Wow. Ahman Green taking Shots @ Texas/GM Rick Smith...

Fire this jackass, that's why no top free agent will sign with the Texans.

 

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=6184356&postcount=1065

 

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=198473&page=54

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=6184356&postcount=1065

http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showpost.php?p=6185070&postcount=1072

 

If the perception among NFL players is that Rick Smith is a jackass, then it may not really matter what the reality is.

 

Wow...

 

whether or not any of this is true, it sure is sad to hear.

 

Exactly. Perception is reality
That being said . . I'd like to know who the other players were who felt this.
[Dunta I imagine.]

Rocket River

 

Perception is *not* reality. Not that perception isn't critically important, but it's not "reality".

If I wear rose-colored glasses my perception is that the sky is pink and red, but that isn't reality.

The whole "perception is reality" thing inevitably is in danger of giving far too much credence to the "perception" of morons and delusional idiots, which is of course a far cry from "reality".

 

i disagree. if i'm running a restaurant and the perception is that my employees give crappy service even though i've watched them give nothing but stellar service, that's not going to matter when you have to shutter your windows because no one's coming in. if there's a perception among nfl players that rick smith is a jackass and free agents are less likely to sign here because of that, then perception wins out.

 

Ive heard/read a little about Green, he went through a lot of off field personal issues during his time with the Texans, and if the doctors were puzzled and couldn't diagnose an injury... what do you do? (More tact when approaching for sure.)

....before the mad typing occurs in response to my defense of Rick Smith, just know he once bought me a subway combo at the one on Richmond and Sage for talking Texans with him and he seemed like a cool guy. Good looking family too.

 

Doesn't it also depend on the players, though? I'm guessing Peyton Manning's perception carries more weight than, say, Dan Orlovsky's.

I don't know... what's the consensus here? He was oft-injured; he skipped a rehab assignment (which, as I understand it, is *the* cardinal sin in professional sports) and Sherman either proactively interceded or was asked to intercede, either of which indicates Smith and/or Kubiak were not happy with Green, for whatever reason. I'd be interested to hear the other side of the story.

To ask a player if he’s faking an injury means you’ve either been pushed to the breaking point with that player, or you’re completely tone deaf and clueless when it comes to dealing with athletes.

 

Au contraire, the reality in this situation is the losing of business. Everything else is just opinion. If an overwhelming majority of paying customers think my restaurant's service is terrible and I think it's "stellar", it's not a matter of their perception being "reality" nearly so much as my perception being incompetent. In this case it'd be far more productive to go after specific measurables concerning customer service. How long before they're seated? How long after they're seated before a server offers drinks? How long before the food comes? How attentive is the server to things like empty drinks, empty dishes, ready for the check, etc.? Does the server smile? These are easy to measure. Improve the measurables, and you improve the reality -- because those are real. The perception takes *longer* to improve, because the perception is subjective.

 

If there's enough of a perception among nfl players that rick smith is a jackass that they don't even want to sign here anymore, then that was *created* by some reality already in existence. only the most megalomaniacal or egocentric guys would make up stuff like that about a guy--and the TOs and 85's of this world, even the NFL, are the exception and not the rule. If there's enough smoke among NFL players that Smith is a jackass, it must be that he's had enough jackass-like confrontations with enough of them to foster that perception. If it was one megalomaniac, it'd be one thing. But if it's a common theme among NFL players, it's not that their "perception is reality" so much as their perception may have been accurate. *My* perception, until the last couple days, was that Smith was a decent guy. Was my perception reality? No, it was just my perception, and it may very well have been very wrong.

Sad.

And if the reality is that Smith, one or another, has managed to build up some ill will for himself and the Texans' organization among NFL players, then he's got to go. But the "perception" didn't create that--his own actions did.

 

all that may be exactly right...what i'm saying is, "it doesn't matter if it's real or not." it doesn't matter if there's any substance to this or if rick is really "in the right." if the players already have a negative view based on perceptions and rumor, then it's potentially impactful on the texans ability to bring in free agents.

rick doesn't have much of a record with free agents to use in his defense against these "charges," frankly.

 

Being a jackass GM doesn't prevent players from signing somewhere. Winning and giving fat contracts do. Green didn't complain when the Texans gave him a big, huge deal that was basically him stealing money. Green complained when the Texans soured on him following his lack of production afterwards.

If Rick Smith can find talent like Ted Thompson or Kevin Colbert, this wouldn't be an issue. Because players these great GMs find would produce and get big, fat paychecks. You know, like how Antonio Smith parlayed his mediocre career with a SB run into a big contract with the Texans.

 

@Max I completely agree man. I was only commenting on the "perception is reality" statement, which while a catchy little buzzword is simply inaccurate.

Even in this case: if enough NFL players (not just the boneheads) harbour this perception, it is more than likely based on a reality that already exists. Their "perception" is too subjective to be "reality", but it certainly may be accurate.

Again: sad. Just sad. And yeah, if there's more smoke from this then Rick probably needs to be gently reassigned.

 

perception is a big ass contract.

 

While I'm not exactly a Texans apologist, I kind of take what he says with a grain of salt.

I'm sure that AG is a great guy but I also don't think he is quite in tune with reality. He is not any good anymore and still thinks that he can contribute. Old, broken down running backs that are in D-Leagues will never contribute ever again.

I think a lot of what he says is some sort of excuse for performing poorly with the Texans. Perhaps it is going around the league that AG was faking. Perhaps he really was faking because he couldn't perform at a high level. Maybe he wasn't faking but the "perception of reality" is that was faking so this is some sort of attempt to get another chance on another team. Maybe Rick Smith really has a bad rap among other teams and players. Who knows?

I just know I'm not sold on everything that was said by AG.

 

...and there goes the chance of signing Asomugha