| I hope I don’t see a trend starting here.
But I’m afraid that may be the case. In the past couple of weekends, NFL minicamps
have started to open. And along with those minicamps have come a couple of rookie
holdouts. No, they can’t really be considered actual holdouts, because the two
players I am referring to were in attendance. The Giants’ third-round pick, OT Jeff
Hatch, and the Cardinals’ first-round pick, DT Wendell Bryant, showed up to their
teams at the prescribed place and time.
However, Hatch and Bryant refused to practice after refusing to sign injury waivers.
Because they are not yet under contract, these two young players were afraid a major
injury suffered in minicamp would hurt their negotiating power. Perhaps worse, maybe they
wouldn’t get signed at all, and they would lose millions and millions of dollars.
A valid concern? Not really.
The waiver states that if a player suffers an injury, he will be paid commensurate with
his draft position. So if Hatch were to blow out a knee while participating in a no-pads
walk-through, he would still receive a contract that is up to snuff with the other players
taken in his area of the third round.
In the case of Bryant, if he were injured during minicamp, he would still get a deal in
the neighborhood of last year’s No. 12 overall pick, Rams DT Damione Lewis. Lewis
received a four-year, $7.5 million deal that included a $5.4 million signing bonus.
Hatch decided to sit out the first day of minicamp on the advice of his agent, Alan
Herman, who suggested to the rookie that he not sign the injury waiver. As you can
imagine, this did not sit too well with Giants head coach Jim Fassel or general manager
Ernie Accorsi.
Of the injury waiver, Accorsi said: "It was good enough for Lawrence Taylor and
Phil Simms, and it’s not good enough for Alan Herman."
Accorsi noted that no other Giants draft pick has refused to sign the waiver.
Eventually, after a very difficult Friday, Hatch came to his senses and signed the
waiver and joined his new teammates on the field.
That wasn’t the case in Arizona, though, where Bryant never signed. He spent the
entire minicamp watching practices from the sideline, in addition to attending meetings.
Like the reaction from the Giants’ brass, Arizona officials were none too pleased.
Said head coach Dave McGinnis on the Cardinals’ Web site: "I don’t like
it. The person that it is detrimental to is Wendell Bryant. There’s 300 people that
were drafted and there’s one guy that has gotten advice not to (sign the waiver)?
It’s not helping him."
Actually, coach, there are two — Bryant and Hatch. And it’s not only hurting
their chances of developing quickly, but it’s hurting their teams. The Cardinals are
counting on Bryant to step in and help a young defensive line that was nearly void of
talent last season. They need him to make an impact from Day One. If he’s not
participating in everything, he’s going to fall behind. As for Hatch, the Giants
believe he has a real chance to start at left tackle this season, a spot on the line that
is vacant because of Lomas Brown’s release. Hatch needed every possible minute of
practice time with his new linemates if he’s going to live up to expectations.
But neither guy had that figured out at the start of minicamp. And there will be
countless other rookies who don’t have that figured out by July, either. They will be
training-camp holdouts, which is even more harmful to player and team.
I understand that the NFL is a business, and each player considers himself a
businessman who has to watch out for his own best interests. But football is the ultimate
team sport, and these kids need to also think about their teammates. Sitting out a
minicamp practice may not seem like such a big deal. But in reality it is. In doing so,
they are letting themselves down, as well as their fellow players. |
