Fan Bitterness: Bailey vs. Portis

[fuji869]

I have heard both Redskin and Bronco fans bash Champ Bailey and Clinton Portis.

We have more to be bitter over Bailey then Bronco Fans over Portis. Clinton was not going to be paid by Denver this Season after 2 seasons of 1,500 yards. I don’t even think he was going to make a million this season.

As for Champ, the Redskins were going to pay him. They offered him a huge contract extension at the beginning of the 2003 Season he turned down and I think he was offered a pretty nice at the end of the season before he was traded. :deal:

Just my personal observation. :whoknows:

[Guest Westbrook36]

I always want former Eagles to do good when they leave, because I love them. Duce Staley.....if he ran for 2000 yards this year, I'd be as happy as if he were an Eagle.

Hugh Douglas, Bobby T, Troy V.....I always wish them well. They bled green.

I HONESTLY don't understand why people who are Skins fans almost are willing this guy to get burnt, fall flat on his face, get hurt (god forbid), etc.

No matter what he does, it doesn't effect your team one bit.

[jimster]

I'm not bitter about Champ because he left. I have always thought he was a good CB. - good, but not great. He thinks he's one of the best to ever play the game. He says he can do it all - return punts play WR and be a shutdown corner. Well he got his chance to return punts and wasn't very good. He got his chance to play on offense and wasn't very good. He was a pretty good corner to have and would love to still have him, but he was not a "shut-down" corner. When I hear shut-down corner I think of Darrell Green and Deon - players that QB's we're afraid to throw near - Champ was not at that level.

The only thing that makes me bitter about him was the "Oh I'm insulted because you only offered me $14 million to start the negoations", then the statement of "I don't care where I play, as long as I get paid"

-That's not someone I want to see in a Redskins uniform.

[fuji869]

Originally posted by Westbrook36

I always want former Eagles to do good when they leave, because I love them. Duce Staley.....if he ran for 2000 yards this year, I'd be as happy as if he were an Eagle.

Hugh Douglas, Bobby T, Troy V.....I always wish them well. They bled green.

I HONESTLY don't understand why people who are Skins fans almost are willing this guy to get burnt, fall flat on his face, get hurt (god forbid), etc.

No matter what he does, it doesn't effect your team one bit.

I think it all depends on how the player leaves. For example Stephen Davis wanted to stay with the Redskins but SOS did not think he was a good fit for his Fun-N-Gun Offense. There was a lot of support for Big Country with Redskins Fans during the Panthers NFC Championship run. I remember I wore my old #48 Jersey during all the Panthers Playoff Games.

But I think there is some anger when a player is being offered a contract that would make him one of the highest players at his position and he turns it down.

There are several Redskins I have pulled for after the left, Trent Green, Brian Mitchell (even thogh he went to 2 NFC East Teams), Art Monk, Ricky Sanders, Charles Mann, Terry Allen etc.

I think we are just upset at Champ because we were going to pay him and he just did not want to be a Redskin.

[jimster]

I agree with fuji - I too route for Stephan Davis and others that have left in the past, that leave with class.

[Sweet Sassy Molassy]

Jimster said it best, that quote by Bailey summed it all up for me, he doesn't care about the team, just the money. I understand that it's a business, but there's a certain way you handle it, that was just in poor character.

I also lost some respect for him when he seemed to stop caring about the team, it was as if he was just trying to end the season so he could leave town. His play dropped severely, imo and he could have cared less.

I think there are a lot of Redskins players that leave, and I wish them the best (i.e. Jessie Armstead, Stephen Davis, and James Thrash), but when you stop caring about the team, which in a sense means you've stopped caring about me, the fan, I could care less for you.

[bubba9497]

Originally posted by Westbrook36

I always want former Eagles to do good when they leave, because I love them. Duce Staley.....if he ran for 2000 yards this year, I'd be as happy as if he were an Eagle.

Hugh Douglas, Bobby T, Troy V.....I always wish them well. They bled green.

I HONESTLY don't understand why people who are Skins fans almost are willing this guy to get burnt, fall flat on his face, get hurt (god forbid), etc.

No matter what he does, it doesn't effect your team one bit.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[inmate running the asylum]

Originally posted by bubba9497

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

You call this a post? No wonder you and Jbooma have 16 million posts. :laugh: :laugh:

[Art]

Originally posted by fuji869

I have heard both Redskin and Bronco fans bash Champ Bailey and Clinton Portis.

We have more to be bitter over Bailey then Bronco Fans over Portis. Clinton was not going to be paid by Denver this Season after 2 seasons of 1,500 yards. I don’t even think he was going to make a million this season.

As for Champ, the Redskins were going to pay him. They offered him a huge contract extension at the beginning of the 2003 Season he turned down and I think he was offered a pretty nice at the end of the season before he was traded. :deal:

Just my personal observation. :whoknows:

Except I don't believe the financial aspect really is a factor here. Despite the soothing mantra some here adopt that we did what we did because Champ didn't want to be and wouldn't return here, the fact is, Champ would have, had we wanted it in the same way.

We had money available for him to play at a HUGE cap hit this season under the franchise tender and we had money available for him in a major contract. Champ was not the sort of guy who was ever going to hold out once the actual checks started flowing. He was too focused on the money all along.

Honestly, the bitterness some feel toward Champ has little to do with his refusal to negotiate with the team despite contract offers that would have made him the highest paid corner in history. It has little to do with his disinterest in returning.

