Pats act like giant douches, cut a player because he has diabetes

[KamaAina]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/maine/2013/05/15/pats-cut-starting-love-after-diabetes-diagnosis/WsgvifD6H0LP0ahGthc24H/story.html

The New England Patriots released defensive tackle Kyle Love on Wednesday after he was diagnosed with diabetes....

‘‘They expressed some concern that they didn’t know what the recovery time would be and, in their view, didn’t want to leave something to chance,’’ Kopelman said. ‘‘That’s OK. There are 31 other teams in the NFL.’’...

‘‘I think he was, as anybody might be, a bit surprised that a decision would be made in the manner it was, but he completely understands and there’s no grudge,’’ Kopelman said....

He said that after he consulted with doctors, he expects Love to be ‘‘100 percent’’ by the start of training camp.

You know who else has diabetes? Jay Cutler. You know who played his entire NHL career with diabetes? Bobby Clarke. One of the toughest SOB's on two skates.

I hope he catches on with the Jets and puts a hit on Brady. Not a bad one, but just enough to scare the people up in Kraft's box.

[Old and In the Way]

1. Sorry...true, the Patriorts are heartless bastards, but no one knows why they cut him. Overweight?

No one knows why...the fact that he was dx'd as T2 doesn't explain why they waived him. Maybe. could not perform? And there are D1 players in the league who have a harder time managing their disease....

[KamaAina]

2. Bzzzzzt! He lost 20 pounds leading up to his diagnosis.

As did Cutler. Thanks for playing, though.

[bluedigger]

3. He lost thirty pounds, from 310 to 280.

That's no good for a DL. I hope he returns to the league when he is able. I'm sure he is grateful for the opportunity NE gave him after going undrafted.

[hughee99]

4. At 280 he'd be one of, if not THE, lightest DT in the league.

Last year, the Ravens Dwan Edwards was the lightest at 290. I'm not that familiar with diabetes, can he maintain the weight he needs and manage his condition at the same time?

[mythology]

5. And yet he was just picked up off of waivers by another team

You know, one that isn't entirely classless and willing to violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

[hughee99]

7. Ah, so the ADA applies to NFL roster moves? I didn't know.

The new team will find themselves in the same spot that the Patriots were in... They have 3 choices as far as I can tell.

With Love at 280 lbs now and having to manage his condition, I'm sure his doctor has recommended further weight loss as it will help his overall health.

The new team can:
1. Encourage him to lose the weight and have a defensive lineman who's more than 10 lbs lighter than anyone else at his position, or try to move him to another position that he can play at a lighter weight.

2. Encourage him to go against the medical recommendations and NOT lose the weight. Live with the issues related to diabetes and manage them as best as he can.

3. Cut him

It seems pretty heartless to cut him. It seems pretty heartless to ask him to keep the weight on and manage his condition as best he can. I guess the right thing to do is to send someone out on the field who doesn't have the physical tools to do their job.

I guess another team is going to find themselves in this same no-win situation before long. I suspect the new team is planning to go with option 2.

[KamaAina]

9. The sudden weight loss was a symptom of his diabetes, not the cause

as was also the case with Jay Cutler.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/jacksonville-jaguars-claim-kyle-love-release-england-patriots-235133442.html

“Prior to the diagnosis, Kyle recently experienced unexplained weight loss, but since being diagnosed and having altered his diet, Kyle has regained most of the weight he lost, is in good health, and was not limited in any way during offseason workouts in which he was engaged up until being told he would be released," Kopelman told ESPN Boston on Wednesday.

[hughee99]

10. Diet, exercises and weight loss are usually recommended for those with type-2 diabetes

particularly those with more than 30% body fat. It sounds like Love's plan is to try to keep the weight on and deal with the symptoms (option 2). If he didn't NEED the weight to do his job, I'll bet he'd have a hell of a time finding a doctor who didn't recommend he lose weight. Now that he's with Jacksonville, perhaps they'll be okay with him potentially mortgaging his future health for his current job. I guess that would make them "less heartless" than New England.

As far as Cutler goes, it's apples and oranges. They don't even have the same kind of diabetes. Cutler has Type 1, and while no doctor is going to recommend you be overweight regardless of the type you have, the treatments for type 1 tend to be far more "medical" (insulin replacement therapy, transplants, etc..) than type 2.

[Yavin4]

6. If he hits Brady, The NFL will ban him for life

Defenders are to gently hug Brady if they get close and slowly guide him to the ground.

[KamaAina]

8. Update: Love is back in the NFL, sort of

with the Jags.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nfl-shutdown-corner/jacksonville-jaguars-claim-kyle-love-release-england-patriots-235133442.html

As we and many others reported yesterday, the New England Patriots released defensive tackle Kyle Love this week in the wake of the news that he has Type-2 diabetes. And for those who were wondering whether Love's release might have been for other reasons, there's a lot of evidence that there were no other reasons. First, there was the fact that New England released Love, who started 25 games for the team over the last two seasons, with a non-football injury designation. And, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, the Pats gave Love two options: Either retire for a year, in which case the team would not move to recover any part of the $500,000 signing bonus he received as part of his two-year, $3.09 million contract extension he signed in 2012, or take a risk on playing sooner, and take a walk.

Love chose the latter, and as it turned out, he didn't have to wait long for a team interested in his services. The Jacksonville Jaguars reported, per the team's official website, that they picked Love up off waivers on Thursday. Love had lost about 30 pounds off his 315-pound frame in the offseason, which left him unable to participate in off-season activities for the Pats, but according to his agent, Richard Kopelman, Love is back in fighting shape and ready for action.

“Prior to the diagnosis, Kyle recently experienced unexplained weight loss (as did Jay Cutler -Ed.), but since being diagnosed and having altered his diet, Kyle has regained most of the weight he lost, is in good health, and was not limited in any way during offseason workouts in which he was engaged up until being told he would be released," Kopelman told ESPN Boston on Wednesday.

[bluedigger]

11. More on the story.

While Love had a fairly successful run with the Patriots – he was an undrafted free agent who started 25 of 41 games in New England – he was most certainly not in the team's plans going forward. After beginning the 2012 season with 11 straight starts at defensive tackle, he worked as a substitute for the team's remaining seven games partly because of a knee injury.

At the time, Love's injury wasn't considered to be serious despite being labeled as "questionable" for five straight weeks. He was most notably taken out during passing downs and was supplanted by Brandon Deaderick on others. Deaderick, who was cut by the team on Monday, will join him in Jacksonville after both were claimed by the Jaguars.

The mid-May cuts are not to be taken lightly for Love or Deaderick. Both were key role players for the Patriots. What was most concerning for Love was the appearance of the Patriots cutting a productive member of the team for having a manageable disease.

That doesn't jive with the team's history though, as noted by Comcast SportsNet New England's Tom E. Curran. Just look at the signing of defensive lineman Armond Armstead, who had a heart attack while at USC. He was expected to compete with Love. The Patriots drafted offensive tackle Marcus Cannon just weeks after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. Tedy Bruschi stuck around after he had a stroke. All of that gives little air to the notion that Love's release was strictly a medical decision. If you can play, you play.
http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extra_points/2013/05/kyle_loves_depa.html

[hughee99]

12. I unfortunately watched some of the Jacksonville game yesterday. I was looking for Kyle Love

Last edited Mon Sep 30, 2013, 10:56 PM - Edit history (1)

but as it turns out, the giant douches in Jacksonville cut him before the season started. The Seahawks and 49ers worked him out a couple of weeks ago, but neither signed him.

I'm sure everyone made a big deal of it when the heartless Jags dropped him, so I'm not sure how I missed it.