NFL Player's Reaction to Devastating News is Inspiring

When it comes to us guys, I'm sure almost every little boy has dreams of one day playing in a Super Bowl game and every player who has ever suited up for a high school, college, or NFL game has to have envisioned themselves running out the tunnel onto the field for the big game.  So it must have been devastating when the New England Patriots' Tiguan Underwood was cut from the team roster the night before the Super Bowl.  In an era when many professional athletes personal behavior and antics make them less than stellar role models for our youth, Tiguan Underwood's reaction to the bad news was both refreshing and inspiring.  At a moment when many people most likely would have reacted with profane expletives  or angry rants, Underwood sent out a few messages on twitter expressing that this would MOTIVATE him to perform better on the field in the future and that he knows there are people with more serious problems in the world than being cut from a football team.  Kudos to you Tiguan!

According to the Boston Herald, the last minute move was not made for any disciplinary reasons, bad behavior, or poor performance but rather because Patriots head coach Bill Belichick wanted to add another defensive lineman to the roster from the practice squad for the Super Bowl.  Tiguan himself had been bounced on and off the Patriots roster three times this year from the non-roster practice squad, but to do it one more time just before the Super Bowl was a truly cold move.  Based upon the regular season, it was unlikely that Underwood would have played in the big game, but his replacement defensive lineman Alex Silvestro had been on the practice squad all season and didn't get on the field for Super Bowl XLVI.  Anyone who has ever played football knows though that you never know when your number might be called for a play depending on the circumstances of a game, so Tiguan could have possibly played.  Unfortunately, at least this year, Tiguan Underwood will never know if he could have contributed to a Super Bowl victory.

The good news for Tiguan is that he will be getting the $44,000 paid to each member of the losing Super Bowl team squad since he was on the roster leading up the game and was an active player on the team for 8 games during the regular season according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.  NBC Sportsalso reports that the Patriots have just resigned him for next season allowing Underwood to participate in off-season workouts and training camp.  So Underwood is walking away with some consolation prizes from the experience.

You have to wonder though that in such a close contest with the New York Giants winning by just 4 points in dramatic fashion during the closing minutes of the game if bad karma cost the Patriots a Super Bowl victory in Indy.