Cris Collinsworth Said a Hilariously Silly Thing

Cornerback Aqib Talib became the Patriots’ cult hero Sunday, and during a down moment, NBC announcer Cris Collinsworth had this to say about Talib’s inauspicious past, which includes an indictment for assault with a deadly weapon:

All Bill Bellichik does is brings him in here and there hasn’t been one ounce of a problem. You know there’s something about when they come in, they play for the Patriots, whatever their issues may have been, they disappear, and they play great football for him. And Aqib Talib is at the top of that list.

So, ha, about that … As many are noting today, way down the bottom of that list is Aaron Hernandez, former Patriot-star-with-a-past, current accused murderer of one, and suspected murderer of two more. Hernandez? Does that ring a bell? Maybe you read something about him once? No? Hey, at least the Patriots’ clean-up campaign to erase Hernandez from recorded history worked on someone.

Collinsworth’s comments are also interesting revisionism because they redefine the so-called “Patriots Way.” The Ron Borges of the world have railed that the Patriots lost their Way when Bellichick decided to start overlooking the seedy histories of his recruits. Collinsworth seems to consider Bellichick’s talent to be one for reforming troubled football players rather than turning them away. Of course, either way you define it, Aaron Hernandez doesn’t do much to support the myth-making.