Xavier Rhodes...footnote

[Montana Tom]

Just saw that the Bills cut Xavier Rhodes yesterday.
And signed a CB off the Giants practice squad.
A former first-round pick of purple in 2013.  Three Pro Bowls.
Shelf-life of an NFL player is....

[Guest]

I sometimes wonder about him. Is it work ethic? Did he rely only on raw talent? 
When he was on, he was great. When he was off, and seemly faking injuries after being burned, he was way off.

[Guest]

@Riphawkins said:
I sometimes wonder about him. Is it work ethic? Did he rely only on raw talent? 

When he was on, he was great. When he was off, and seemly faking injuries after being burned, he was way off.

Everyone around him mentioned how "unique" he was, the term BRob mentioned in his 96 questions was "planet Xay".  So to me he had loads of talent, but getting him to focus that talent was the difficulty.

[Guest]

I always got the impression he was emotionally soft,  what people said or thought of him really affected him.  I think him suffering injuries after about every big play he surrendered has something to do with my thoughts on him.  When he was feeling it though,  damn he was fun to watch and he really never cocked off like so many players do today.

[Guest]

Seems like part of him is stuck in the glory days. He was an incredibly gifted athlete and he was living it up. He doesn't have the stability and security he once had either. It is quite a shift from being told how fabulous you are to being cut.

[Guest]

IMO, his decline is mainly due to his size: he's one big corner. Probably one of the bigger in NFL history. He was built like a safety. He lost some speed and agility years ago. Couple that with the strange year he had where he got toasted so often in Minnesota: he'd be RIGHT there in coverage and the QBs were just throwing dimes on him. He got highly frustrated and it got in his head. 

[Guest]

@StickyBun said:
IMO, his decline is mainly due to his size: he's one big corner. Probably one of the bigger in NFL history. He was built like a safety. He lost some speed and agility years ago. Couple that with the strange year he had where he got toasted so often in Minnesota: he'd be RIGHT there in coverage and the QBs were just throwing dimes on him. He got highly frustrated and it got in his head. 

Imo he wasn't a student of the game.  He never learned to extend his craft. 

[Guest]

Weird thread. Rhodes was the 6th DB drafted in 2013. He was a 1st team All Pro and a 3-time Pro Bowler. He's 32 years old now, and among the 7 DBs taken in the 1st round that year, he was the only one still playing in 2022. 

[Guest]

My greatest memories of Rhodes is his phantom injuries that lasted about 3 plays.

[Guest]

Upon hearing he was cut, Rhodes grabbed his leg and fell to the ground, yelling in agony.

Ten minutes later he packed his locker and walked out of the building.