Jump to content

March 1, 2013: Thomas Dimitroff Reveals Himself As Michael Corleone


Recommended Posts

At the beginning of "The Godfather", war hero and scholar Michael Corleone shares a story with his fiance that illustrates the ruthless efficiency of his father. She is horrified, but he immediately explains "That's my family . . . not me."

Of course, at the end of the movie, he brutally eliminates the leaders of the five families who are a threat to HIS family. He has learned that his father was ruthless by necessity, not character.

The New England Patriots have a history of cutting high profile, popular veterans (Lawyer Malloy most immediately comes to mind.) Dimitroff is part of the Patriot family. We have seen him release players, even beloved players in the past (Brian Finneran, Brian Wiliams) but today's cuts show just how dedicated Dimitroff is to preserving the success of this franchise.

In the NFL, teams simply cannot afford to carry players who perform under their cap hit. While loyalty can and should be rewarded, there are limits. In Dimitroff's judgment, Robinson, Abraham and Turner, either based on recent performance or despite recent performance, were likely to under perform their salary cap hit in 2013. Either they will be resigned to lesser contracts, or they will play elsewhere, but the Falcons will be a better team because of these moves. . . . . we hope.

Either way, today we know that Thomas Dimitroff is a Patriot . . . a Corleone, and a true Falcon.

Edited by holymoses
Link to comment
Share on other sites

At the beginning of "The Godfather", war hero and scholar Michael Corleone shares a story illustrating the ruthless efficiency of his father with his fiance. She is horrified, but he immediately explains "That's my family . . . not me."

Of course, at the end of the movie, he ruthlessly eliminates the leaders of the five families who are a threat to HIS family, as he has learned that his father was ruthless by necessity, not character.

The New England Patriots have a history of cutting high profile, popular veterans (Lawyer Malloy most immediately comes to mind.) Dimitroff is part of the Patriot family. We have seen him release players, even beloved players in the past (Brian Finneran, Brian Wiliams) but today's cuts show just how dedicated Dimitroff is to preserving the success of this franchise.

In the NFL, teams simply cannot afford to carry players who perform under their cap hit. While loyalty can and should be rewarded, there are limits. In Dimitroff's judgment, Robinson, Abraham and Turner, either based on recent performance or despite recent performance, were likely to under perform their salary cap hit in 2013. Either they will be resigned to lesser contracts, or they will play elsewhere, but the Falcons will be a better team because of these moves. . . . . we hope.

Either way, today we know that Thomas Dimitroff is a true Corleone . . . a true Patriot, and Falcon.

applause.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great Corleone analogy. Based upon past performance, I'd bet that TD and Smitty will make the necessary player moves to improve the team, and it's likely we won't miss these three guys in the long term.

Turner did a great job for us during his tenure here except for his last mediocre season, and Abe was a stud at DE (too bad he never really had any serious help in that regard.) Dunta was probably the best guy available at a time when our DB's were overwhelmingly unimpressive (Crisp Houston, anyone?). He also didn't seem to measure up to his salary last season and has been outperformed by other Falcon DB's.

Time to move on and get better. NFC Championship and hopefully Super Bowl victories on the horizon!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

HM, that's the second time you've used a Godfather reference on this board and it was a perfect analogy both times.

Well played, sir. A true fan of the movie you are. An aficionado, even.

You are very kind! It's amazing what you can learn about life from watching The Godfather movies . . . even the third (lesson: Quit while you're ahead!)

Do you happen to remember why I posted the other analogy? I'm at a loss . . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great Corleone analogy. Based upon past performance, I'd bet that TD and Smitty will make the necessary player moves to improve the team, and it's likely we won't miss these three guys in the long term.

Turner did a great job for us during his tenure here except for his last mediocre season, and Abe was a stud at DE (too bad he never really had any serious help in that regard.) Dunta was probably the best guy available at a time when our DB's were overwhelmingly unimpressive (Crisp Houston, anyone?). He also didn't seem to measure up to his salary last season and has been outperformed by other Falcon DB's.

Time to move on and get better. NFC Championship and hopefully Super Bowl victories on the horizon!

All 3 played important roles. I wonder whether the off field issues of Abe and Turner influenced the cuts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are very kind! It's amazing what you can learn about life from watching The Godfather movies . . . even the third (lesson: Quit while you're ahead!)

Do you happen to remember why I posted the other analogy? I'm at a loss . . .

It was when Hillary Clinton became Secretary of State. You said you imagined the closing scene in The Godfather coming to light, with all her enemies (i.e., everyone in line in front of her for the Presidency) being murdered simultaneously.

I lolled.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...