Who the hell was Hakeem Valles?
A tight end that was on/off the roster in recent years.
Listening now.
Recap:
-
He is now retired after appx 3 years in the NFL and is focusing on his real estate business and cannabis investments, and time with his daughter. He doesn’t watch football.
-
Shared a story about being shot at and hog tied/blindfolded/robbed in Haiti 4 years ago and how it motivates him to this day.
-
Talked about Monmouth and his time there.
-
Brags about his speed and agility and how hard he worked on football in college. Talks about switching from WR to TE.
-
Talks about how crazy life in the NFL is. (Being fired and needing to relocate quickly and how the NFL doesn’t pay for you to relocate if you’re a practice squad player)
-
Talked about being great friends with Darren Fells. Talks about how he wanted to stay in Detroit with Jim Caldwell rather than going back to Arizona when Arizona tried to snipe him from the Lions’ practice squad. Quinn agreed to pump his salary up to retain him. Decided to stay in Detroit on the PS rather than going to AZ.
-
Talks about getting ass kicked by Jets on opening night. Mentioned Jamaal Adams dominating him prior to a commercial break.
-
Talks about coaches and their styles. Talks about what Patricia does - where Patricia analyzes plays and rips people apart. After that, players are then brought into individual position meetings and thoroughly ripped apart by those coaches. Said it’s not a fun atmosphere.
-
Did not want to go back to Detroit at this point. Said he was really hoping another team would pick him up. Said Caldwell was the best coach he’s ever had in his life and how much he hated Patricia. Wanted to leave Detroit very much once Patricia took over. Said it was night and day - said he can’t even put it into words how different they are.
-
Said he’s surprised Patricia hasn’t been fired yet. Said if coaches were held to the same standard as players he would have been fired by now.
-
Said Patricia has created a culture of fear where Patricia is the alpha and everyone else must fear him. Said Patricia was never on time for one meeting ever, whereas players are late and fined, even if they’re a minute late.
-
Said he was not like Belichick. Mentioned how a lot of players came from New England to Detroit and that the culture was not at all like it was in New England. Said players do not care for the way Patricia talks to players and treats players. Wanted to say to Patricia “Fuck you, I quit” - hated dealing with him because “he was such an asshole”.
-
Contradicts his earlier statement and says he watches every football game and is a huge Eagles fan. Says he’s not saying “Fuck Detroit” - he feels bad for the fans and loves Detroit.
-
Says Martha needs to sell the team and that she’s a terrible owner and that he has 0 respect for Martha Ford. Said he met her 15 times and every time she introduced herself to him as if they had never met before. Has no idea how he could meet someone so many times and for them to not remember it. Said he’s never felt like such a nobody like when he’s around the Ford family.
-
Asked if the stars on the team have ever fought back against Patricia - Valles responds “Not out loud. No one has the audacity to do that. They’re all collecting checks. (paraphrase)”.
-
Talks about how he loves Ebron and how Ebron is “his dawg”. Talks about how fans are kind of dumb when they get mad about players tweeting or doing other things with their lives. Talks about how players should stand up to fans who talk smack over social media or in person.
-
Calls Stafford the best QB in the NFL. Calls him the GOAT and says he’s a great leader. Says he loves how there’s none of the “ra-ra-ra shit” with Stafford. Loves how Stafford leads with his actions, attitude, and the way he carries himself. Says Stafford is not afraid to call people out. Says Stafford called him when he was a rookie, undrafted FA and how Stafford would spend 3-4 hours here and there just working with Valles. Says he thinks you could interview anyone who ever played with Stafford and that everyone would unanimously praise him for being an exceptional leader, player, and teammate. Said Stafford is a badass for fighting through adversity plus all the shit he’s had to take from the city for not winning. Reiterates that Stafford is hands down the best QB he’s ever played with.
-
Talked about how Golden Tate made similar comments and that he agrees with the statements Tate made.
-
Said he loved playing for Jim Bob Cooter. He was always even keeled and respectful and consistent with players. Loved JBC.
-
Talked about how signs and signals changed every week with JBC.
