In this draft season, it’s important to remember that all of these players aren’t just commodities. They’re people. Some of them will go on to be tremendous players and make their cases for the Hall of Fame. Some will be out of the league before the end of their rookie contracts. There’s a wide range of outcomes for careers in the National Football League.
For former Patriots wide receiver Aaron Dobson, his career didn’t exactly pan out as he or the team wanted. At the time of his release right before the 2016 seasons, many fans were grateful that his time with New England was coming to an end. And Dobson’s not exactly happy about the way he’s been talked about in New England. He described some of his frustrations in a number of tweets on Thursday.
It all began when Dobson tweeted out his thoughts on Bill Belichick when it comes to drafting players at his position.
Ppl kill me when they say BB misses on drafting receivers. đ
— Aaron Dobson 3 (@aarondobson17) April 23, 2020
This was said to praise Belichick. Dobson believes that the coach and de facto general manager does a good job picking wide receivers, something he’s been criticized for many times in the past.
In the replies, someone replied discussing Dobson’s statistics from his rookie season. This account, named “@JJonesBurner” insinuated that Dobson’s rookie year wasn’t impressive, and the receiver took offense.
Dude if i didnât have a broken foot and would have played the last 3-4 games i woulda been easily coming up on 1k season lol https://t.co/EoDIL1yzDa
— Aaron Dobson 3 (@aarondobson17) April 23, 2020
This is probably true. A foot injury limited Dobson’s effectiveness and time on the field in his rookie season. Even so, Dobson’s 519 yards is the most by a rookie receiver in New England under Belichick.
From there, Dobson continued to tweet, this time to the world, regarding his career in New England and how it was portrayed.
Some of the conversations i had about me not playing in NE went like this..why are you hanging out w defensive players?(like we are not all on the same team) why do you wear your hoodie so much in the building? (Like why does that even matter) I canât make this up lol smh
— Aaron Dobson 3 (@aarondobson17) April 23, 2020
Then all of a sudden a huge article comes out about me mouthing off to coaches and being disrespectful lol and that was the reason i wasnât playing..never happened EVER! But why make a story up like that? Mind you this is right after we got our asses kicked by KC 42-14..
— Aaron Dobson 3 (@aarondobson17) April 23, 2020
No one could ever say i didnât know the play book lol i knew every position! Inside and out EASY! I still know some of they plays lol Let me just say this..me not playing had NOTHING to do w football!
— Aaron Dobson 3 (@aarondobson17) April 23, 2020
Let me clear this up! I chose to stop playing football..not the other way around just FYI!
— Aaron Dobson 3 (@aarondobson17) April 23, 2020
Dobson even retweeted his former contract advisor who attested to the fact that the wide receiver had opportunities to continue playing football.
All factual! âđž https://t.co/ZQTjAibHF6
— Aaron Dobson 3 (@aarondobson17) April 23, 2020
The former second-round pick out of Marshall may not have been able to produce the numbers that fans wanted him to, but he’s not wrong. When he was on the field he produced. Dobson averaged 13.17 yards per reception, which is eighth in New England since 2000.
Where he struggled, unfortunately, was staying on the field. Dobson appeared in only 24 of the 48 possible games in his three seasons in New England. If he had stayed healthy his story might be written completely different.
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