MY 4,000th post rant: HOLDOUTS

[spydertl79]

Lately the big stories in the NFL are involving contract holdouts (Hines Ward, TO, Antonio Gates, etc.). Does anyone else think that contract holdouts are utterly ridiculous?

Reason 1: These players have signed contracts to play a given amount of time for a given amount of money, how would they react if a team told them that instead of making 7 mil this year they will be making 500,000? Why even have the player sign the contract? It seems to only be legally binding for the team unless that player decides to "find the truth" in India, but that's a different case.

Reason 2: They are still making VERY good money for playing football. They work less then 1/2 of the year, are looked up to by children everywhere (regardless of how deserving they are), and make exorbitant amounts of money for doing this. Having a pro football career is a privelage, the lucky few who are blessed with the athletic ability to do so should be happy making 50,000 per year.

This is why my favorite non-dolphins player is Ed Reed. Despite being the best defensive player in the NFL, Reed makes around 600,000 this year. He's not holding out, demanding a trade, bad-mouthing the coach, being a media whore or even bashing the Ravens for not giving him a new contract. He loves playing the game and he is very good at it. Unlike many NFL players in the age of Drew Rosenhaus, Reed has not lost touch with regular people like us. He also founded the "Eye of the Hurricane Foundation" to help underprivelaged kids in his hometown of St. Rose, Louisiana.

 

[akfinfan]

You forget that at any time a player can be cut and they won't get paid a dime more. It goes both ways.

 

[spydertl79]

You forget that at any time a player can be cut and they won't get paid a dime more. It goes both ways.

I didn't forget anything, have you ever heard of guaranteed money and signing bonuses?

 

[armyfinfan]

Agreed. And I dont give a damn about how these players could be cut at any time and they have worked very hard to get to that point or that the owners make so much money so the players deserve so much money because of that. These selfish players need to realize that without the owners giving them an opportunity to make this money they have zero chance at making the kind of money they make doing anything else. I for one dont give a damn who is playing for the Miami Dolphins as long as there is a Miami Dolphins. If the best players in the world dont want to play because they arent being paid enough thats just fine with me as long as somebody wants to play for whatever kinda money the owners want to pay the players. Bottom line is the players need the owners to make the kind of money they are paying them. The owners dont need the players because they could find players anywhere to play. If we had to take the arena league players on NFL rosters because the players went on strike I would still watch the NFL. Just because they wouldnt be the best players in the world doesnt make it not football. Its still football. So let the players holdout and not make any money at all and go and get a job like the majority of us regular joe's.

 

[armyfinfan]

And the owners just didnt happen to buy a team in the NFL without making their fortune in some other aspect of business. They all became rich doing something else.

 

[SuperDuperFan]

Well I tend to disagree. Hines Ward is one of the best recievers in football and he is making NOTHING compared to others at his position. I think booker and DT both make more than him. Gates had a great year last year and deserves to be rewarded.

Look at it like this. You take a job in whatever field you are in for 50,000 a year. You have a great year...gain high praise from your bosses, and do a lot better than other people in your work that make more money than you. Aren't you going to want a raise?

You can make the argument that its football and its a lot of money, and thats very fair. But I can see where some of these guys are coming from.

Congrats on the 4,000th post...i hope to make it there one day soon!

 

[armyfinfan]

Well I tend to disagree. Hines Ward is one of the best recievers in football and he is making NOTHING compared to others at his position. I think booker and DT both make more than him. Gates had a great year last year and deserves to be rewarded.

Look at it like this. You take a job in whatever field you are in for 50,000 a year. You have a great year...gain high praise from your bosses, and do a lot better than other people in your work that make more money than you. Aren't you going to want a raise?

You can make the argument that its football and its a lot of money, and thats very fair. But I can see where some of these guys are coming from.

Congrats on the 4,000th post...i hope to make it there one day soon!

I hear what your saying but we dont have the luxary of just not going to work and still having a job. If you dont go your fired. The players can do whatever they want.