-
Says the best advice he’s ever received in the NFL was to have a short memory. Cites Cardinals and Larry Fitz for the advice. Also mentioned that it’s probably wise to try to hide injuries as much as possible so you don’t develop a reputation as a player. Says it’s important to take care of your body and be tough - play through things.
-
Wild moment - Patricia throwing the ping pong table out of the locker room when he arrived - “You shouldn’t have time to play ping-pong!” - Said this was classic Patricia. Said the regimes switched and a week later the ping-pong table was gone. Players were talking about how they’ve been told to get into their play books rather than playing ping-pong. Said Jace Billingsley and Golden Tate were some of the better ping-pong players.
-
Talked about Asante Samuel and gambling. Said NFL locker rooms are full of gambling - thousands of dollars a day (shooting dice, things like this). Said one of the funniest moments in a locker room was a fight that happened after a game in AZ. Said a brawl broke out and then the media is allowed in a few minutes later and all of the players just acted like nothing even happened. Said it was pretty crazy to see happen.
-
Said Matt Cassel is one of the biggest shit talkers/funniest guys he’s met in the NFL. Recalled a funny story about Cassel that happened while playing/practicing with the Raiders in preseason.
-
Talked about how he got his number (was given his # - didn’t choose it). Practice squad players don’t get to choose.
That’s a wrap.
He doesn’t sound salty or anything. I don’t like the Martha part. He should realize that she is like 95 and her memory is probably terrible.
Patricia is such a tool.
Glover Quin from Michael Rothstein podcast:
Glover Quin:
“…You knew that they wanted to bring in their guys and you have the whole New England reputation and this and that. … I kind of felt like coach Patricia came in and, you know, kind of looked down on us in Detroit. Like we were the bottom of the barrel.” (41:25)
nice writeup radio. that’s a pretty good summary of the entire interview. valles confirms the way i’ve seen this from the outside looking since early on. the signs have been all there and pretty easy to pickup on. as i said in another thread, it’s the same as if this was your own workplace but some people want to suspend all reality and think the lions are somehow different because they “voted” for MP and the patriot way.
some good stuff on caldwell and stafford here.
pretty damning stuff for the patriot players that have come to detroit and think it sucks (according to him).
pretty crazy about the love for jbc
sounds like he absolutely wanted to be HC , wasn’t badmouthing the team or players so I don’t get how that he all off a sudden turned into a pissed off, disgruntled , asshole our players hate.
and you can like a guy even though he wasn’t a GOOD OC (JBC) just saying.
Are you really using his introductory presser as evidence he’s not an asshole?
C’mon. Cub is wondering and asking a legit question and using the article as a rationale for his thought.
Safe money is on another year of Quintricia but I wouldn’t be sad at all if we pulled the plug early. I know I’ve seen enough. MP is no leader of men.
The Lions are a dumpster fire. It’s never all on one employee. Somebody put that employee in place.
The buck stops…
The 2 things that scare me most are Martha not remembering him and the fact that he said the guys that were in New England with him said he’s worst than Belichick as a micromanager.
I get that Martha is 94 but not remembering stuff like that probably also means she shouldn’t be making big decisions for a billion dollar enterprise. People her age usually never actually run companies.
And Patricia being worse than Belichick is scary because if the guys from New England don’t have his back in the locker room he has no chance
Where there is smoke there is fire. With that said who cares what a PS fringe player has to say!
New England is not supposed to be a very "fun’ environment…but they win so that’s forgiven. I could care less if multi millionaire athletes have fun at work, go out and win.
Valles sounds salty and perhaps of he spent less time playing ping pong and studying his play book perhaps he would still be playing. What I find more shocking is that Patricia had to tell these professionals to get to studying…that shows the country club mindset there was here before.
Bosses who make you work and hold you accountable are never recieved well…with that said I think Patricia has one more year to get it going or else he should and will be shown the door.
There’s a difference between holding people accountable and being a complete jackass. Patricia is a jackass.
If Valles was salty he would’ve ripped Bob Quinn, JBC, etc. He didn’t. He ripped Patricia because Patricia is a clown. There was no country club mindset in Detroit when Caldwell was here… that narrative needs to end. He treated the players as professionals and with respect. He doesn’t need to come in and DEMAND respect like Patricia, because he gains respect through his actions. He doesn’t need to come in and implement ridiculous rules and treat the players like trash.