It has to do with the post-move comments made almost exclusively by reporters. Almost uniformly, every attributed quote to a personnel guy, coach or player since the trade has been gushing about the running back Portis and how important that franchise runner is to a team.

Our own knowledge of the pecking order of franchise building comes into play. We all know a franchise QB is the most important piece if you can find it. Behind franchise corner comes franchise runner if you can find it. Followed probably by franchise rush end, then left tackle before you hit corner.

Only the media has decided to balance judgement of the trade on an ineffective statement that since it is harder to find a franchise corner than a franchise runner, the trade favors Denver. Since the real question isn't about which position is harder to find but rather, you've identified both, so which is more important to a team, it has created a lot of anger in fans who wonder what agenda the media has in forwarding the topic as they have.

Further, you have guys like Prisco who two years ago before Portis had a great year last year wrote Portis was the running back he'd take to build a team around. Now, as soon as he's traded he's merely a "very good" back while Champ has emerged from being a wonderful talent and very good corner in reality to an exceptional, great one, when he's not really reached that level consistently to this point in his career.

The bitterness is because we know what Champ is and we know he's not the media creation he's become. That makes some statements more harsh than they should be as Champ is better than many statements would lead you to believe. He's just not as good as the media portrait would detail.

[TXREDSKINS44]

Yeah I was a Little bitter when Champ left because it wasn't like we didn't offer him big money to stay!!

[Mr. S]

i dunno, i mainly dislike Champ because he just wanted money (which I guess most players do), plus he just seemed to lose heart last year. Though you guys may not like me saying, Bruce Smith showed a lot of heart for the team despite being selfish. Champ just kept stopping afterwards and letting the big play happen, became really annoying. I also hate how vocal Champ suddenly is, he was real quiet among us, now hes just become a guy who doesnt shut up. I think he's a good CB and a great pickup for Denver, but I like what we have now. Also, id be wary of him returning punts, he'll just fumble about half of them. Offense he still may do well.

[Riggo-toni]

Who is this Champ guy you all keep referring to? Is he any relation to our departed CB Roland?

[pr11fan]

I started disliking Champ not b/c of the money he turned down, it was more b/c he seemed to take a shot at the organization every chance he gets, I can't quote them but he also made some backhanded blows during the year from what I remember. That I can't stand, I still like Davis, Trent Green and others that went out with some class. I can't imagine Westbrook would still pull for Dawkins if he left and said he was glad to be away from a bunch of Perennial chokers and happy to be with a classy organization and started self promoting himself all over the media. But whatever

[Funkyalligator]

Ummm...small note about Stephen davis.....we had to let him go because he wouldn't restructure his contract because it was counting 10 mill against the cap....we tried and he wouldn't budge so to say we didn't want him here is simply not true....sure he didn't fit into the Spurrier system but he could have stayed...

[Pocono]

I think the big difference is Champ signed a 5 year rookie contract and played that contract until it's end even though he established a level of excellence early on that exceeded that contract. Much of the value of his rookie contract was paid back in 99 in the form of a SB of 5.2M. In years 2-3-4 he was paid league minimum salary when it was evident he was among the elite players at a highly paid position and easily could have threatenrd not to show up unless his contract was redone. At the end of that contract he was such an elite player he was franchised which took away his chance to experience what 95% of NFL players who have 4 years in attain and that is the right to receive their full worth on the open market.

Portis was drafted much lower and received only 1.25M signing bonus when he signed a 4 year contract. He too displayed a level of excellence that exceeded his contract early on in his career. Although the drama didn't play out the indication was Portis was unwilling to complete the rookie contract he had signed in Denver much like Mike Anderson before him. Since the trade ended the Portis saga it's hard to tell who should be more bitter. I agree with Art that Bailey would have signed that tender had there been no trade but no one knows whether Portis would be holding out at this point refusing to honor a contract he signed. I believe when Portis became a Skin he said he would honor the contract just before he was given the extension but that could have been a favor to the Skins after the extension was a sure thing so it would appear they weren't backed into a corner.

[SonnyRules]

What's done is done.

NEXT!

[DCMONEY]

Champ knew he'd get more on the open market than what the Skins offered him. He took a chance and played out the final year of his contract and cashed in. I can't blame him for that. He could've easily said I'm gonna sit out the last few games especially since the Skins were out of the playoffs but he continued to play. He played despite risking injury from his own personal standpoint. Never missed a game in his career. This despite a huge contract deal coming up one way or the other from Washington or whomever. He could easily be a 5 time pro bowler. He's a four time pro bowler who's performed at a high level regardless. I've said it before RB's come easier than premium corners. Portis 2nd pick, Stephen Davis 4th round pick, Terrell Davis 6th round, Jamal Anderson , Curtis Martin 5th round, Shaun Alexander, Travis Henry, Ricky Watters, Corey Dillon, Ahman Green 3rd round pick to name a few were not 1st round picks Priest Holmes and Mike Anderson weren't even drafted. Most top notch corners. Wingfield, Troy Vincent , McCallister, Charles Woodson, Champ Bailey, Shawn Springs, Deion Sanders, Darrell Green, Bobby Taylor, Rod Woodson and Ty Law were 1st round picks. All this to say to give up Champ and a 2nd rounder for Portis is debatable. I think we're giving up draft picks like crazy. We've already given up our 2nd rounder next year for a 3rd rounder this year to get Chris Cooley. I hope Gibbs can make things work out but in recent years we're trying to bulid mainly through free agency instead of doing our homework and drafting. Its cheaper and better to me.