Mark Messier. Rasheed Wallace. Joey Porter. All "guarantee" guys. Freddie Mitchell sort of guaranteed victory before the Eagles faced the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX in Jacksonville, Fla. I think I heard one of the kids from Brighton guaranteeing victory before the Division 4 Super Bowl against West Bridgewater at Stonehill College last Saturday. And I'm pretty sure Jack E. Robinson guaranteed victory when he ran for the US Senate against Ted Kennedy in 2000.
This week, a 24-year-old defensive back named Anthony Smith joined the guarantee conga line when he talked about his Pittsburgh Steelers' chances against the unbeaten Patriots Sunday at Gillette. The kid hedged in many directions, indicating his team could win if it played a perfect game, but the part of his quote that sticks is, "We're going to win. Yeah, I guarantee a win on Sunday."
Smith's mouth put the Patriots back on the national map yesterday. Not that a 12-0 team needs artificial hype, but there seems to be some circus around Bill Belichick's team every few days. We've had Spygate, running up the score, backpedaling Don Shula, and the Ravens' conspiracy theory. With the Jets coming to town next week, we'll be wondering if the Patriots can hang a Wilt Chamberlain 100 points on Eric Mangini (heard that one on the radio).
Now we have the guarantee that made us pose the dreaded "bulletin board" question yesterday. Everyone except video assistant Matt Estrella was asked if Smith's promise would provide extra incentive. They all said that motivation comes from within. Peripheral noise not needed.
"The game is won and lost between the lines, not in the media," said Rodney Harrison. "We've been in this situation before where guys are talking. It doesn't matter what you say, it's what you do. You have to go out there and prepare and work hard during the week. You have to make plays on Sunday and that's how you try to assure yourself to get a victory. It's not about talking in the media or anything like that."
