Smile When You Say That, Asante

Maybe it's the impending snowstorm, or maybe it's the stress of a game against the Dallas Cowboys, or maybe he stayed up late the night before watching a World Series game. Regardless of the reason, Asante Samuel lost control of his tongue this week.

(By the way, I know Samuel sort of backed down later from the comments that are the subject of today's post, but wouldn't you like an unhappy athlete to just keep his mouth shut just once, instead of saying something stupid and then spending the next few days retreating from it or deleting it and pretending it didn't happen? Wouldn't you like for one of these folks to think before opening the mouth or the smart phone -- just once? Couldn't they just go home and gripe in the privacy of their own home like everyone else?)

Anyway, Samuel was unhappy that the Philadelphia Eagles spent the shortened offseason signing other defensive backs. Or maybe he's unhappy that Vince Young, another new addition, saddled the Eagles with that laughable "Dream Team" tag. And Samuel decided to tell everyone that he was unhappy with the Eagles front office. Here's what he said, courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer:

"A couple people upstairs might not want me, but who cares. They probably never played football," Samuel said. "It's a business, they run it like a business, so they're going to do what they need to do. So they're upstairs playing with a lot of money, playing a little fantasy football, so they’re doing their thing."

Now, no one would argue that Philadelphia has had a stellar season, especially its defense, which currently ranks 12th in fantasy scoring in standard ESPN leagues. But to throw around the "playing fantasy football" phrase like an accusation isn't entirely fair.

After all, fantasy football players do the same sort of thing general managers do. They assess teams and players and try to determine which players are critical to a team's success and which ones can be allowed to leave via trade or free agency. Sometimes, these decisions backfire (Chris Johnson, anyone?). Sometimes, they work out spectacularly (Cam Newton -- at least in the short term). But not bringing in new players because doing so might hurt other players' feelings doesn't make sense in either fantasy football or the NFL.

Besides, Samuel might not want to bring up the "fantasy" label right now. When ESPN published its list of top 150 individual defensive players before the season began, the "Worldwide Leader" listed four Philadelphia Eagles among the top 150. Samuel was not one of them.

Speaking of fantasy, you have until later tonight to vote in the NASCAR polls on the right. You also have until Saturday night to vote in the football polls. That is, if you don't lose power first.