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Jeez getting a little worried about some of you guys stalking Roddy.....I don't want to read anyone's tweet; I learned how to print from BnB and that took 15 years; and he's still ashamed of his work (: Since I can't write myself; I would rather hear someone speak, but no one cares about that; except those that pay me. Don't worry its $3 dollars an hour (:

"Roddy White Is A Third Down Wizard"

Our friend Daniel Cox has a great article at the mothership right now concerning one Roddy White.

We rarely appreciate greatness when it's in front of us, as Zombie Herman Melville will glumly tell you. So it is with Roddy White, whose contributions to this team are usually recognized only if they're followed by the word but. But the team should trade him and get value. But he's not the best receiver in the NFL, or even on his own team. But he talks a lot on Twitter!

Just for poops and chortles, let's take a look at how White's seven year career stacks up against Terrell Owens, perhaps the finest wide receiver of his generation who did not have truly elite deep speed.

White: 530 catches, 7,374 yards, 13.9 yards per catch, 45 touchdowns

Owens: 512 catches, 7,470 yards, 14.6 yards per catch, 72 touchdowns

It's obvious that Owens was the better receiver, especially in the red zone. But in everything but touchdowns, they're not all that far apart.

So now I've made my point that White is a damn good receiver. Let's circle back to Cox's article.

Star-divide

It turns out where White really excels is third downs, something we already knew intuitively. He's bailed Matt Ryan out more than once. Actually, he bailed him out 29 times.

That's right: White led the league with 35 third-down catches in 2011, and converted a first down on 29 of those. Did he have 15 drops? Yes, and that was terrible. But on 29 different occasions last season, he saved the Falcons from having to go for it on fourth down (we all remember those disasters) or giving the ball back to the opposing offense. That's absolutely fargin' huge.

This is why the Falcons aren't rushing to ship White out of town. Julio Jones will eclipse him soon—perhaps even this year—and Tony Gonzalez will remain a force to be reckoned with. But it's the tough, smart White who is Ryan's favored receiver when he's got to convert or get a few yards, and it's White who will remain so as long as he can handle it. Those third down numbers tell a story.

That's about as close to the concept as clutch as you're ever going to get, don't you think?

I am still of the opinion that anyone who says he will buy his mother a home; then earns the rookie contract back when and
his first act is buy his mom a home in her home town of "Charleston" has something right about him. I didn't find this on Twitter
I read it when my parents lived close to Charleston in their paper without Roddy.

You're too funny, CF.

I don't think Roddy is a bad guy either. A rocket surgeon? No. But not a bad guy. People spend a lot of time waiting and watching (and hoping) that celebs will shoot themselves in the foot and Twitter is the perfect gun. He didn't burn a church or kill a baby.

I don't know if anyone has called him a bad guy, but he pretty f'n dumb.... Too dumb to not realize he is dumb, yup that kind of dumb. Anyways I'm still a big fan of his and I hope he has 2000 yards receiving this year

Yeah, I raised an eyebrow at "smart." He is very kinesthetically intelligent, however.

I like Roddy White. That said, he sure does say some really dumb things. I've always thought of him as one of the good guys, but like other WR divas, he draws way too much attention to himself, both on and off of the field.

He may be controversial and can be a bit odd but he's an amazing player. If you are a Falcon fan and you don't love Roddy White, I don't know what to tell you. He's the best receiver in franchise history hands down.

Roddy is a very good receiver. He's dumb, and like others have said so dumb that he probably doesn't realize how dumb he is. It bothers me that he lets that stupidity creep onto the field, by picking fights, shoving opponents, and taking swings at corners at inopportune times.

Is he a bad guy? No. But how many people are bad people? You take 100 people, and hand each one of them a loaded gun, many would just hand it back to you, others might take it and hurry home and put it in a shoebox, but probably only 1 guy is going to just c*** it and start mowing down the other 99 people there. That's a bad guy. Most of the people that are like that are in jail or on their way.

