Man Heart Split

I just don't know what to think. I've got a huge broner (see: http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/fe1c56e87b/rob-corddry-has-a-broner-from-fod-team-and-rob-corddry) for Anquan Boldin. Though I'm coming around on off-season contract disputes b/c I'm realizing the players have to play the cut-throat power game that is NFL contract negotiations, I still think it's a pretty strong negative character trait indicator. But when it got to go time, Boldin puts his unresolved contract dispute aside, comes out of the gates hot, then gets his face broken in 80 places by Eric Smith's cheap shot in week 4. He's back on the field 3 weeks later. Anyone who has had any kind of surgery involving hardware knows that's ridiculous. I got a 2 inch incision in my foot to insert a small screw in my 5th metatarsal. Very minor in the grand scheme. I can't tell you the pain I was in for the week following the surgery. I took about 100 vicodin over the next 3 weeks. Boldin took no pain meds. He plays football. I play badminton. He is a hard man.

But this weekend, in the final minutes of the Cardinals NFC Championship victory, Boldin was seen arguing openly with his offensive coordinator. Boldin spent the majority of final drive on the sideline. After the Cards sealed their first ever Super Bowl birth, Boldin hurried out of the locker room, foregoing the celebration with his teammates. Situations like this are so tough for outsiders. You never really know who's pissed about what, or exactly what words were exchanged. But is there ever a good reason to bail on the celebration with your team? Larry Fitzgerald is a golden god, so it's unfair to compare anyone to him, but what are the chances we ever seen that guy not share in his teammates' enjoyment of a victory earned together? Please Mr. Boldin. I want to love you. But I can't shake the feeling that you care only about your own success, and that any benefit to your teammates is just a convenient by-product.