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Boldin: "Why I Quit Football for Activism" - Wants to Play


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Having him on active roster would be against everything McD preaches - the team. He came and left under false pretenses. He could force Bills to release him by exercising their rights but Bills should not just let him walk onto another team for nothing.

He's still under contract even though he's not being paid game checks. The only thing he can do to force the Bills to release him is to show up for work. Then if the Bills don't want him there they have to release him. So long as he is "retired" he stays on the reserve/retired list right alongside Dri Archer. As of right now Boldin is only retired verbally. If he's looking for a trade that means he didn't file any paperwork with the league.

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Comeback? Bills allowing Boldin to contact teams



It appears Anquan Boldin is looking to make a comeback.


The Buffalo Bills, who still own the wide receiver's playing rights, have given Boldin's agent permission to talk to other NFL teams to gauge any potential interest in trading for the 37-year-old, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport. The Bills aren't interested in releasing Boldin's rights -- they are seeking to trade him if a team wants him, Rapoport reported



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He's been an activist for a long time. He was named Walter Payton Man of the Year in 2015 for it. He expanded it into other areas recently and is still doing it.

 

Perhaps I'm wrong and he's on the level. His timing just seems rather suspect.

 

I suppose he could be telling the truth when he says Charlottesville was the catalyst, which I can respect for following his heart, but I can't respect his lack of perspective. He saw it as a menace that was spreading that threatened the safety of his children, which is patently absurd. This was a situation where all the biggest nationally known white pride figures went all out to assemble the biggest movement they could and they barely scraped together a thousand people, and half of them were only there to defend the statues. If anything it demonstrates that white supremacists don't have a lot of support in America these days.

 

Statistically speaking his kids have about as good a chance of being killed by a white supremacist as they do of being struck twice by lightening. As far as genuine threats to their physical safety, white supremacy doesn't make the top 100. But that's the reason he gave for bowing out of an obligation he was "all in" on two weeks earlier, yet he says it wasn't an impulsive decision but one he'd contemplated for a while - presumably when he signed the contract.

 

You're correct in that I can't read this man's heart or mind, but I have a tough time reconciling his actions in a way that casts him in a positive light, except possibly as a well meaning schmuck if you consider that a positive. After looking into him though I do respect him far more than Kaepernick. He does seem just as genuine and at least this guy uses his fame and finances to forward his agenda in proper venues instead of hijacking the game to push his politics. My beef with him is probably more of a fan scorned kind of thing, which admittedly makes me kind of a douche in that regard.

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Yep. I think he was just wrong about what the team could do. And I think he wasn't honest when he gave his reasons for why he retired. It's possible, however, that he was protecting the Bills by not saying what he felt, that the team was not interested in winning this season but rather trading assets for future considerations he wasn't going to be around for. That could have been legit. And he would have been just wrong in his calculation and not a jerk for lying.

 

I tend to agree with this. He probably soured on the idea of the comeback after the Bills dumped many of their better (or at least more well-known) players. And I don't doubt his sincerity to his commitment to social causes. But people do change their minds. That doesn't necessarily mean they were liars when they said what they said. But in general, I think players (and people in general) should avoid using absolutes when they don't'have to. Don't say "I'm never coming back", because even you don't know how you will feel at a different time.

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I tend to agree with this. He probably soured on the idea of the comeback after the Bills dumped many of their better (or at least more well-known) players. And I don't doubt his sincerity to his commitment to social causes. But people do change their minds. That doesn't necessarily mean they were liars when they said what they said. But in general, I think players (and people in general) should avoid using absolutes when they don't'have to. Don't say "I'm never coming back", because even you don't know how you will feel at a different time.

 

I have said this in another thread before but it bears repeating. At the time he signed with the Bills, he may have been motivated by more than a paycheck. He very well could have been looking forward to mentoring Watkins, sort of his legacy in addition to his on-field performances. On the field, he would be needed to make the critical play and helping out TT. When Watkins was gone, all that was left for him was to play a few downs and collect a paycheck. Which, for a player of his stature, may not be very appealing.

 

be that as it may, I still think it was wrong for him to dump on the Bills as he did. He could have swallowed his pride and played out his contract. But he did not. I submit that if someone is driven strongly by a cause, that drive doesnt disappear in 5 months. He really wasnt committed to that cause as strongly as he thought he was.

 

I think the Bills should do him no favors. They signed him to a contract and are getting nothing for it on the field. Might as well get some compensation. It is highly likely some team will give up a low round pick in 2018.

Edited by Fan in Chicago
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I think the Bills should do him no favors. They signed him to a contract and are getting nothing for it on the field. Might as well get some compensation. It is highly likely some team will give up a low round pick in 2018.

 

I completely agree with this. Let him seek a trade, but just don't release his rights, outright.

 

But he can still be very committed to his causes, and still play football. In some ways, being visible might actually help more, than just working on it out of the public eye.

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It could still be called 'changing your mind' just for a different reason. Jesus Christ, it's amazing what ticks people off on this site sometimes.

Whats really amazing is the keyboard calories youre burning to defend someone who is wishywashy at best and disingenuous at worst.
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That's fine

 

He quit on us and is dead to me, but if we can get something for him that's great.

 

More importantly we need to make sure he goes somewhere outside the division, maybe even conference, and not to any team that regularly deals with the Pats (Browns, Raiders), or any team who's draft picks we hold (specifically KC).

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IMO trade him for anything to anyone except the Pats*

I think he might literally make the pats worse and would bet us something.

To the "hold this guy hostage" crowd: you saw what he could do in preseason. getting anything for him is a coup. Take whatever you can get because he won't be worth it this point in his career

Exactly. It's doing yourself a disservice just to get revenge that is totally unneeded

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