It's Safe to Say That Christian Gonzalez Just Suffered the Worst Injustice in Human History

Jerry Thornton1/02/2025 5:15 PM

Norm Hall. Getty Images.

One of the truly gratifying aspects of being a Patriots fan over the past quarter of a century has been the way the focus has always been on team goals, at the expense of individual accomplishments. Winning awards, being recognized, receiving honors, even setting records, was the sort of thing other franchises concerned themselves with. Loser teams. The Patriots were simply all about the winning. To the point it was a source of pride when Patriots players' personal greatness was ignored by the football intelligentsia, as long as they were putting on rings in Mr. Kraft's backyard and hanging banners at the home opener.

That was true even when all that subjugating your individual glory for the greater good made it look to the untrained eye like they had no talent on the roster:

Well that was a long time ago. When you've won seven games in two seasons and nine of your last 40 games, you are a loser team. You do have to try and celebrate personal achievements. You've simply got nothing else going for you this time of the year. And while we can all feel great for Brendan Schooler continuing the proud tradition of Patriots special teamers making the Pro Bowl:

… there's absolutely no justification for Christian Gonzalez being left off the roster. Worse still, he didn't even make NFL.com's list of Top 10 Snubs:

I believe I can say without fear of contradiction that this is a crime against humanity. The worst time a Christian was treated this badly, Nero was blaming them for the burning of Rome and feeding them to dogs. I mean, what does a guy have to do to get the credit he deserves?

In his second season, Gonalez:

--Gave up receptions at a rate of 54.8%, 9th lowest among all cornerbacks

--Gave up just two touchdowns

--Had two interceptions and broke up another seven passes

--Was given a coverage grade of 78.2 by Pro Football Focus, 8th best among corners

--Proved he was not just a "cover corner" by adding 56 tackles, with a missed tackle rate of just 7.4%, 9th lowest among CBs

--Had a passer rating when targeted of just 70.5, which was 7th lowest at his position

To put that last number in perspective, that means he turned every quarterback who tried to complete passes on him into somewhere between Jacoby Brissett (74.2) and Spencer Rattler (67.0). This despite the fact Gonzalez consistently drew the opponents' toughest assignments. By way of examples:

--Week 1 vs Ja'Marr Chase: 3 targets, 3 receptions, 15 yards

--Week 2 vs DK Metcalf: 7 targets, 4 receptions, 26 yards

--Week 8 vs Davante Adams: 4 targets, 1 reception, 16 yards

--Week 11 vs Cooper Kupp: 4 targets, 2 receptions, 9 yards

--Week 15 vs Marvin Harrison, Jr: 5 targets, 1 reception, 23 yards (a pick play on the second defensive snap of the game)

And yet for all that, Gonzalez not only didn't impress the Pro Bowl voters, he didn't rate a mention among the top guys who didn't impress the Pro Bowl voters. Were this happening to say, Ty Law, Aqib Talib, Malcolm Butler, Stephon Gilmore or JC Jackson, the fanbase would be wearing it like a badge of honor. And the team would quietly be taking this disrespect and refining it into rage fuel. Hell, Rodney Harrison would've convinced the entire roster that this is proof nobody believes in them, even as they were heading to a playoff game where they were -13.5.

But again, that was then and this is now. So all it amounts to is another thing Patriots fans have to bitch about as we're stuck at the bottom of the NFL pig pile, looking up straight into the buttholes of all the loser franchises we used to ridicule for such things. And all we can do is hope for a day when Gonzalez and a generation of Patriots yet undrafted will make someone pay for this insult.