Was McElroy right? Who cares?

Perhaps you heard that rookie quarterback Greg McElroy had a few things to say about his New York Jets teammates the other day.

"Speaking to an Alabama radio station three days after the Jets capped off an 8-8 season with three straight losses, McElroy said, 'It's the first time I've ever been around extremely selfish individuals. I think that's maybe the nature of the NFL. But there were people within our locker room that didn't care whether we won or lost as long as they had good games individually. And that's the disappointing thing.'"

As you might imagine, those comments didn't meet with universal approval.

"'I feel like he was wrong in presenting it in the time and place that he did," Namath said Thursday on 1050 ESPN's 'The Michael Kay Show.' 'On the other hand, he's a sincere guy, and when he's questioned, he gives answers. I don't think being a first-year player and one that's not even active, I don't think it was his place to voice an opinion in that locker room or during the season to his teammates. He was a low guy on the totem pole, so to speak."

And yes, the "Namath" is indeed Joe Namath, in case you were wondering.

But what I didn't see in those comments, or in anything else I've read about them, is whether McElroy was right on the substance of what he said. (There is the possibility that someone has, and I missed it.) Instead, it's whether a rookie third-stringer who didn't play should be able to say those things.

So I've come to realize that I need a new maxim. Maybe not a full maxim, perhaps a sub-maxim to an existing one, namely the Jeremy Mayfield Rule, which is when people make an argument about an athlete not being deserving of something, even if it's determined by a completely objective measure such as points.

Let's call it "The Mientkiewicz Corollary."

"If you're not an important player, what you do or say doesn't matter and you can never be right, even if you are."

As you may remember, Doug Mientkiewicz was the first baseman acquired by the Boston Red Sox as part of the Nomar Garciaparra trade in 2004. He wasn't much more than a journeyman with a good glove, but he's the guy who caught the ball that officially ended The Curse.

.

Eventually, the Red Sox decided they wanted the ball, so they planted some stories with some friendly writers, and Mientkiewicz became the bad guy for doing what players had done for years.

In one of the greatest bits of spin I've ever seen, the argument became over whether he should give the ball "back" to the Red Sox, even though Major League Baseball supplied the balls, the game was in St. Louis and Mientkiewicz had possession of it. To my non-lawyer mind, the Red Sox had, at best, the fourth claim to the ball based on Mientkiewicz being a Red Sox employee.

But I guarantee you, if Kevin Millar or David Ortiz had been playing first, or if it had been a fly ball to Johnny Damon or a popup to Jason Varitek (or a strikeout, obviously), it never would have become an issue. 

Greg McElroy, meet Doug Mientkiewicz