“Patricia was never on time for a single meeting”. That says everything we need to know about Patricia right there. His time is more important than everyone elses. He holds everyone to a certain standard EXCEPT himself. That’s not what leaders do. That’s the exact opposite of what leaders do. He is such a POS.
TBH, I don’t care if a coach is an asshole if he gets the job done.
I understand why the players would care. But I don’t as a fan.
If this is accurate, Patricia is strutting around like an overbearing know-it-all who is absolutely failing in his job. Talk about a lack of self-awareness.
He is salty…think you even said so yourself.
It’s not shocking that he liked JBC…he was a joke of a coordinator and terrible at his job. And why does the country club narrative need to end? It’s funny how it has been described as such!
I get it…you hate Patricia and will never give him any kind of dues…but if you have ever had a new boss that held you accountable for your actions, they are never recieved well in the beginning. When everything turns around the moral and view of said leaders changes.
I kinda find it funny that you put so much stock in what Valles says regarding Patricia but ignore the comments regarding Stafford’s leadership…which is so vastly contrary to what you think!
I was responding to the Glover Quin take and how posters bash Patricia at every turn, about how he looked ‘down’ at Detroit and Lions players , and there was a double-standard between MP and the players.
my stand was Patricia was very raw @ NFL HC, I look at Quinn to pull out improvement in the offseason , to the point we are a top 10 defense in 2020. anything less? his ass is gone IMO.
-
As far as a “County club” talk goes, most teams have ping pong tables, players lounge with video game systems, etc. This is standard practice in pretty much all of pro sports. These are athletes… not soldiers you are training for the military. Caldwell didn’t run a daycare. He ran a pro football team… and did a pretty solid job.
-
No. I have never had a coach/boss who came in and started acting like a jackass right off the hop. But I also have never had a coach or boss who is as much of a POS as Patricia.
-
" I never give Patricia his due". What exactly should I be giving Patricia credit for? Completely destroying this organization? The pathetic on field results? His professionalism? He doesn’t get “his due” from me, because he doesn’t deserve credit for anything. He is one of the worst NFL HC’s I have ever seen.
-
Yes, in the grand scheme of things, sure Stafford is a “leader”. When comparing him to many other NFL QB’s, he is not. QB’s are held to a different standard.
It is said that President Johnson used to have meeting with people while he was taking a shit.
If word out there was that Patricia was such an asshole, worse than in New England, it does not hold up that Flowers would want to be here. Add to that Harrison being willing to sign an extension here too. How 'bout Danny Amendola still coming here? These are all guys who knew Patricia but who also signed here in year two meaning word was out about Patricia. Hell, add to that Mike Daniels and even a TJ Lang. Yes, one can counter that the Lions paid these guys well so they just didn’t care about anything but the $. And yep, that is possible. But if Patricia is SUCH an asshole that no one wants to be here…I cannot explain Flowers or Mike Daniels coming here. Flowers was going to be paid really well where ever he went.
I don’t know what is going on inside the building. But I do know it sounds like there in fact is a faction that hate Patricia. Maybe it is deserved but also maybe, just maybe some shit needs to change.
Look…Caldwell being an amazing coach is one thing. But damn it, when it counted (esp. in 2014) that team made critical mistakes in big games time and again. In Green Bay to win the division we allowed a damn special team return for a TD that was a HUGE play. Versus the Cowboys Calvin had a HUGE false start penalty late. Point is for a guy that was amazing Caldwell did what he did here. Yes, I agree that players loved the guy. But the overall results were the same here in Detroit…not good enough.
I don’t like the sound of Patrica being an asshole. Maybe he does need to go. But maybe, just maybe there is something to these damn players needing to become professionals here. If players don’t like being ripped in meetings then play better. Medical doctors do this to themselves in rounds everyday in most every hospital across the country. Sometimes this kind of tough love is exactly what people need to become great. Sometimes that drives people away. I don’t know the story but I get the feeling this story has more than just a second side to is.
There is a reason not a single coach who worked with Patricia in 14 years decided to come with him to Detroit.
Belichick disciples have taken jobs in Cleveland which is just as bad as Detroit and still guys went.