Devin Hester said he would hold out until he received more money than many of the rookies entering the NFL this season. Then he reported. Plaxico Burress held out from OTA's and then came to camp despite threats of a hold out. Brett Favre is going to report to Packers camp despite the fact that no one in Green Bay wants him to. Brian Westbrook and Lito Sheppard also threatened holdout only to show up. What is going on?
NFL players have to be smarter than this. What do these threats do for them? They want a raise so they go on strike, saying they won't play until they get one. And yet once the season starts to come around they realize they can't sit out a whole year.
Teams have no reason to worry when they look at the pattern. Players can't afford to ruin their career over a few million (they already make a few), so they report once the going gets tough. Teams know this and thus have nothing to fear. In essence, players have no leverage in these situations so why complain publicly and cause a rift to come between them and their respective team?
Players today are very shortsighted as agents convince them that they can get a raise if they hold out. When the desired effect doesn't occur, they have simply made their clients look foolish.
Hester has a point about rookies. They really need to be making less money as they enter the league. It's unfair to veterans like Hester who have established themselves as stars in this league. However, holding out is not the key. It simply makes a player look selfish and alienates him from the team.
Chad Johnson is another example. He has been the cause of much strife in Cincinnati this offseason and he'll be participating in training camp under the watch of the very man who wouldn't pay him. Don't think that will be a distraction? Think again. There will be a lot of tension in the Bengals locker room due to Johnson's disruptive presence.
Anquan Boldin is really someone who these players should watch. The Cardinals wide out recently announced that he would not resign with Arizona at the end of his contract because the organization failed to deliver on the promise of a new contract this offseason. However he is still going to report to camp and play to the best of his abilities because his current contract still means something to him. "I'm going to do everything my contract requires me to do," he said.
There's man of decency. When someone signs a contract they need to play it out. Don't lash out at the organization for underpaying you. You signed the contract so live with it. The team will pay up when the time is right if they want you. But in today's NFL, players want it all now.
Players who gripe about contracts and then report just don't think about the consequences. Their actions are heavily scrutinized and the rest of the team is affected by the obvious bitterness in these athletes. So please (insert holdout's name here), think a little before demanding a few more million and realize the effort isn't all that worth it.
3 comments Last one added 11 months ago — Leave a Comment
Andrew Kneeland 11 months ago
I agree, Jack. Very nice article! Keep up the great work!
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Robert Johnson 11 months ago
I blame a lot of this kind of behavior on the players' agents. I think sometimes the agents encourage this kind of behavior to their clients to help "strengthen" their positions at the negotiating table.
Even if the agent isn't encouraging this kind of behavior, they should do more to warn their clients about how this kind of behavior can turn off other teams who will see him as a "problem and distraction."
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Jack Anderson 11 months ago
Definitely. Agents like Rosenhaus just delude their athletes and then problems just flow.
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