Manning's lasting legacy of this contract

I don't profess to be an expert in NFL contracts, but I've wondered for the last 7 years or so, how much is enough? Carson Palmer recently threatened to retire if he was not traded, and came right out and said he had $80,000,000.00 (that's a lot of 0's) in the bank. Now, the last time you were asked to name the top 5 quarterbacks in the NFL, did Carson Palmer immediately jump into your mind? We'll get back to Carson later, because this really is about Peyton Manning.

I don't know him, never interviewed him, but I've been around the "aura" of Manning for years. The Colts used to train in my home town, and I've spent my share of hours around the team. And you would think that the only thing left for Manning to do is win more super bowls. Now, maybe he has the intention of leaving a lasting legacy of this current lawsuit to all future players, that I can see. When you are 65 years old and being interviewed for sportscenter on ESPN36000 ... it would be nice to say you changed the game on the field and off the field. If so, my hat's off to you Mr. Manning.

But when the courts are done and the votes are in and the caps are decided and the contracts are ready to be signed, I would hope Manning would stop just one second and ask, "How much is enough?" I've sat here and reported on countless players over the years who have cried and whined about their contracts, demanding trades or new contracts simply because they want to be the highest paid player at their position. Now, some players who have cried and whined deserved new deals ... it's the ones who only care about $$$ are the ones who I hate. Ego and $$$.

Now, I just don't see Manning as that kind of person. Indeed, I could be wrong ... but no matter what he signs for ... in just a few seasons someone will blow his contract out of the water. So for a few minutes, he can say he's the highest paid player in NFL history. I don't buy it. What I do buy is that Manning should not want to start drawing his retirement pay knowing that Tom Brady has more Super Bowl rings that he has. Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. These names are always going to be linked together. Back a few years ago, if memory serves me right, Manning was making about $17 Mil and Brady $10 Mil.  If I'm a GM, I think I can make good use of that $7,000,000.00 (those damn 0's again). You can buy a lot good starters and even more quality back-ups with that amount of money. And New England did. And New England won. And Tom Brady has more rings than Peyton. And that statement will follow Peyton Manning the rest of his life.

Which brings me back to Carson Palmer and his $80.000.000.00 If Peyton has the highest "Q" rating in sports, does the most commercials, has the most endorsement contracts, and has been in the league a little longer than Palmer, and at one time had the first or second highest contract in the NFL ...How much money does Manning have in the bank and how much more does he need?


How much is enough, Mr. Manning?

One Item That Needs to be in the CBA

Historically, there have been 2 teams in the NFL that have no interest in winning, only money. Sadly, the longest running punchline to most NFL jokes has been the Cardinals, regardless of which city they have broken hearts. Starting in Chicago, then St. Louis, now in Phoenix, Bill Bidwell has been the worst owner in the NFL for the longest time. His only serious competition comes from Mike Brown in Cincinnati. (Al Davis is third on the list, but at least the man WANTS to win.) It's no wonder that so many quality players want out of there, and the only ones that like it there are the one's on their last hope and prayer, like Cedric Benson, Pac-man Jones, and Tank Johnson. The moment Carson Palmer made his now famous "trade me or I'll retire on my $80,000,000.00 I have in the bank" statement, I knew it was for real, because it never was about re-negotiating. It was about getting away from an awful organization that does not care about winning. I was amazed when Chad OchoJohnson said the same thing 2 years ago. I listened, and never once did Chad say "Pay me or trade me" ... he said GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE !!!

So why, then, you might ask, were BOTH teams recently in the play-offs, and even the Superbowl? Because of a little known clause in the last Collective Bargaining Agreement, the one that defines the LEAST amount of money teams MUST spend on player payrolls. These two teams were, for the first time, forced to spend monies they never would have in the past, and look what happened. Suddenly these teams were good. Do you think Bill Bidwell would ever have spent $12 million a year on a quarterback like they did Kurt Warner if they didn't have to?

And now look at both organizations. Last year, since there was no salary cap, there was no salary minimum, hence, both teams let star players run away in droves. The cardinals lost more players to free agency than Toyota has lost cars to recalls. And big name, high quality players, too. Players that were not traded, just let go.

Roger Goodell has expressed throughout his term as commissioner that he wants only what is best for the league. Well, he should be leading the parade on making sure this is one of those items that is still included in the new CBA. He may lose 2 votes from these 2 owners on ratifying it, but it would be worth it in the long run. If not, they might as well begin negotiations with COURT TV to start broadcasting all of the Bengals games.