 

[HysterikiLL]

Holdouts are ugly. That's my opinion.

They're ugly because they seemingly take all relevance from football and harness the players financial and personal circumstances as their point of illustration. As fans, we love to see our guys making plays and so when financial terms come between them and the organization, it's hard for us to understand why they don't just go and make the plays. But I do feel that this is a players game and some guys do deserve more money than they're earning, for whatever reason.

Take T.O. for instance -- I have found myself strangely sympathizing with him on this issue. Sure, he'll make 3 million dollars this season, but is it fair? We, as working class Joes would drop our jaws if we were to ever see 3 million dollars in one bank account, but you look at the large number of receivers making MORE money than T.O. whose production value is far less. Now whose fault is this? The Eagles organization for giving T.O. so little? T.O's fault for demanding to be the highest paid receiver? Perhaps the reluctant organizations who have signed players demanding so much more money, causing a greater inflation in regards to pay packages at receiver in the NFL? Is anyone really to blame? And yet, from the point of view of us, the fans, who really misses out? We do. That's why it's ugly, because seemingly nobody wins until somebody ultimately falters and somebody else will lose out as a result.

The other issue with these contract holdouts is the depreciating value of the 'contract' itself. A contract, a formal and legal agreement states the specific terms by which a player is to abide by through out the tenure of the contract, however how can a contract hold any true value when a player can just refuse those terms if he chooses? This has placed increasingly difficult strains on those who try to keep order instilled within the organization and really does forumlate somewhat, a level of insecurity within the organization.

Just my thoughts. Happy 4,000th. May there be many more to come!

 

[SuperDuperFan]

I hear what your saying but we dont have the luxary of just not going to work and still having a job. If you dont go your fired. The players can do whatever they want.

Buty if that happened to you chances are you would quit that job...

 

[finsrule84]

Gates does really deserve a new contract though after last season, he's getting paid the minimum while someone like Kellen Winslow II earns millions without doing sh*t

 

[armyfinfan]

Buty if that happened to you chances are you would quit that job...

Not if options are limited. And its actually happening to me right now and I have no choice but to stay because I dont make hundreds of thousands of dollars to sit on. I have bills to pay. Rent, food, insurance, ect...

 

[HysterikiLL]

This is why my favorite non-dolphins player is Ed Reed. Despite being the best defensive player in the NFL, Reed makes around 600,000 this year. He's not holding out, demanding a trade, bad-mouthing the coach, being a media whore or even bashing the Ravens for not giving him a new contract. He loves playing the game and he is very good at it. Unlike many NFL players in the age of Drew Rosenhaus, Reed has not lost touch with regular people like us. He also founded the "Eye of the Hurricane Foundation" to help underprivelaged kids in his hometown of St. Rose, Louisiana.

Ed Reed is one of the more sincere, honest and caring people you'll ever meet. We attended the same High School is Destrehan, LA. and from what I knew of him, he is and always has been such a great guy. It's guys like he and Ronde Barber who make the game great. Both have never complained about their contracts, have had disputes leading to problems or have had any out-of-football issues having an affect on how they play. Sean Taylor or Ed Reed, pick your role model :shakeno:

 

[armyfinfan]

Gates does really deserve a new contract though after last season, he's getting paid the minimum while someone like Kellen Winslow II earns millions without doing sh*t

Hey it may not be fair but then again Life isnt fair. Gates wont starve and he is still making more than the average joe will make it 10 years. He'll survive.

 

[spydertl79]

Hey it may not be fair but then again Life isnt fair. Gates wont starve and he is still making more than the average joe will make it 10 years. He'll survive.

And he's making just as much as he agreed to. It's not the Chargers fault that they saw his gift and nobody else did.

 

[djfresh47]

Hines Ward being the 37th highest paid WR is fair? If you don't want players to hold out, than contracts need to be guranteed. If a team can cut a player for underperforming there contract, what's wrong with a player wanting a new contract if he overperfroms it?