Waiting for the punchline
Apr 24, 2008 DRC, Dancing With the 'Tards, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Faggination, Huh?
For your Thursday morning enjoyment, I present a Chron article from 2005 singing the praises of one DeMarcus “Petey” Faggins.
Faggins is exactly what defense needs
[...]
By starting Faggins in place of Phillip Buchanon at cornerback and Shantee Orr in place of Jason Babin at outside linebacker, the Texans are making it clear that no longer do reputations and draft position have priority.
It’s about who can make plays. And who’s hungrier.
Faggins is all that. He’s the guy you keep wanting to ignore but can’t. He plays every snap as if he must do his job or start packing. Same thing with Orr.
[...]
“When I first got here last season, and I heard all this talk about the Texans need another corner, I came into camp and I saw this guy, No. 38,” Robinson said. “He’s all over and I’m like, `Dang, is he a new guy or something?’ The same thing this spring. … (Faggins) is a playmaker.”
He’s the one always volunteering for repetitions, no matter if they’re with the scout team. He’s the one always asking for a chance until he finally gets one.
That was Faggins two Sundays ago as Buchanon seemingly tripped over his press clippings while attempting to tackle Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker near the goal line.
Ready to go with his helmet on, Faggins watched as things went from bad to worse to putrid.
“They made the decision right there on the sideline,” Faggins said. “I guess they felt like some guys weren’t playing up to their potential. I just heard Dom say, `Put Petey in.’ ”
Petey, as Faggins is called, did not astound anyone the rest of the way in that loss. But he made a couple of plays. He made no mistakes. He stayed in position, and it was enough to earn him the start today against the Cincinnati Bengals.
[...]
“The more you’re around him the more comfortable you get because he gives you great effort, he competes every down (and) he doesn’t want anybody to catch a pass on him,” Capers said. “When you talk to these guys, you tell them this is a game of opportunity. Whether you’re running the service team, or running the other team’s offense or defense. He earned this the old-fashioned way.”
Wow. If you read the article with visions of the Atlanta game in your head, you start to giggle and assume that the whole thing is just a big sarcastic joke.
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April 24th, 2008 at 9:54 am
At the time it was a GREAT a move to put Petey in there and sit Buchanon’s ass down. The rest of the article just talks about how hard of a worker he is with some praise from Dunta thrown in. I think the Chron should be embarrassed by their coverage, and that we absolutely must upgrade Faggins. That being said I don’t think this article does anything to prove your point. Faggins played much better than Buchanon if for no other reason than he looked like he cared.
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April 24th, 2008 at 9:56 am
Oh, I agree. I just think the article is hilarious in retrospect. That the headline “exactly what defense needs” applies to the worst cover corner in the NFL.
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April 24th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Faggins is still on the roster?!??!?
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April 24th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Ouch. I don’t remember how he played back then, but… ouch.
And I don’t mean to get soft on you, but things like this give me some sympathy for the guy. He really is a hard worker and seems like a genuinely good team-mate. I just wish he had some talent to go with it. If somebody like Buchanan had Petey’s work ethic, he’d probably be a shut-down corner.
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April 24th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
There are all sorts of unintentionally funny articles in the Chron archive. Hilarious. Except that they are really painful at the same time. Most humor is kind of awful too.
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April 24th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
If I had to make a choice, I’d still pick Petey over Philip. It’s like picking the guy with 3rd degree burns over 20% of his body over the guy who is a crispy critter.
Actually, when Petey played special teams and nickel CB, he made some good plays. I just think he doesn’t have the talent to start.
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April 25th, 2008 at 8:22 am
@6 Your last sentence is why I am not a member of the crush Pete brigade. It’s not like Pete gets paid a ton, or that we traded a ton to get him. He was on the field because of injuries to other players. All teams have their placeholder guys–guys who are on the field because a team can’t deal with all their needs at once.