New England Patriots asked Kyle Love to retire for a year
The New England Patriots decision to release solid defensive tackle Kyle Love yesterday after his recent diagnosis of Type-2 diabetes has been met with plenty of controversy, and I was not happy with the shocking news due to football reasons. I have no idea what the Patriots motives were and all that stuff, so I am not going to comment on the morality of the release and will wait to see how things play out.
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Love’s agent Richard Kopelman was the one who broke the news of the release, and he told Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio that the Patriots gave his client two options. The Patriots stated that Love should either retire for a year or get released, and Love decided to continue playing instead of taking a year off. It sounds like Love is confident in his ability to quickly adapt to the challenges of diabetes (he’s reportedly lost 20 pounds of weight) and continue to be an effective defensive tackle in this league.
Although Florio uses this knowledge to further incriminate the Patriots (read his thoughts in the piece, I’m not going to restate them),it is possible to use the knowledge to justify the release from the Patriots perspective. Maybe the Pats decided that it was best for Love to take a year off and adapt to things so that they are sure he can continue playing football at a high level and won’t suffer any complications. Maybe the Pats are genuinely concerned about Love’s health going forward and don’t want him to rush things.
I don’t know which side to believe, and this news gives us more information but does clarify the Patriots motives for releasing Love. Honestly, I’m still not sure what to think and would like further comments from you guys below. At the end of the day, though, Love has made his decision to play elsewhere, and it is a noble one. I hope he does bounce back quickly and has a good season with his new team, and I’m sure he’ll get a chance with somebody. I am sure there are plenty of teams willing to sign a solid run-stopper, but I would not go as far to say that the Patriots are being classless with this release. I mean, you could make a compelling argument that the Patriots do indeed have Love’s best interests at heart. After all, Love is not bitter about the decision, and he has accepted his release and his decision. Not only did his agent say that, but you can also see it in the tweets on Love’s account.
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