We like to pay tribute to guys who have served the team for some time when they leave, so what better way to eulogize David Barrett than to re-run this Python-inspired rant, first “broadcast” after week two of the 2007 season (which just about sums up how overdue this move may have been). This seems even more apt at this time.

The latest in a series of disappointing performances by everybody’s favorite ex-Cardinals DB, prompted a strange conversation between Terry Bradway and an Arizona-based British Pet Shop owner over whether he might be finished…

Terry Bradway : I wish to complain about this Barrett what I purchased from this very boutique…
Shop Owner: Oh yes, the, uh, the *David* Barrett…What’s, uh…What’s wrong with it?…
TB: I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it, my lad. ‘E’s dead, that’s what’s wrong with it!…
SO: No, no, ‘e’s uh,…he’s resting…
TB: Look, matey, I know a dead Barrett when I see one, and I’m looking at one right now…
SB: No, no, he’s not dead, he’s, he’s restin’!…
TB: All right then, if he’s restin’, I’ll wake him up! *shouts into by facemask* ‘Ello, Mister Davey Barrett! I’ve got a lovely cushion here for you…
SO: *Shakes helmet by the facemask* There, he moved!…
TB: No, he didn’t, that was you shaking his facemask!…
SO: I never!…
TB: *Yells and hits the facemask repeatedly* ‘ELLO DAVEY!!!!! Testing! Testing! Testing! Testing! This is your nine o’clock alarm call! *Thumps Barrett’s head on the counter then throws him up in the air and watches him plummet to the floor* Now that’s what I call a dead Barrett…
SO: No, no…..No, ‘e’s stunned!…
TB: STUNNED!…
SO: You stunned him, just as he was waking up…
TB: ‘E’s not stunned! ‘E’s passed on! This Barrett is no more! He has ceased to be! ‘E’s expired and gone to meet ‘is maker! ‘E’s a stiff! Bereft of life, ‘e rests in peace! ‘Is metabolic processes are now ‘istory! ‘E’s kicked the bucket, ‘e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-BARRETT!!…
(Pause)
SO: Well, I’d better replace it, then. *takes a quick peek behind the counter* Sorry squire, I’ve had a look ’round the back of the shop, and uh, we’re right out of Barretts…
TB: I see. I see, I get the picture…
SO: (Sheepishly) I got a Hank Poteat…
(Pause)
TB: Um, maybe I’ll just keep this for one more week…

In all seriousness, despite his maddening habit of leaving too much of a cushion underneath, David made some important plays while with the Jets and was actually decent at covering big receivers with solid performances against the likes of Randy Moss and Andre Johnson in recent years, (although he struggled against guys with quickness), so we wish him well.