The lesson I take from all this: Playing football must really suck

[bird_1972]

I'll have to bring this up with Dr. Goldsmith.

Not a bad idea.

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

Maybe being selfless isn't always glorious in itself, but it's selflessness that wins championships, and championships are glorious.

Question: would you rather make $250,000 and be on a championship team and get to open Honda dealerships for the rest of your life?

Or make $25 million, never make the playoffs, and spend your retirement snorting fine cocaine with onion-butted young women.

[jflow78]

i do? Really?

I'll have to bring this up with dr. Goldsmith.

:rotflmao: This is hilarious.

I understand what you're saying man' date=' but, I think, even in football, sometimes players demand more than we know. No one is going to force Peyton Manning to run another offense. Dungy had more running plays, but not a completely different offense.

That can be said of lots of players. I think the real issue is that AH hasn't been in to actually see what it is he WOULD be doing in the defense. He hears he's going to play NT part time and then he takes his ball and goes home. Now, Blache used him as a gap stopper last season, and often it appeared AH did his own thing, which is why I think Fletcher called him out the other day.

I think if the dude actually tried to come in and see what he would be doing, and actually had an honest to goodness picture of what they'd do with him on the DL, then he could come away and say, "Those ******* are crazy, they want me to stay within a two foot area and spin on my knee." But he hasn't even been to a single practice. I would bet they're planning on making him the focal point of the DL and where ever they see a mismatch, that's where he goes to exploit and destroy, the problem is, he hasn't seen ANY part of the defense.

Sure he'll be playing a standard NT once in a while, but he hasn't even talked to the coaches to ask them, "so can I penetrate more often, please," because he hasn't been there. He might be asked to penetrate EVERY TIME, but he doesn't know. So, he's just talking out of his *** mostly.

I'm actually extremely disappointed because I thought he'd be destroying people this season, but now it looks like we might never know.

Question: would you rather make $250,000 and be on a championship team and get to open Honda dealerships for the rest of your life?

Or make $25 million, never make the playoffs, and spend your retirement snorting fine cocaine with onion-butted young women.

I was all about the car dealerships until you brought up "onion-butted", which deserves a copyright all its own

[CaliforniaSkin]

And that apparently sucks. Being selfless is not fun.

Winning is fun. Personally I think being contributing to the team to win is more fun than looking good individually while losing. Obviously' date=' Haynesworth wouldn't agree.

Has anyone ever imagined themselves in the game winning drive of the Super Bowl and their contribution is a good solid chip block on a defensive end?

Most of the players on the field aren't going to get the glory. You're dismissing every offensive lineman, hockey defenseman, soccer fullback, or NBA defensive specialist out of hand. I'll bet Trent Williams and Okung dream of shutting down Mathis or the like in the superbowl and pancaking the guy in front of them to open up holes. I doubt they think they're 'sacrificing' because they're not the one on sportscenter.

Granted, all sports have their role players. But that's not the point. Role players are happy making six figures and having road beef in Dallas and the Twin Cities. Football is the only sport that asks superstars to sacrifice while having the audacity to mean it.

No, it's not. Lots of players in lots of sports are willing to "sacrifice" personal glory for the good of the team. For many, winning is more important than individual accolades. Even A-rod switched positions when he was, honestly, the better shortstop and wanted to continue playing shortstop. Players get moved to DH when they still want to play in the field. Catchers get moved to first base when they think of themselves as catchers. Centers get moved to power forward and vice versa. For most of them, doing what helps the team win isn't a sacrifice. We talk about players sacrificing their bodies all the time, is it really so much to ask them to sacrifice a little ego?

It all depends on your attitude. For Haynesworth, being part of a great team is obviously not nearly as important as getting the glory. He'd rather be individually noticed on a bad team than 'sacrifice' by giving up glory to help his team win. Sacrifice means giving up something of value for something else presumably of greater value.

[bird_1972]

Question: would you rather make $250' date='000 and be on a championship team and get to open Honda dealerships for the rest of your life?

Or make $25 million, never make the playoffs, and spend your retirement snorting fine cocaine with onion-butted young women.[/quote']

It depends on the individual person.

Some take pride in their job, figure $250K is enough to live on, and would relish the memory of winning a championship because they love what they do.

Others are in it just for the money and view themselves as a commodity, with maximizing their market value being their end-game as opposed to maximizing the chances that their team wins a championship.

[CaliforniaSkin]

Question: would you rather make $250' date='000 and be on a championship team and get to open Honda dealerships for the rest of your life?

