Player 90, from Idono U...

The last few days before New England Patriots training camp is a time when marginal players with incentive contracts are released to avoid paying them their camp roster bonus, but also a time when the team rounds out it's 90 man roster with players hailing from campus such as Idono U. and Warm Body Tech...

Undrafted free agents like Mark Harrison have a long road

...and that's no dig on the team, that they release players to save themselves having to pay out a roster bonus for a guy they know probably won't make the final 53 - it's business, and the business side of things is not run by the Boy Scouts, and it's not just some Snidley Whiplash looking guy in a top hat and black cloak tying them to railroad tracks, nor is it George Castanza getting all blubbery when he gives a player the axe.

No, with personnel decisions being the charge of head coach Bill Belichick, there's probably a litany of emails between Dollar Bill and Accounting, carbon copies sent to Bob Kraft then to the fabled "person with intimate knowledge of the situation" who immediately "leaks" the news to reporters, giving them something to hammer the team on for another day...

...then a short meeting with the player, a few handshakes and a final paycheck, then a ride to the airport in the team shuttle, stopping off at Wendy's for a frosty and fries...

...which is going to be the fate of no less than thirty players between now and early September

And this year is no exception, what with the team announcing the release of free agent wide receiver Donald Jones last week, which left the team with four roster spots to fill before camp starts in earnest on Friday...

...and with Monday's signing of Michigan State defensive tackle Rashad Anthony White - along with three others over the weekend has effectively filled with it's full compliment of 90 players.  The 6' 2" 330 pound tiger from Battle Creek is a Pittsburgh Steelers' castoff from their Injured Reserved list and, like the others signed, is primarily a camp body with virtually no chance to make the final 53 man roster...

...and these players know this.  For some, it is an excellent opportunity to throw the Patriots' name around to perspective employers, complete with on field "Demo Tapes" to help their agents them land another audition with another team - for others, it is a demoralizing crash landing on the runway called "Good thing you have that college degree to fall back on."

For most of those guys, football has already given them the means to put meat and potatoes on their dining room table - but a select few will get some gravy as well.