Grievance Hearing Thread

[ice grillin you]

sorry

i tend to get carried away when seashell necklaces are brought up

[PhillyGirl]

Stephen A. Smith | Getting past the ruling

By Stephen A. Smith
Inquirer Columnist

In Terrell Owens' perfect world, his petulance would be explainable. His tirades would be stomached. His insubordination would be rewarded with the kind of freedom that translates into a new, hefty contract somewhere else while the Eagles regressed to the times of Rich Kotite.

But this is the real world, where nothing is perfect for Terrell Owens. Not now and, quite possibly, not for the remainder of his career. After all the pouting, whining, belligerence and, ultimately, an uncharacteristic mea culpa in his front yard, Owens' immediate future, thanks to an arbitrator's decision yesterday, is stuck in neutral.

Going nowhere. Sullied beyond comprehension. Stagnant, and at the complete mercy of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Unfortunately.

There is no cause for celebration here. There never should be when a situation is rife with a bunch of losers.

Owens has lost big-time, regardless of the imminent spin scheduled to arrive from his agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Donovan McNabb loses, too, his once-pristine reputation fragmented by the perpetual jabs thrown in his direction by Owens.

The Eagles are no better off, either, considering that they're losing not just a player who caught 47 passes for 763 yards in seven games this season, but an all-pro who would have helped them produce a record better than 4-6.

Owner Jeffrey Lurie's "gold standard" no longer exists.

But after stomaching all the acrimony - Owens' demand for a new contract; his vow to be disruptive after not getting one; the receiver's continual shots at McNabb, and the culminating insults aimed at the Eagles - there is still something that absolutely stinks about this whole fiasco.

Mainly, the Eagles' ability to keep Owens from playing elsewhere.

They just didn't rob Owens of the right to work.

They slapped him, then threw him change for good measure.

When you act the way Owens acted, you deserve to get suspended. You deserve to be convicted in the court of public opinion. Humiliation, embarrassment, and all its residual effects are entirely appropriate and, in most circles, condoned. And if it comes in the form of a four-game suspension, the maximum allowed under the league's collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association, more power to the Eagles.

Go for it.

Then leave the man alone, and let Owens live his life.

"The four-week suspension was for just cause," arbitrator Richard Bloch wrote in his decision. "Additionally, there was no inherent violation of the labor agreement in the club's decision to pay Owens but not practice or play him [for the season's last five weeks] due to the nature of the player's conduct and its destructive and continuing threat to the team."

Honestly, that is something I can't fathom.

At the very least, someone in the offices of the NFLPA should be made to answer for this one, evidently for having too much of a cozy relationship with commissioner Paul Tagliabue at the bargaining table.

Just so we get this straight: The Eagles don't want Owens anymore. They've handed down the maximum allowable suspension. And still, just because they're electing to pay him nearly $1 million of his $3.5 million base salary for the final five games of the regular season, they get to put him on their inactive list - instead of releasing him - for the express purpose of preventing him from playing elsewhere.

Message to Gene Upshaw, the union's executive director: Can we talk? Please?

What a thing for players to live with. There's no doubt that the masses feel Owens got exactly what he deserved, but that's only because both he and Rosenhaus were stupid in advertising what they were going to do during contract wrangling.

But what if they had not publicized their plans? What if all of this had happened behind the scenes, and the Eagles had still made this decision?

"The ruling makes clear that Terrell Owens and his agent engaged in conduct that was disruptive to the Eagles and that Coach Reid's decision to suspend the player was appropriate," said Harold Henderson, the NFL's head of labor relations.

Notice the interpretation, and where it's coming from, then ask yourself two simple questions.

If your future was at the total mercy of an employer's interpretation, how would you feel about your job? Wouldn't you deserve some help?

It's almost sacrilegious to ask the latter regarding Owens.

In anyplace else, that is, but America.

[SD_Eagle5]

Donovan McNabb loses, too, his once-pristine reputation fragmented by the perpetual jabs thrown in his direction by Owens.

How did this damage Donovan's reputation? He showed he was the bigger person...again.

[PhillyGirl]

I think TO, Drew Rosenhaus, SAS and Freddie all sat around and ate some popcorn and shared "I hate Donovan" stories together.

I bet TO, SAS and Freddie all called him whitey too.

[hbionic]

PG...its like mixing 6 shots of whiskey after having drunk a case of guiness...you know might happen.


New rule....can we immediately ban anyone posting anything regarding/from/about Stephen A. Smith?

I really don't care for this schmuck.

[ice grillin you]

homie is getting straight cash for the rest of the post suspension season...i could see sas point if they were trying to take away all his money...but come on the guy will be stackin chedder for doing nothing...to me thats exactly what america is all about

[PhillyGirl]

Talk white, please.

[Father Demon]

i love how everybody attacks IGY personally and how he types, it really is funny how petty most people are.  you don't agree with someone so you bash him personally?  sad.  but there's something to be said for that.  people who get that angry from something somebody on a message board says have a reason for being that angry.  most likely, what was said is actually true and it bothers people so much that it was correct that they attack the poster so viciously, as if to try to convince themselves that he is wrong so what he said isn't true.

but hey, whatever makes you feel better about yourself.

He's a clown, Mo.

I'm done with his wigger act.  If this board had an ignore feature, he'd certainly be on mine.

I agree -- CF staff, can you look into an ignore feature?

I thought this wipe was banned a while ago, and it made me smile.  To see that I was wrong sucks.

[SD_Eagle5]

Ahem

YOU WILL ALL LEARN TO RESPECT JESSICA'S AUTHORITY!!

[ice grillin you]

I thought this wipe was banned a while ago, and it made me smile.  To see that I was wrong sucks.

[hbionic]

I don't have a problem with IGY. Actually, is he sponsorable?

IGY...if you are sponsorable...I'll sponsor you. All you have to do is after each message write:

*This message has been sponsored by hbionic

[Diomedes]

That would be quite an endorsement.  "Hey, guys.  I've got Chuggie on my side!!"  Or actually, in ign'ant speech: "Yo, dawgs. Me and Chuggie are tight.  Know whu'm sayin'?"

[General_Failure]

It would probably be "nawmean?"

[PhillyPhreak54]

IGY is cool. Sure his opinions are not usually popular, but everyone on here has different ones at times.

Just like I still wanted TO on the team even after the infamous rip job he did on ESPN in early November. It wasn't until I heard all of the other stuff that I realized I was wrong. I still will not apologize for the TO love fest last year. Last year it was all good. I was willing to sacrifice the harmony of a pre-TO team to win. But its obvious that couldn't be done with all the stuff going on behind the scenes.

[Cerevant]

They didn't know during the mandatory mini-camp of any hearing to later occur.

They absolutely knew that any action they took that would cost TO money would end up in front of an arbitrator.  They said in the testimony that the signing bonus thing was a wake-up call:

The Club at that time demanded repayment of his 1.725 million dollar signing bonus; this was, as the Club testified, meant as a wake-up call.

They started taking the money out of his game checks immediately.
This has been confirmed, even if sources in the media were unaware.

Confirmed by whom?  The only place I've seen or heard that this was followed through on is in the first letter.  Remember the media reported on the second letter during training camp, and even then the signing bonus thing was still considered a threat.  Again, do you have a source that this was followed through on other than text of the first letter?