Doug Atkins

The first time I met Larry Bird, I remembered his hand. It was so monstrously big, it wrapped itself around mine and had lots of fingers left over. He was young, out of place, having just arrived in Terre Haute, and very uncomfortable walking into a disco bar. I was the disco DJ, he was unknown, with fame and fortune in his future.

The first time I met Doug Atkins, about 10 years later, it was quite another story.  I was the Operations Manager / DJ at an oldies radio station in Knoxville, Tennessee. He strolled into my office and everything was big about this man. His 6' 9" frame seemed taller than Larry's ... his 270 pounds were bigger ... his hand shaking mine was big ... but it was his aura that made him seem bigger than life. Of course, it could also be that I was 24 when I met Larry, but I was only 11 when I started idolizing Doug. 

In 1965, my family moved from living in the shadow of the Notre Dame Golden Dome surrounded by Packer's fans to (notice I worked my way around to ever admitting I might have been one of those) to a rural town in Southern Indiana where everyone talked like Larry, and rooted for Da Bears. I was still undecided until the day the Bears drafted three guys in the first round ...the first two by the name of Butkus and Sayers.  That was it, throw me in a vat of blue and orange paint, point my nose slightly west of north and I was a fan for life. 

And while Gale Sayers went on that year and set rookie records almost on a game-by-game basis, and Butkus caught the imagination of every kid who played the game ... A larger-than-life man was dominating the defensive line. Not just in this game or that game ... but every game. And now, this monster was standing in the my office shaking my hand, and being, well, large. 

Never in my life have I been around a man who was more comfortable in his own skin. He was very used to being large, and didn't care. And when he started talking, there was no slowing him down for an hour. Especially on his favorite topic: martinis. That man loved his martinis. And his favorite stories all involved martinis. 

From Wikipedia: " Atkins began his playing career with the Cleveland Browns, but his peak years of his 17-year career came with the Chicago Bears. Atkins' first two seasons were played with the Browns before he was traded to the Bears in 1955. According to Pat Summerall on an NFL films segment about Browns' founder and head coach Paul Brown, Atkins was released by the Browns after belching in a meeting. In Chicago, Atkins quickly became the leader of a devastating defensive unit. With the Bears, Atkins was a First Team All-Pro selection in 1958, 1960, 1961, and 1963; along with being a starter in the Pro Bowl in eight of his last nine years with Chicago. Before the 1967 season, Atkins requested a trade from Chicago and was traded to the New Orleans Saints, with whom he would end his career in 1969."

From Doug's biography in the NFL hall of fame: "An All-NFL choice four times and a veteran of eight Pro Bowls, Atkins wound up his career with three successful seasons with the New Orleans Saints. For 17 years and 205 games, Doug wrecked absolute havoc on opposing linemen, quarterbacks, and ball carriers. Linemen who faced Atkins usually had just one thought in mind: “Don’t make him mad.” It was common knowledge among players that as tough as Doug was, he was even tougher when angered. An outspoken free spirit, Doug often clashed with the Bears’ fiery head coach George Halas. Atkins’ easy-going approach to practice particularly annoyed the coach." 

Which brings me to my favorite Doug Atkins story ... one he told me every year we worked together for his annual golf tourney to help Lupus victims. And, forgive me Doug if I get any of this wrong, but it has been 20 years. 

The Chicago Bears always held their training camp near a little town in central Indiana on the campus of St. Joseph's College. It was a dry county, the campus surrounded by cornfields, and miles and miles from any city big enough to find trouble. But knowing the situation he was living in for those 8 weeks a year, Doug ALWAYS came prepared ... with plenty of gin and vermouth and a case of olives. Along with his handy 9 mm that went everywhere with him, especially any stadium that might contain pigeons.  

This particular training camp had several malcontents, including Mike Ditka, who was quoted as saying "That tight son-of-a-bitch throws nickles around like they were man-hole covers. " Of course, referring to George Halas, owner, head coach, GM and contract negotiator.  Which prompted Doug to take a more forward and direct approach to re-negotiating his contract. A couple weeks after training camp opened, Doug and a few teammates were putting a serious dent in the gin stash. And Doug was drinking in proportion to his size. The more they drank, the madder they got over their contracts. The madder they got, the more determined Doug was to do something about it. So with all his friends egging him on, Doug storms out of the dormitory, after curfew, jumps into his car, and heads off to Chicago to have a "face-to-face with that SOB". He navigates through the cornfields, winds his way through the suburbs, and faces the traffic of the Big City to find himself on George Halas' doorstep. Still filled with rage, this behemoth man takes his massive fist and starts beating on hallas' front door, hard enough to nearly knock it off it's hinges. In no time at all, the front door opens, and to Doug's surprise, it wasn't George answering, but his wife. 

