Now let me be clear, we love Smitty around here in these CSR interwebs. That will never change. But I have to admit I'm starting to wonder if there wasn;t a hidden message in Gettlemans' words:
Steve Smith of Carolina Panthers surprised by comments about his future - ESPN
"We have to read into things and we try not to, but when you speak of an individual's career in the past tense it would ultimately suggest that a team is moving on,'' Smith said. "No one has still reached out to me and told me anything. "My agent has contacted the team and is just trying to find out what's going on. To be honest, I have no idea what my future holds.''Smith said it was "discouraging'' to hear the comments of Gettleman and Rivera. "It took me by surprise,'' he said. "I was shocked and wish I wouldn't have heard it the way I heard it and in the way I heard it. As they say, that's part of the business. I don't know what to think about it. "I'll put it like this. If I ... did that the reverse way, I think it would have been very unprofessional on my end and a distraction. I wish the individuals would have had that conversation with me first and privately.''
So are we reading too much into this? Gettleman is still new and would see this kind of move as making the tough decisions long-time franchise employees might otherwise hate to make. That is, releasing a long-time fan favorite and PB player before he is ready to retire.
I'm actually trying to push the whole thought out of my mind as I'm still adjusting to Jordan Gross' sudden retirement. Besides, more than likely we land one or more WR's that would benefit from the mentoring provided by the elder statesman Smith.
I have to stop typing now, I'm getting ill...