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Trotter speaks

iceblizzard69

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This is from ESPN:

Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter, who has not returned phone messages for weeks, appeared on Comcast SportsNet Tuesday to make his first public comments since being axed by the Eagles.

The two-time Pro Bowl player tried to explain why he was not willing to sign the deal the Eagles offered him last year, and why he was so upset about being designated a franchise player in February. The Eagles removed the tag Friday, allowing Trotter to become an unrestricted free agent.

Trotter told the Philadelphia Daily News that he felt the team, particularly coach Andy Reid, disrespected him as a player and as a human being.

"I felt unappreciated, and that's tough, when you lay it on the line for somebody, week after week, when you're supposed to be the leader of the defense, and they don't even want to talk to you."

Trotter is referring to the fact that after he received the franchise designation, he sought a meeting with Reid, who also controls player personnel, but was unable to arrange it.

"That bothered me more than the franchise tag, that I couldn't get a meeting with my own coach. I was so upset, I took it upon myself to drive over there," Trotter said. "Andy had left for the day, so I talked to [team president] Joe [Banner]. Then, when Andy heard I'd come down there and was upset, he called me and agreed to meet with me."

Trotter said he asked his minister to accompany him on both visits, as a sign of Trotter's seriousness, and to calm him. Trotter vehemently denied rumors that he acted disrespectfully in either encounter, with Banner or with Reid.

"I asked Andy, I said, 'Listen: Do you not think I'm worth the money? Do you not think I'm one of the best linebackers in the NFL?' And he couldn't answer me . . . He jumped all the way around the question. He wouldn't give me an answer. He said, 'I really don't want to get into that' . . . I asked him, man-to-man.

"I feel that, like I said, I'm supposed to be your defensive leader, but you can't talk to me like a man."

Still, Trotter said that under the right circumstances he would be willing to return to Philly, but he never clarified what the right circumstances were.

But Trotter, who is one of the best middle linebackers in the league, will no doubt land on his feet. He will visit Texans officials today and tour the team's facilities and seems very excited about returning to his home state to play football.

"I'm very excited about getting a chance to come down there, meet the coaches and see the facilities," Trotter told the Houston Chronicle. "They're a first-class organization. The owner, Mr. Bob McNair, is first-class, Charley Casserly has done a great job of putting the team together, and Dom Capers has a history of success everywhere he's been. So it would be great to be there. Houston is definitely one of my first choices.

"I was born and raised a Texan, so to have an opportunity to play in my home state would be like a dream come true."
 
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