"Well Doug, what brings you out on such a lovely evening?" she asked. Now Doug was raised as a Southern Gentleman, born in Tennessee, played in Tennessee, and never lost touch with those roots. So as politely as possible, Doug said: "'Scuse me Ms Halas, but may I please see that ... I am sorry for the time ma'am ... Is George here?" Seeing he was extremely angry and at some level beyond tipsy, Mrs. Halas invited Doug in, had him sit down, and then asked: "Why Doug, aren't you supposed to be at training camp?" "Yes ma'am." "And isn't it past curfew?" "Yes ma'am." "And wasn't Coach Halas at training camp with you today?" "Yes, ma'am." "Well then Doug, don't you suppose he's still there?" It was not until that exact moment that Doug realized he'd driven all the way to Chicago, while Hallas was sleeping quietly 3 doors down in the dorm. "Well Doug, I'll get you a raise right now. I won't tell George that you broke curfew, saving you a $250.00 fine. You can go tell your teammates you got a raise, and if you hurry, you can be back in bed before they find you're gone." 

Again from the Pro Football hall of fame websight on Doug Atkins: "An outspoken free spirit, Doug often clashed with the Bears’ fiery head coach George Halas. Atkins’ easy-going approach to practice particularly annoyed the coach.

But still, the two developed a mutual respect. Although their relationship was at times tumultuous, it lasted for 12 seasons and Atkins was a key part of the great Bears defense that won the league championship in 1963. However, in 1967 Atkins demanded to be traded and Halas sent his star lineman to the Saints, where he finished his career. After Atkins finally retired following the 1969 season, Halas openly admitted, “There never was a better defensive end.”

   

America the Beautiful

Oh beautiful, for spacious skies

For amber waves of grain

For purple mountains majesty

Above the fruited plain

America America

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea

Happy birthday America

Lockouts

Now that we have 2 major sports involved with work stoppages, I think it's a good time to go back and look at the past and see how all that we are going through is just window dressing. All of the groundwork was laid down in the 60's and 70's ... and finally the concrete was poured back in the 80's. The court battles fought back then were for real, while those being waged today are merely spitting-in-your-face contests. God bless the courts who came back and said basically "we're a big fan ... and we're gonna blow that spit right back into your own face".

When Curt Flood opened the gates to free agency in the courts, everything changed. Today, as we speak, ALL the power, ALL the laws, and ALL the rights belong to the players. I love the drafts, both NBA and NFL. They've become more of an annual ritual in my household than the championship games, because my teams are seldom in the championships, but almost always high in the drafts. So guess what .... drafts are illegal unless they are bargained for.


What if Mike Greenburg of ESPN Radio was drafted out of college by the Sacramento Tribune? Mike had no interested into going to the print side of sports reporting, but was told, "if you are going to be a sports reporter or work in sports media, you HAVE to go work for the Sacramento Tribune, or not at all." And he would have to sign a four year contract to boot. And at the end of those fours years, he still might not be free because of something called "restricted free agency". And don't forget the franchise tag.

Any retrictions on free agency are illegal. The only way they can be changed is to be bargained AWAY by the players.

The franchise tag is illegal. Again, the only way it can legally exist is to be bargained for in the CBA.

We have 3 major sports with 3 very different CBA's. Baseball's is the best for the players, basketball's is second, and the NFL's was already the worst, and the owners are trying to get it even more lop-sided in their favor. The life expectancy for a baseball or basketball player is years and years beyond that of a football player, yet the 2 bb's get guaranteed contracts, higher average salaries, and much longer careers. Not to mention much much better free agency situations.

I know progress is being made, but it is time for football players to really take a step back before agreeing with anything, and look at what rights they are giving away. The football owners have forgotten what all they lost in the courts, the players better not forget. The basketball players have it much simpler. The league already has its salary caps, rookie wage scales, and the rights to trade players, while the players have virtual unrestricted free agency and guaranteed contracts. So for them the only fight is for the "%" sign.