Or make $25 million, never make the playoffs, and spend your retirement snorting fine cocaine with onion-butted young women.[/quote']

Better question, would you rather make $20M and play for a champion or $25M and never make the playoffs? That might be a harder question and will certainly depend on the individual. Losing sucks, winning is fun and being on a world champion team is something 99.99999% of the world can only dream about. How much is that worth?

Money is an entirely different issue than anything going on with Haynesworth. I'm not going to fault a player for 'taking the money' and going to another team. But even so, it is never a question of $250,000 vs $25M - maybe $22M vs. $25M but never a 100 to 1 difference.

But the question for Haynesworth isn't about money - He's gotten $32M in the last year and is guaranteed at lest $9M more if he doesn't screw it all up (and really $16M over the next 3 years). So he's set for life if he isn't an enormous idiot (big assumption I know).

The question is whether you'd rather make sportscenter every week on a team that never makes the playoffs, or work hard, be noticed and appreciated by your peers, coaches and knowledgeable fans as a key contributor on a championship team?

[illone]

I'd buy this if he was being asked to switch to Oline, or Safety as Shanny joked about, but he's moving ONE GAP in or out depending on down/distance, etc.

I'd expect most anyone to at least look at it and give it a try before throwing a tantrum and storming out, or in this case, not even showing up.

Albert Haynesworthless had his chance to find another team. Instead he took the check from the Redskins.

If you were in charge, and someone cashed your $21MM check, you'd want to know wussup:ols:

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

It all depends on your attitude. For Haynesworth, being part of a great team is obviously not nearly as important as getting the glory. He'd rather be individually noticed on a bad team than 'sacrifice' by giving up glory to help his team win. Sacrifice means giving up something of value for something else presumably of greater value.

Maybe it does. Maybe it does not.

I don't think Haynesworth is correct. In fact, he is most likely wrong.

What I find interesting is that everyone has simply dismissed the possibility that he may be correct about what is best for himself and for the team. And I think this would only happen in the NFL.

Kobe Bryant spent the middle part of this decade be a pentulant raping jerk. And it turned out, he was probably exactly right about the kind of team he needed. And if he wins tonight, he enters the discussion of "Ten Greatest Players Ever."

[Lombardi's_kid_brother]

This is why I'm bad at sports message boards, particularly football message boards. Except for the game itself and maybe the 24 hour period after the game, I'm not so much interested in sports as I am "the perception of sports."

If I ever understood Plato's Cave, I could probably explain this better.

[pvkeeper19]

Question: would you rather make $250' date='000 and be on a championship team and get to open Honda dealerships for the rest of your life?

Or make $25 million, never make the playoffs, and spend your retirement snorting fine cocaine with onion-butted young women.[/quote']

I see where you're taking this, and that's not really a fair question. As things stand, I'm a regular guy sitting at a desk, and you're giving me the option to buy a $24.75 million spot for my name on a championship roster. So in your fantasy land, I'd rather have the cash, because as a regular Joe, neither of those options will ever be within my grasp, but the money helps me more.

Your example can't be applied to NFL level athletes, though. If a player is good enough to make $25M, he can make something close to that for any number of teams, some of whom will have a better chance to win a championship than others. So a more appropriate question might be, would he rather make $17M and win a championship or make $25M and not win a championship? That's a decision each player must make for himself.

That complicates things further, because taking the lower salary obviously can't guarantee you the championship ring, so the player has to decide between an extra few million bucks and immortality. Also, this hypothetical isn't in any way applicable to the Haynesworth ordeal.

[Burgold]

You can't make a convincing argument that you're being misused by not being there.

[Dan T.]

The second-most vilified Redskin for a rampant ego is Clinton Portis. Portis put on 20 pounds and changed into a power runner because Joe Gibbs II came back with his 1980's counter trey/50 gut offense.

I don't know if that supports or refutes LKB's premise. But it's an example of a football player with a massive ego and a fat contract putting the team ahead of himself.

You can't make a convincing argument that you're being misused by not being there.

Well put, Burgold.

I've said it before. Albert Haynesworth is like Lavernaeious Coles. Both are the type of people who aren't happy unless they're unhappy. They can always find some grudge to harbor or some personal slight to stew over. They live their lives angry. And sooner or later they become poison to a team environment.

[illone]

I don't know if that supports or refutes LKB's premise. But it's an example of a football player with a massive ego and a fat contract putting the team ahead of himself.

Excellent point.

Portis was the highest paid running back in the league at the time, he certainly could have said "Hey, you are using me wrong"

Not a peep from him, that WHOLE time.

[Tom [Giants fan]]

Can someone post the numbers for Haynesworth's contract? I want to see how much of a sacrifice he has to make playing over center instead of guard. I have no sympathy for these clowns complaining where they have to play. You are playing football, deal with it!!

