DeSean Jackson was drafted in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, the seventh wide receiver taken in the draft, and in July of that year he agreed to terms on a four-year contract with the team. Two Pro Bowl selections later, Jackson is one of the best young wide-outs in the game and still working through a contract that only guarantees him $600,000 for the season. That’s about 600,000 times what I make in a year, but less (a lot less) than market value for a player of his ability. He’ll play his first game of the season on Sunday.
But, as I’m sure you’re asking yourself, what would Terrell Owens do?
T.O. talked to 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia and gave one of the history’s most predictable answers when asked if he’d show up and play on Sunday were in DeSean Jackson’s situation. From Shutdown Corner, by way of Philadelphia Sports Daily:
“Absolutely not,” Owens replied. “I would have to better myself and my family and my situation. That’s ridiculous.”
Owens said that Jackson has obviously received advice “to go in there, be a man about it and play under the existing contract that he has,” adding, “but I guarantee you — if he goes out and gets hurt, God forbid, he’s not going to get the contract that he probably would have gotten if he held out.”
“These greedy athletes make too much money!” is a really terrible blogger talking point, much like “I have to provide for my family” is a terrible pro athlete talking point, so the truth falls somewhere in the middle — yes, DeSean Jackson is comparably worth more than what he’s being paid, but he signed a contract for x amount of years wherein he agreed upon his worth and no amount of crossing your arms and holding your breath should negate that. Otherwise, what’s the point of a contract? It’s not unique for me to say that holding out is an absolutely ass thing to do to your team, or that a player shouldn’t be able to say “I’m okay with you paying me this much to play well, oh hey look I played well, give me more money”, or that “functional, workable adult” would be a great way to socially support your family, but I will include all of them in this sentence anyway.
I think professional football players should look at T.O. as their game’s Donny Don’t. If the guy with great natural talent and lots of money who will live out the rest of his life as the “locker room poison guy who isn’t worth it” says you should do something, do the opposite. So, in this case, be a reliable, valued member of a pro sports organization, and the second that contract is up start demanding every dollar in history.
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“yes, DeSean Jackson is comparably worth more than what he’s being paid, but he signed a contract for x amount of years wherein he agreed upon his worth and no amount of crossing your arms and holding your breath should negate that.”
Except that NFL contracts (by and large) ARE NOT GUARANTEED. The Eagles are under no obligation whatsoever to pay him the $600K–they can cut him tomorrow with no consequences. So why should he feel bound by it? Holdouts are the only leverage players have.
Calling T.O.’s advice “bad” is redundant. Has he ever given any good advice?
Agree with LeNoceur. NFL contracts are loose agreements and both sides know that.
Maybe if the Eagles were paying their two young, all-pro receivers a market wage, then they wouldn’t have had enough cash to sign Asomugha and every other free agent this offseason, not to mention giving Michael Vick “a hundred-million-dollar contract.”
Fuck the Eagles; I hope DeSean does hold out. (Oh yeah, I have DeSean on my fantasy team, so he should honor is contract and whatever. Un-fuck the Eagles.)
I hate Jackson but the owners are assholes and wouldn’t think twice about opting out of their end of the contract should he get hurt. They gave Vick $100mil contract…I suggest they pay his receivers so that he can produce $100mil wins. Ultimately I hope he holds out because like PE said, “fuck the eagles”
I agree with LeNoceur.
Jackson should sit. The owner’s can cut him at anytime what does the contract really matter? That’s just the nature of business in the NFL.
I have to disagree Brandon and say that because you are for the most part guaranteed dick in an NFL contract, DeSean needs to get paid before he puts da team on his back dough. Why do you think so many players want front-loaded deals?
Let’s ask David Garrard about the sanctity of NFL contracts.
Reasons I think Jackson should hold out:
1. Most of my college buddies are Eagles fans
2. Owners could give a shit less about him if he gets hurt
3. I have Jeremy Maclin on my FF team, and I think this would increase his targets
Saying, “well the owners can cut him/don’t have to honor the contract, so contract doesn’t mean anything” is overly simplistic. First, the fact that a team can cut a player is part of the labor agreement the player’s union signed. It is part of every contract. Second, not entirely true that there are no consequences to team when a team cuts a player: team doesn’t get any part of the signing bonus back and there are salary cap consequences as well.
That being said, career of an NFL player is generally a very short one, so it is hard to begrudge them looking to get paid before it all comes to an untimely end.
So I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you.
There are a lot of reasonable arguments in the comments here but the main issue is that if you find yourself agreeing with T.O. you may need to step back and reexamine the issue.