Originally posted by dontomasso:
Good point TB, but at thatpoint I think Neri was pretty high up in the organization and had plenty to do. When Mike made Tom the Don, he gave him control over "Neri and his men." This tells me Neri was a lot more to Mike than Luca was to Vito. Luca was just Muscle, but Neri had an advisory role, and it would have further weakened the family in Tahoe if Michael AND Neri went missing.
While Neri was Michael's Luca Brasi, it was in comparison in muscle only. Neri was much more than a Luca Brsi to Mike, more like a combination Luca Brasi / Peter Clemenza and Tom Hagen.
Strong and unafraid like Luca was to Vito, plus loyal and accountable like Clemenza was to Vito.
Neri was Luca, Clemenza and even a little bit of Tom Hagen all rolled up into one person.
Neri was a very important piece of Michael's army.
Don Cardi