I think Roddy's problem is that some of his success has gone to his head and he's developed a much stronger diva streak within him than a lot of people are willing to admit. And that has slowly and surely been steadily released more and more over the past few years. And it may reach a point where it's a little too overbearing and he wears out his welcome.

IMO, if you're going to be a diva at least be smart and/or entertaining with it. At least I can say that about someone like Chad Johnson. But even he reached a point where his play could not mask his antics, and he was just as good if not a better receiver for 5-7 years of his career that Roddy is today.

Trading Roddy wouldn't be something I'd actively explore, but I'd certainly listen if another team was willing to make me an offer I couldn't refuse. Well to be honest, if I was the GM of a team, I would probably passively explore trading every player on my roster, just to gauge value as a part of the self-evaluation of my roster.

Yeah, I think that is part of TD's pre-draft analysis of guys they bring in to FB. Hand them a loaded gun and see what they do with it.

Yea but today to amp-up; to really be one of the best doesn't it take a little or a lot of the "DIVA" I mean after games he's asked about all of his catches; all of his misses; his performance is analogized to death before the coaches has ever seen the tape? They about break it down to a prize fight----- "Roddy White against DeAngelo Hall coming Sunday" I don't remember this every Sunday..... Maybe a Deion vs. Rice but not every Sunday....... I kinda get the feeling if you don't describe
yourself, the press will do it for you.....No I can see the Diva in process now, and ask if it might be necessary to play to that
level of being one of the better receivers today.

I still believe many of Roddy's antics are to get in the head of his opponents...... I mean I've seen his pissed and be stupid and get the flag; but the refs are human too; and I've watched Roddy get many of a 50 yard penalty for just asking for a
penalty. No doubt he goes past the envelope sometime, I'm not pretending he's an angel; but he's no T.O. or even
Chad IN HIS HEYDAY of belligerence. (I think changing your name for non -religious reasons is out there (: The free "Mike Vick deal " was probably his dumbest stunt; and I think Hall had a hand in that, but Roddy's responsible.......

I guess what I'm saying is I remember Vick saying I'm as good as Farve, or any of the better Qbs; Vick was always talking about himself during the season, and I don't feel that way about Roddy. Once the season starts he plays through injury;
and he still tweets some dumb stuff; but I'm just glad Tweeting was not around 10 years ago when Vick got started!!

You've said that before, but as I've said before, it's not Corey Webster and Ron Bartell that are taking swings at him and drawing personal foul calls, it's Roddy that is making the refs watch him. He's been the most penalized player on the team for the past three seasons. Not to say he's never drawn a penalty before, but he's the main one getting flagged for offensive pass interference. If the goal is to get away with murder, then you have to learn how to be more subtle like Tony, who is drawing just as many if not more flags from opponents than Roddy is because there is a John Stockton-quality to his game. Roddy on the other hand is being Dennis Rodman, and calling way too much attention to himself. And the pay-off simply isn't there.

And I think his lack of "diva-ness" has more to do with the tight ship that Mike Smith & Co. run moreso than any lacking streak in him. Under a lesser coach (Jim Mora), I think he would be out of control.

Is Roddy a good receiver? Yes. Does his production on the field outweigh any negatives he brings there or off it? Yes. But with each year, the gap between those things grows.

At the end of the 2014 season, Roddy's contract will expire. And I don't think he's going to be back. And it may seem that is an easy prediction to make because he'll be 33 years old, and his skills on the decline. But just note that Reggie Wayne just got his 3rd contract from the Colts at age 33, and Steve Smith just got an extension from Carolina and he'll turn 33 in 3 weeks. And if he continues down this path (and what's to stop him?), in 3 years people won't be able to wait to let him walk. Ochocinco was dumped by the Bengals not long after his 33rd birthday. Donald Driver will be 37 when he suits up for the Packers this year.

Roddy will probably play until he's 35 or 36, but it's not gonna be in a Falcon uniform.