(OT) Pat Tillman

[Tom Pasniewski 98]

Pat Tillman wasn't drafted for the assignment that this topic started on.  Neither were the three sisters who are in the news this morning as two of them face the decision on whether to return to Iraq afer the death of their sister there.  Pat Tillman is remembered for what he did on the field of football and the field of battle.  But how many are remembered for what they did on the field of battle.  That is, how many of us know any other names of the hundreds of soldiers who have died in the last year.  Do we remember Tillman (football) because of how he died?  Do we remember Dale Earnhardt (NASCAR) for how he died?  Do we remember Hobey Baker (hockey) because of how he died?  Do we remember Payne Stewart (golf) for how he died?  Do we remember Knute Rockne (football) or how he died? Or how Eamon (lacrosse) died.  And the list goes on - the 1961 US figure skating team, the 1970 Marshall University football team, Thurman Munson, Roberto Clemente, etc.  

[ugarte]

[Q]CowbellGuy Wrote:No player should be able to simply decide they're above the system or it completely undermines the system ... If you want to play in the NFL, play by the rules. [/q]The owners like to talk about contracts and draft rules as if honoring them is a moral obligation on the players.  It isn't.  The owners and players are locked in a no-holds-barred struggle and they constantly try to screw eachother. The way the law treats contracts tells us that thinking otherwise is for suckers.  Doctrines (particularly "efficient breach") have evolved over the years to acknowledge that contracts are nothing more than an expression of the balance of power at the time of signing.

The same rules that Eli Manning is supposed to revere also say that player contracts (regardless of stated length) are only guaranteed on a year-by-year basis.  If a player underperforms his five year contract, he gets cut after the first year and receives nothing for the duration - or he takes a pay cut to avoid being cut completely.

Collectively bargaining the draft rules doesn't resolve this problem because the union has its own agenda and the draftees aren't the primary stakeholders.  In addition to trying to boost the fortunes of the bad teams the draft serves a second purpose: to suppress rookie salaries for the protection of veterans' salaries. Draftees have every right to try to undermine a system that is designed for the benefit of everyone except them.

Eli Manning had the power before the draft to limit the Chargers' options and he wisely used that power. In two years, if he doesn't live up to his potential, I assure you that the Giants will force him to renegotiate or send him packing. See Leaf, Ryan and (more recently) Collins, Kerry.

The NFL isn't an ethics seminar it is a cutthroat business.  Just sit back and watch; there is nothing to judge.

[jtwcornell91]

All that being said, Eli's actions were completely within the bounds of the system.  Being drafted means you can't sign with another NFL team (unless the drafting team trades away its rights to you); it doesn't mean you have to sign with the team that drafted you.  It's not like indentured servitude or anything.

[ninian '72]

Looking at it from the team's perspective, I think San Diego gamed the system as well as Manning did.  I can't imagine that anyone in the front office would want him anyplace near their team, given his stated preferences.  They drafted him anyway, dumped him, and wound up with two quality draft picks, including another outstanding quarterback who will probably work out better for them.  Manning got what he wanted, and San Diego will be stronger in the long run, as well.   Sounds like a win/win to me.

[dss28]

I agree.  I couldn't figure out why anyone would want to draft someone who openly states that they would rather sit out a year and not play, rather than play for your team.

I think it's a win-win situation... the only question remaining is, who will the Giants choose to start?  Eli the soap star, or the bachelor?  ;-)

[KenP]

[Q]CowbellGuy Wrote:  Brien Taylor*[/q]Wasn't he the high school star who got a huge signing bonus, only to get into a barroom brawl and dislocate his pitching shoulder?

[RichH]

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned Eric Lindros in this discussion.  

The following article is a pretty good recap of the trade and its effects over 10-years later.
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1208/35_226/95680465/p1/article.jhtml

[CowbellGuy]

Yup. That's the one. They could have picked Cliff Floyd or Shawn Green or Manny Ramirez (well, maybe not Manny), but nooooo...

[jeh25]

[Q]Pete Godenschwager Wrote:

 I guess I just meant that he'd find another job (outside the NFL) for a year[/q]

How come nobody has mentioned Rocket Ismail and the Bucs? (I think it was the Bucs.) Didn't he go play for the Argo's for a couple years and end up in Oakland after the Raider's used a high round draft pick on him?

Also, didn't Elway refuse to play for the Colts?

[ninian '72]

Yes, indeed.  The Elway situation was even messier.  After being drafted by the sorry Colts in '83, he vowed never to play in Baltimore and was traded to Denver six days after the draft.  The fans in Bawlmer took this personally.  In their '83 season opener, the Colts hosted the Broncos, and my wife - a Colorado native and Bronco fan - thought it would be "fun" to go up from DC to see the game.  Most bizarre football game I've ever attended.  Reeves decided to start Elway, and with many fans wearing "Nuke Elway" caps and 50,000 people chanting "Elway sucks" throughout the first half, it was ugly.  Probably as close as I'll ever come to an English soccer match.  Elway was totally rattled and sat the second half.  Close to the end of the first half, my wife had had enough and told the boozy and vocal Colts fans behind us that she now understood why Elway wanted to play for Denver.  (Fortunately, she's mellowed a bit with age.:-) )  We made a quick exit for the concessions area before things got out of hand.