Egomaniacs and football.

I like football; I get to at least one Green Bay Packer game a year. This year I already have tickets for the Browns/Packer game on Sept 18th. I am number 1051 on the waiting list for season tickets. (I know I’m closer but I’m waiting for the official notification to get to me before I update my number). My wife understands that from pre-season to the Pro-Bowl, I’m a football junky and our marriage is put on hold. I don’t follow all teams; just the Packers and I keep an eye on the NFC North. I tell you this just so you know where I am coming from in this post.

Okay, I may be a little early to start football talk, but dammit, this has me fumed. I read this article.

Javon Walker is a good Wide Receiver. He had a breakout season last year. He might be the next great receiver in the NFL. Is he under paid? Maybe he is; it depends on how you look at the situation. I’m one of those types that really enjoy football, but I see it for what it is. An assortment of adults in good physical condition being paid to play a child’s game. I don’t blame these guys for trying to get as much money as possible; however, I don’t think they should be making $100,000 to $2,000,000 a year to play it. I also don’t think Actors, musicians and other celebrates deserve to make that much money for doing nothing of any real value. This however is not my point.

Javon Walker thinks he is underpaid for his performance on the field. He wants a long-term contract for more money. To prove he is serious, he is holding out on the practices and mini-camps until he gets what he wants. This is what has me in a rage. His current contract is good for two more seasons; he is scheduled to make $512,000.00 this year. I wish I made that in a year. To him that is not enough, so he is holding out. This has been a growing trend in the NFL. Last year the Packers had Mike McKenzie pull this stunt to be traded. Terrell Owens did it last year to go to the Eagles and is doing it again to get a bigger contract this year. This sickens me.

What happened to honor and a man’s word? They have contracts that they agreed to and signed. Now because they feel that they are worth more they are essentially refusing to work. Well you know what, I feel underpaid and that I deserve more money. If I didn’t come to work to demand more money, I would be out on the street faster then a Brett Favre pass. Yet these prima donnas think they should be able to get away with this feat of ego stroking. The more of these megalomaniacs that pull this stunt and get away with it, the more other players are going to do the same thing.

I hope Ted Thompson, the Packer GM, does not cave in. I’d like to see him hold Walker to his contract and have him benched all damn year if he does decide to come back. Why? Screw up his career. After two years of being a bench warmer his career would be essentially finished. I know some team would gamble on him, but I think it would send a message to other players. I would like to see a message sent out across the NFL that this type of behavior is not acceptable. I would also like to see the NFL set down a rule that states if a player holds out, for every day they hold out they have to pay back to the team some of their signing bonus. Hit these players where it hurts the most, in their wallets.

So what would I do if I were Javon Walker? I’ll tell you what I’d do; I’d ask Thompson to renegotiate my contract. If he said no, then I would advise him, “Per my contract I can void the last of it. That means next year I can be a free agent, I want to make a deal for a long-term contract now. However if you aren’t willing to work with me now, I’ll be more then happy to entertain other teams next year, and then it will cost you even more to keep me.” It might be a bluff or not, but it has a better chance of working in my opinion. It would also reduce the amount of hard feelings between the organization, team and him. Stunts like this hurt your reputation and the opinions of the team, coaches and fans of you. I hope he is enlightened to his mistakes and corrects it soon before it comes back to haunt him.

From the looks of it, it seems side effects are starting to happen. Bret Favre came forward and chastised Javon Walker for his actions.