(ThatKidInTheCorner :: You're Not Wrong, TO, You're Just An _______

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May 11, 2005

You're Not Wrong, TO, You're Just An ________

In which I cut TO some slack before explaining just how badly he blew it in Philly with his offseason nonsense

So that Terrell Owens guy is pretty tough. Played in the Super Bowl on a broken leg, against multiple doctors' orders. Had nine catches for 122 yards in the loss. He played with grit, determination, and passion. He had done pretty well in Philly, PR-wise, until that point; the Super Bowl thing was going to put him over the top, in "Most Heroic Performance Ever" sort of territory. Hell, I was even set to buy myself a fresh number-81 shirt (in midnight green, to complement my white number-5 shirt) for the upcoming season.

And then it all went wrong. He switched agents (trading his longtime partner for NFL superagent Drew Rosenhaus) and announces that he wanted to renegotiate his contract. That would be the seven-year contract that he signed last year. Right. Errr, a little, umm, bold, but he did bust his ass in the Super Bowl and risk his health and whatnot. Fair enough. That his superagent had a reputation for holding players out of camps and playing hardball was troubling, but hey, if you want more money, it seems wisest to secure the services of the guy who has a reputation for playing hardball.

Until that point, the people were uneasy about TO, but still on his team. Philly is a union town. There's no love for management there -- remember, this is the place that held public demonstrations more than once in the past ten years to try to influence the decisions of Eagles management. TO played hard in the Super Bowl. While other prominent Eagles (Messrs. Reid and McNabb) were concillatory after the game (offering lots of "We tried our best"-style platitudes), TO was fuming -- the guy was pissed off he lost. We like that sort of thing.

And, in a more general sense, TO's decision to demand more money just one year into his seven-year contract is actually pretty fair. The NFL has, by far, the most management/ ownership-friendly labor agreement of any of the four major sports (NOTE: I'm still counting hockey, even though they don't actually have a labor agreement, or really even a league). In the sport where the careers are the shortest and there is the highest potential for injury, there are no guaranteed contracts. That is, as soon as you even seem the slightest bit broken, management can kick your ass out the door. Goodbye. Thanks for crippling yourself on our behalf.

From a macro perspective, what Drew Rosenhaus and his cadre of high-profile clients (about 90 players) are doing is trying to shift the balance of power in the NFL labor agreement. The demands to renegotiate existing deals (with the threat of a holdout as their negotiating leverage) are essentially the players' version of the salary-cap cut. That is, if the owners can cut us on a moment's notice when we play below expectations, then we can ask for more money when we play above expectations. The Rosenhaus players are essentially casting themselves as a separate labor union, not bound by the rules and conventions of the current agreement. To me, it makes economic sense. The NFL labor agreement is brutal. When labor is faced with unfair or unequitable working conditions, they're allowed to organize themselves and demand better conditions. These dudes make A LOT of money for owners (Did you know that NFL owners can turn a profit without selling a single game ticket? Each team gets $100 million from the national media deal this year; the salary cap is just over $80 million. Look at that!) and they have a right to demand a bigger slice.

The problem is, of course, that there already is a union, and there already is a labor agreement. The fact that Rosenhaus has been so successful in recruiting players to his cause perhaps suggests that there is more friction looming for the NFL's labor pact than the commissioner and head of the NFLPA would like to let on. But with 90 players on his team, Rosenhaus is becoming a more and more powerful force -- it'll be interesting to see how it all pans out in the next couple years (hopefully they won't do something crazy and ruin a season like the other sports have more recently done).

In that context, I actually thought the people in Philly might be on TO's side in this whole thing. And they might have, had TO only kept his piehole shut. But no. TO talked to Len Pasquarelli at ESPN and in explaining why he wanted more money, took some potshots at Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, claiming that he (TO) wasn't the one who got tired in the Super Bowl.

Uh-oh.

The impact of that statement was swift and decisive. The media had been giving TO a free ride until that point. So had the Eagles. Then the character assassination began. Little by little, the Eagles began leaking stuff to the papers about TO. The Philly papers ran a poll asking Philadelphians if they thought TO deserved a new contract (they didn't) and placed the results, complete with quotes from several Average Joes about how they wish they made millions playing a game, above the fold on the front page of The Philadelphia Inquirer. That would be the front page of the whole paper, not the sports section.

Why all the hubbub? TO crossed a line with the McNabb comments. It's not as though the town is above criticizing McNabb (though in general they really don't appreciate what they've got in number five), but that wasn't the actual problem with the comments. The problem was that the comments signalled that there might be unrest within the team. That is, if TO and McNabb aren't getting along, it might be slightly more difficult for the Eagles to win the Super Bowl. The people would have been more than happy to let TO have some more of the owner's money, but once he's starting saying things that impact the public perception of the Eagles' chemistry (and thus, their performance on the field), look out. We are NOT cool with that.

In fact, for a guy as media-savvy as TO (or at least as skilled in self-promotion), this whole experience has got to be just crushing. The Eagles, and specifically Mr. McNabb and Mr. Reid, have put together a virtuosic media performance in the past couple weeks. The Birds have had holdouts before (we miss ya, Duce) and they've dealt with them without major incidents. As Mr. Reid has explained, every successful team has holdouts. (Look at the Patriots.) Part of the business. We can all deal. And Mr. McNabb has indicated that he would never get involved in another player's business matters (are you listening, Brett Favre?). All class. All business. Can't argue with it.

But TO couldn't leave it at that. He had to run his mouth. He's like your drunk friend who's started an argument with the biggest dude in the bar and just as you're about to drag him away shouts that said biggest dude's mother will perform certain sex acts in exchange for certain appetizers and BAM, now you can't leave. Everything would have been cool if he had just left the bar, but no, he had to keep talking.

And here we are. The Eagles have said that they aren't going to renegotiate his deal. Came down from the top this morning. And McNabb has said that if anyone wants to talk to him about the Super Bowl, they should call him and talk to him like a man. So what we're staring at here is two more months of TO speculation, a possible holdout, and a big pile of crap until the season starts (I'm already cringing at the thought of two months of reporters asking McNabb if TO has called him yet).

You wonder if TO had managed to keep his mouth shut if they could have worked something out. Couple bucks to keep him happy, reward him for the Super Bowl, and we're back to work, no problem. But no, can't happen now. We're too far along already. Now Philly fans have to listen to the told-you-so's from all the TO haters. Ugh. Keep it. TO is a great player, and he was a great guy for the Birds last year; he just isn't as media-savvy as he thinks, and he completely underestimated the Philly sports media. Those folks are vultures, and they feed on stuff like this. Worse still, the current Eagles administration is as adept in handling the media as any sports franchise in Philly has ever been. Ever. They're maestros, and they're giving TO a harsh lesson in the politics of sports in Philly. TO, you might have gotten your money and another shot at the Super Bowl. Now, unless you swallow your pride you'll be lucky to play at all this year.

You're not wrong, TO. You're just, well, Walter Sobchak.

Posted by thatkid at May 11, 2005 11:36 AM under Philly , Sports

May 11, 2005

You're Not Wrong, TO, You're Just An ________

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