It's hard to believe that the Green Bay Packers would cut a player just for misplaying an onside kick, basically scapegoating him publicly for a loss.
But when Brandon Bostick was cut on Monday, it was easy to wonder what role his NFC championship game mistake had to do with it.
Bostick announced on Twitter that the Packers had cut him.
While it isn't totally fair, Bostick will have a place in Packers history for the wrong reason.
The Packers controlled the NFC championship game against the Seattle Seahawks, leading 19-7 late into the fourth quarter. The Seahawks scored, and tried an onside kick with a little more than two minutes remaining. Bostick was supposed to block and let Jordy Nelson behind him recover the kick. But Bostick made a play on the ball, mishandled it and Seahawks receiver Chris Matthews (who, incidentally, went from a no-name reserve to one of the stars of Super Bowl XLIX a couple weeks later) recovered. The Seahawks scored and went on to win in overtime.
The Packers screwed that game up in many ways. Mike McCarthy was very conservative all day. Morgan Burnett inexplicably quit running after an interception that should have sealed the game. The defense gave up three touchdowns in Seattle's final three drives. A lot had to happen for the Packers to lose. But Bostick was an easy one to blame.
In an incredibly somber and stunned locker room after the game, Bostick was obviously shaken up over his mistake.
“I’ll just try to deal with it the best that I can,” Bostick said. “I let my team down, I feel like. I feel like if I would have done my job, my assignment to block, Jordy would have caught the ball and the game would have been over."
Did Bostick get cut because of that mistake? It's hard to believe the Packers would do that just out of spite. Bostick had just nine catches in two seasons after signing as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and spending that season on the practice squad. Even though the Packers aren't incredibly deep at tight end, Bostick wasn't an integral part of their plans. He had a chance to distinguish himself in 2014 but that didn't happen. If he had developed into a legitimate threat in the Packers' passing game, his job would have been safe. He didn't, so the Packers moved on.
But the timing of Bostick's release makes it seem like he paid for a mistake in a huge moment for the Packers with his job.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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