in the group.

The funny thing is if I had made the same comment about Wentz it would have received a ton of likes and a bunch of agreement. You wouldn’t question how I would know. But because it’s Leonard and not Wentz the defenders come out in force. Leonard is a great player, but that doesn’t make him a leader.

Well a real leader, or at least a good one, wouldn't have let his team shit the bed against the worst team in the NFL with a playoff spot on the line.

I guess that depends on if where they are leading someone matters. In this context I was generically saying “leader” when I meant leading in a positive direction, not a negative one. I don’t see having conviction in something as a commendable trait by itself. Some racists have conviction. Many terrorists have conviction. Jim Jones had conviction. I’ll concede Leonard “led” his team towards a competitive disadvantage, and he “led” many in his community to a higher death rate (among other issues). I really don’t see either of those two things as debatable. And I’ll agree he did it based on his strongly held beliefs. But again, I used “leader” in reference to a positive direction. My apologies for the confusion.

No real facts, not fox facts.

What? Leonard plays linebacker and how did he have an affect on the shit show the offense put out there vs. the Jackoffs? Leaders can only do so much, they are not miracle workers. He was one of our best players all year long, and that is not even debatable. Fuck!!!!!! Wentz is the fucking problem, hell, I hate even having to type this up.

Bullshit Butter, real facts my ass. Fox facts? Who has the real facts, CNN? LMAO!

Getting real tired of this Covid shit in every thread.

Yeah, especially when it’s not even necessary to make the argument. At least IMO.

I don’t know many good leaders that need “haters” to get fully motivated to try and achieve great things. Typically that motivation comes from something within.

His focus and I guess we’ll call in pettiness with that bothers me. It was one of the first things that made me wonder about his leadership, but in fairness a lot of great athletes are known to look for slights as motivation. Jordan and Bird are two that immediately jump out at me. The difference seems to be the way it manifests itself. To me it comes off as being overly concerned about the wrong things. Maybe Jordan and Bird would be liking “haters” tweets all the time if they played today, but I honestly doubt it.

The thing that makes me think this is a correct story is the silence from the Colts. I think Peter King may be correct that there is something else that went down between Wentz and the Colts other than his shit play. He played adequately for the middle of the season and with what is available out there two incredibly shit games don't seem enough to throw away what we gave for him already. There surely is more to it than that. This was Kings take this morning:

Carson Wentz. My first reaction when I heard Chris Mortensen’s report that the Colts would try to trade Wentz in the next month: There’s something bubbling beneath the surface here. Wentz failed down the stretch for Indianapolis, but the play itself (middling .624 accuracy rate, 27 TDs, seven picks, 94.7 rating) wasn’t bad enough for the Colts and coach/mentor Frank Reich to give up on a player they spent first- and third-round picks to acquire.

A couple of things to consider here. Late in his Eagles’ tenure, Wentz did some immature things—got ticked off about the team drafting Jalen Hurts in the second round in 2020, reportedly stopped talking to coach Doug Pederson for a period. He got benched for poor play down the stretch of the season, leading to his trade to Indy. Reich loved him in Philadelphia. My guess is something happened here, something other than a 9-8 record, that led to this moment. Attitude, an incident, work ethic, loss of trust. Something. I don’t know what.

Me and you both brother.

Hard to avoid it. It impacted every team this year. Some teams did a better job of managing it.

o


Sometimes, silence speaks louder than words ...... not always, but sometimes.

o

Who mentioned CNN? Though it is by far a better source than Fox, not that it is unbiased. Fox is a far-right propaganda machine.

Odd that you say that. I hear a lot of people on the right say Fox is moving too far to the left.

Without a doubt even they aren’t extreme enough for a not insignificant portion of the population. Trumpism thrives on hatred, loyalty, and ignorance. FOX wasn’t sufficiently loyal - I mean they called Arizona for Biden.

I have heard some coworkers say that as well. It’s absurd but I have heard it. The problem with right wingers is they have a hard time believing “their team” is ever in the wrong. They can’t handle facts when presented to them.

All politicians are pieces of shit. How people identify with these assholes and set up their entire lives around what they say and do is baffling to me. Vote how you want but stop making it your freakin religion.

That could only happen if Fox news got lost going so far right they circumnavigated the Earth and came out on the left of MSNBC.

but...but...but...the earth is flat.....

Fat Donnie told you that?

o


The verdict is still out on that.

o

A lot of things happened in the last month, some of it football related and some of it personal. Several of the un vaccinated players got sick, the Kelly’s lost their unborn child, a lot of poor play and poor coaching.

Irsays is unhappy and I think he needs to go look in a mirror, he is part of the problem as well. Everything that happened or didnt happen was under his watch. From signing Wentz, how they approach covid, the number of players who were hurt before the season even started. It was a carnival from beginning to end.

If the organization doesnt dissect the season and make changes in scouting, player evaluation, medical policy, and coaching evaluations starting with Reich. He needs to let the OC and Qb coach do their jobs and deal with the big decisions on game day.

Wentz is the most obvious issue with the end of the season, but he had a lot of company, players and coaches who could have done better job on and off the field