NFL
By Steve Atkinson
Christian Gonzalez was all about being the league’s highest-paid cornerback. He had a few holdouts, flashed the money sign at a Celtics game, and talked about negotiating his contract with his team—meaning his agents and the organization. So the Patriots gave him $100 million guaranteed going into this season. Since then, he’s taken plays off, games off, and has had a mysterious shoulder injury. Christian Gonzalez only cares about himself. Even in the Dolphins game, he let receivers go right by him. He couldn’t care less because he already has his money.
Christian Gonzalez Takes Plays Off
The Patriots play Green Bay on Sunday on national TV. It’s the Fox game of the week, with Tom Brady in town. So, of course, we’ll probably see the best of Christian Gonzalez on Sunday. He wants to make himself look good on national TV. He was the best player in the Super Bowl because he wanted to get paid; it wasn’t because he wanted to help the Patriots win. Here’s a quote from the summer before he signed the contract.
Christian Gonzalez Shows Up When He Wants To
There’s zero loyalty to the Patriots, my team, meaning his agents and the front office. He got what he wanted, then took time off. If you wanted to be the highest paid, don’t take time and games off; live up to the contract. I think for the primetime games, Gonzalez will show up because he knows a lot of people are watching and he wants to make himself look good. But against the Dolphins or the Jets, and maybe even the Chargers forget it. Expect him to just stand there and watch receivers go by him.
I’m not sure Belichick would’ve wanted to give Gonzalez all that money. He’d say they could find someone like him in the draft and let Gonzalez go or trade him. Now, this is what you get once he got paid. He takes games and plays off and doesn’t care unless he’s on primetime or up for an extension. The way he was acting in the summer was kind of selfish, like he was on an island by himself. He’s probably the second-best player on the team, and he acts like he’s the best. Hopefully he can snap out of it and play well all the time, not just when he chooses to show up and give it his best.