[illone]

;7586115']Can someone post the numbers for Haynesworth's contract? I want to see how much of a sacrifice he has to make playing over center instead of guard. I have no sympathy for these clowns complaining where they have to play. You are playing football' date=' deal with it!![/quote']

Not sure the exact numbers, but I read that he has received $32MM since signing.

~$9MM last year SB, then $2MM salary and then another $21MM on April 1st this year, roster bonus I believe.

[Dan T.]

Not sure the exact numbers, but I read that he has received $32MM since signing.

~$9MM last year SB, then $2MM salary and then another $21MM on April 1st this year, roster bonus I believe.

Move over Deion...

[CaliforniaSkin]

Maybe it does. Maybe it does not.

I don't think Haynesworth is correct. In fact' date=' he is most likely wrong.

What I find interesting is that everyone has simply dismissed the possibility that he may be correct about what is best for himself and for the team. And I think this would only happen in the NFL.

Kobe Bryant spent the middle part of this decade be a pentulant raping jerk. And it turned out, he was probably exactly right about the kind of team he needed. And if he wins tonight, he enters the discussion of "Ten Greatest Players Ever."[/quote']

I hear you. I'm not convinced that going to a 3-4 is the best decision given the personnel on the roster. That said, and what Haynesworth doesn't seem to get, is that they're all hybrids at this point. Even in a 3-4 there are usually 4 guys on the line, it's just that one of them is standing up. And in the 4-3, Dlinemen are often asked to drop into zone coverage these days so the differences may not be as big as they are made out to be.

I think the key problem is, after the contract like his was signed, making a distinction between what is best for him and what is best for the team. When you get top 10 in the league money the team is supposed to come first. If we all believed that this was really an argument about what was best for the team not what he thought was best for Haynesworth, AH would have a lot more defenders. But it seems pretty clear that it's about him, not the team.

Kobe was (I think still is) a jerk but unquestionably a great player. I'm not sure I agree with you about him being right though - those Kobe/Shaq teams were better than this team regardless of whether it wins a championship or not- they went to the Finals 4 out 5 yeas and won 3. If they'd kept that Kobe/Shaq team together I'm guessing he'd have more rings and in any case, obviously they could win championships with that team. It turns out they can win with this type of team too, so in that sense Kobe was right - he didn't/doesn't need Shaq (though he does need a potentially dominant big man - he couldn't win until he got Gasol).

[DarrellsMyHero28]

I'm pretty sure we signed Kemo to play NT.

Haynesworth was going to likely play some 3-4 DE as well as NT occasionally but I'm pretty sure we aren't switching to a full time 3-4. Thus, he'd have an opportunity to play 4-3 DT as well.

Basically, he's being a selfish *******.

[illone]

Move over Deion...

Haynesworth is the biggest free agent bust in NFL history.

[Conn]

You sound like a complete douchebag when you say stuff like this, BTW.

I love it. I think that's why 85% of people (or more) don't get his threads...or posts on a daily basis.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I'm pretty sure we signed Kemo to play NT.

Haynesworth was going to likely play some 3-4 DE as well as NT occasionally but I'm pretty sure we aren't switching to a full time 3-4. Thus, he'd have an opportunity to play 4-3 DT as well.

Basically, he's being a selfish *******.

This is exactly right. I'm sure he would have played in the middle occasionally. But all in all, I think they wanted him on the end in the 3-4 and in the middle when they ran 4-3.

The overarching point though is that he doesn't know because he never even bothered to show up and hear what type of scheme we were implementing.

[illone]

You sound like a complete douchebag when you say stuff like this, BTW.

Your sarcasm meter broke or what?

[DarrellsMyHero28]

The overarching point though is that he doesn't know because he never even bothered to show up and hear what type of scheme we were implementing.

Exactly.

And it seems like there has been little/no communication between AH and the coaching staff, which I obviously would assume is more the fault of Fat Ass.

[TheDane]

But' date=' as seems to be the case with all of my threads, 85 percent of you miss the point. I like to believe that's because I'm in the top percentile in standardized testing.

[/quote']

A good reason why standardized testing rarely measures common sense, which states that players in the ultimate team sport with an owner-favorable bargaining agreement will make sacrifices. It does not mean "playing football sucks," it means, "if you are a selfish athlete, then you won't like the restrictions in the current iteration of the National Football League."

[FedExFielder]

I wonder if someone in an office is asked to move to the next desk over, and they had a spot right under the AC vent in the middle of summer, if it would be OK for them to just not show up and expect a paycheck.