When Carolina wide receiver Steve Smith put his home up for sale a few months ago, the conventional wisdom was that it was a sign he wants to be traded.
He has danced around the question of whether he wants to be traded, saying he wants to be in a "competitive situation." That doesn't describe the Panthers, who were 2-14 last year.
He then told Pro Football Weekly, "I think it's important that people realize I am not packing my bags."
He then gave a surprising reason for wanting to sell his house. He said he built one that is too big.
"We built this huge house and we just didn't have any business living in it. It seemed like a great idea, and then we moved into this big house. We started cringing at all he space that we had," he said. "For me, it was a little bit vain that I have this big house with this big yard. People saw my house was for sale and said it me sending a message [that he wanted to be traded]. Really, the message I sent was to my kids. Dad made a mistake. This isn't how we are supposed to live. This isn't what I should be projecting. If we don't do this now, what incentive do I give to my kids to reach for? You make a bit a money and then you go blow it? I don't want to be a statistic. I want to be a good steward."
Smith built the 10,700-square foot house in 2007. It has six bedrooms, five full bathrooms and four half-bathrooms. It has a five-plus car garage, a backyard resort with heated pool and spa and a separate pool house.
It is also not that easy to sell a house that expensive, especially in a soft real estate market. He has already lowered the price from $2.9 million to $2.3 million.
An owner's
poor argument
Nothing much is happening on the lockout front in the NFL as both sides await next month's court hearing.
Several teams have announced pay cuts and furloughs for front-office employees.
Both sides, though, continue to go over the top in rhetoric.
Dolphins owner Stephen Ross said his team's employees would get the pay cuts returned or time off if no games are missed.
But then he said of the dispute, to USA Today, "It's about having a system that works. It's not about a bunch of greedy owners. It's a bunch of players looking to see how much they can really get."
Ross somehow overlooked the fact that the players want to retain what they have. The owners are trying to take back what they gave them in 2006.
And Ross bought the team for $1 billion in 2008, when he knew this system was in place.
He explained that by saying, "The emotions of wanting to own a team were greater than the fact that this might be coming."
He then undermined the owners' legal case to uphold the lockout. The owners are arguing the Norris-LaGuardia Act forbids courts from issuing injunctions in labor disputes. The players are arguing it is not a labor dispute because they decertified as a union.
Yet Ross said it is not a labor dispute.
He said the owners negotiate with unions all the time, but this is different because of the money the players make.
"You're not talking about the same kind of labor issues. Are these really labor issues? These are not labor issues. There should no sympathy in the labor-union movement in America for these ballplayers. It is a different deal," he said.
Actually, it's the same deal. The players make a lot of money, but they are employees who have no equity in the company. The players got none of the $1 billion that Ross paid for the team.
A player's poor argument
On the players' side, Drew Brees of the Saints went on a rant to SI.com that the owners are making their move because of the death of former union head Gene Upshaw in 2008.
"Ever since Gene Upshaw passed away — I'm just going to lay it all out there — the owners saw blood in the water. They felt like, 'This is our opportunity to take a significant piece of the [financial] pie back at all costs, a piece that we will never have to give back again. This is our chance, while they don't have leadership, while they're scrambling to find a new executive director. This is our time.' "
Brees overlooked the fact that the owners opted out of the deal in 2008, before Upshaw died. His death had no effect on the owners' strategy.
Parkinson's Law
And then there was the comment by Eagles coach Andy Reid that the product will be hurt if the offseason workouts and the OTAs are wiped out.
"There are reasons why we have those things. ... We try to get the utmost out of it," he said.
The real reason they have those things is Parkinson's Law: Work expands to fill the time available for its completion. When the players weren't making big money and had offseason jobs, they weren't available for offseason workouts.
As recently as the 1970s, the teams had one three-day minicamp in the offseason and the fans weren't complaining about the product.
It could even be argued the offseason workouts contribute to the wear and tear on the players' bodies.
And while the workouts might make the game more sophisticated, the fans probably can't tell the difference.
Coaches in the middle
It was not surprising that the NFL Coaches Association filed a "friend of the court" brief in support of the NFLPA's attempt to end the lockout.
What was surprising was that 17 Redskins assistants responded with a statement disavowing the association's position. "We stand with the ownership," the statement said. They said they weren't informed in advance of the filing.
The assistants, who have their own issues with the owners, have talked about forming a union, but the action of the Redskins' coaches shows they have little leverage. Coaches can be replaced much easier than the players.
Fisher's son lands softly
Tennessee Titans owner Bud Adams wasn't happy that former coach Jeff Fisher wanted to add his son, Brandon, to the coaching staff this year after he worked in an informal capacity for the team last year. It became a moot point when Fisher moved on.
But being Jeff Fisher's son meant he got a job even in the middle of the lockout. The Lions announced they have hired Fisher to assist the defensive coaching staff.
Brandon's qualifications are that he was a linebacker at the University of Montana.
Do you think being Fisher's son helped him get the gig?
Tebow staying busy
Tim Tebow will be having some lucrative lockout time this week.
According to the Milwaukee Business Journal, he will be a featured guest at a ceremony on Tuesday marking the opening of Jockey's new, 6,000 square-foot factory store in Kenosha, Wis. Tebow is a spokesman for the company.
Tebow will also be at a book signing at Books-A-Million in Jacksonville Beach on Monday.
Source http://jacksonville.com/
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