Donte' Stallworth

[troyhstewart]

The Philly Inquirer (Brookover) broke the substance abuse story so the trail starts there....

Wasn't Brookover the one that had the very rare 1 on 1 interview with McNabb at the Syracuse/Villanova game?   

[SunMo]

Any team interested in Stallworth would have equal opportunity and motivation to leak the info.  It's that simple.

equal opportunity?  yes.

equal motivation?  no.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

Any team interested in signing him would want to keep his price down and deter other suitors.

Equal. Motivation.

[Rome]

Any team interested in Stallworth would have equal opportunity and motivation to leak the info.  It's that simple.

But the Eagles would have more to lose if they were found out, bro.  That's why their leaking his attendance in the program is so unlikely by my way of thinking.

[SD_Eagle5]

Considering Brookover writes in Philly and has a majority of his sources in Philly its hard to imagine the leak not coming from the Eagles.

[dis12]

not sure if this was posted yet....

Stallworth bids delayed by substance-abuse issue
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
BY JOHN NALBONE
Some light was shed yesterday on the lack of offers for free agent wide receiver Donté Stallworth when the Philadelphia Inquirer, citing unidentified league sources, reported Stallworth entered the market Friday as a participant in the league's substance-abuse program.

Stallworth, 26, will not be suspended because it was his first offense and he remains free to negotiate with any team he chooses.

It is not known whether Stallworth failed a drug test, was cited by law enforcement for an alcohol or drug-related offense, or entered the program voluntarily.

Another violation would result in a four-game suspension.

Running back Travis Henry, suspended four games last season as a member of the Tennessee Titans following a second violation, signed with the Denver Broncos yesterday for $12 million in guaranteed money.

Therefore the market for Stallworth, who caught 38 passes for 725 yards and five touchdowns for the Eagles this past season, is anything but shot.

Under the guidelines of the collective bargaining agreement, any teams interested in signing Stallworth were entitled to know whether he was subject to a suspension the next time he fails to comply with any terms of the NFL's intervention program.

The Eagles knew about Stallworth's violation before the start of free agency and have yet to extend an offer to the former first-round draft pick of the New Orleans Saints, who is represented by firebrand agent Drew Rosenhaus.

An Eagles spokesman said yesterday the team can not comment on the matter due to confidentiality rules.

Stallworth, a big-play threat seeking a signing bonus of between $12 and $16 million, would like to return to the Eagles.

General manager Tom Heckert said the team would like to have Stallworth back, but it is not inclined to overpay for any of this year's free agents.

According the NFL Network, Stallworth is scheduled to visit Tennessee and New England this week.

While Stallworth and Rosenhaus wait, the market for wideouts is on its way to being set, with Drew Bennett (six years, $10 million signing bonus, Rams), Ashley Lelie (two years, $2 million bonus, 49ers) and Dennis Northcutt (five years, $3.4 million per season, Jaguars) all coming to terms over the weekend.

Stallworth is substantially better than any of those three players, and despite issues raised by the Eagles and others regarding his durability, the four games he missed last season with a strained hamstring was his only time off the field in the last three years.

Free agent cornerback Will James, who the Eagles would like to re-sign as their nickel back, has visits scheduled with Atlanta and the Saints over the next two days, and he could sign with either team by the end of the week. Dallas and Houston also have interest in James, who was known as Will Peterson when he played for the Giants. But neither the Cowboys nor the Texans have set up an official visit with James as yet ... Only half of the league's 32 teams have signed players from other organizations since the start of free agency. The Eagles are not one of them and, as of yesterday afternoon, had no visits scheduled.

[ice grillin you]

Considering Brookover writes in Philly and has a majority of his sources in Philly its hard to imagine the leak not coming from the Eagles.

exactly...that was my point...doesnt mean its 100% the eagles but it certainly points to them above all others...


Admittedly, the Eagles did have the most to gain from releasing information to keep the market for Stallworth down, but what they would stand to lose if anyone ever found out it was them is almost incalculable.  

then you have to believe it was stallworth himself that did it or the NFL...because any team in the league would face the same consequences as the eagles were they to be exposed as the leak

bottom line is the source of the leak is not getting out...ever...no reporter is going to committ career suicide by revealing the source...and whoever leaked the info whether it be the eagles or anyone else knew this

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

I wish it were Banner, but it could have even been Rosenhaus.

Frankly, I don't care.  I just want the Eagles to sign his ass.

[PhillyPhanInDC]

LEAGUE INVESTIGATING STALLWORTH LEAK?

We've just tuned into Sirius NFL Radio, and Bob Papa and Randy Cross were spouting off about an investigation into the manner in which information regarding receiver Donte' Stallworth was leaked during or on the eve of free agency.

The information definitely was out there, because Stallworth is the guy to whom we were referring last week when we mentioned that we'd heard that a pending free agent was in the program.

The 2006 NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse makes clear that any NFL club that violates the confidentiality provisions of the Program may be fined anywhere from $10,000 to $500,000.  As a practical matter, however, it's going to be hard to prove that anyone blabbed.

Though someone in the know surely told the reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer about Stallworth's status in the Program, the reality is that the NFL has no way to get the reporter to talk -- unless the league can finagle a grand jury investigation and force the reporter to talk under pain of imprisonment.

But the NFL would never want to dirty its hands with that kind of a Playmakers-style plot line.  Are confidentialities regarding the Program breached?  Hell, yes.  All the time.  Unless the NFL makes a big deal about finding out who it was, however, most people won't realize that the NFL, like most organizations, has certain corrupt elements.  So the NFL will continue to look the other way, or engage in only a cursory investigation that inevitably yields inconclusive results.

So we don't expect this thing to go anywhere.  In fact, absent an public admission by a team official that he or she blabbed, we can't imagine the NFL ever taking action against anyone on this kind of a violation. 

Even if somehow somebody found out who blabbed it, the punishment doesn't seem severe to me, sure it could damage the teams rep a bit, but what players actually implicitly trust the FO they play for anyway? The fine wouldn't even be a bug on the windshield. Nothing will ever come of it.

FF, help me understand, not trying to be ignorant, but why in the world would Rosenhaus leak that about his client??

[Wingspan]

Stallworth is substantially better

[ice grillin you]

Even if somehow somebody found out who blabbed it, the punishment doesn't seem severe to me, sure it could damage the teams rep a bit, but what players actually implicitly trust the FO they play for anyway? The fine wouldn't even be a bug on the windshield. Nothing will ever come of it.

much more than the financial hit of a fine would be the front office PR hit and its effect on players both currently on the team and potential free agents

[Father Demon]

Think about this -- if I were working for, say New England, and I wanted to leak that information to try to get Stallworth on my team, would I leak it to the Boston press? Of course not.

Because it came from a Philly paper does NOT implicate the Eagles in any shape, size, or form.  Anyone, and any team, that wanted this to get out, would go to the Philly Inky to keep the fingers AWAY from the real source, and hopefully get the druids that want to blame the Eagles FO for anything and everything to believe that it did.

No. Smoking. Gun.

[Wingspan]

The PR hit would only last as long as the next thing that send media and fans into a tizzy. Which is about 4 days.

Then of course there would be some more hits later, as slow news days will bring up reminders of the incident.

So over the course of 3 years, it would be about 9 days of PR hits.

[Rome]

Stallworth is substantially better

He is but I still chuckled when I read it.  Nalbone sounds like a publicity agent for Stallworth in that piece.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

FF, help me understand, not trying to be ignorant, but why in the world would Rosenhaus leak that about his client??

I'll admit it's far-fetched...

My line of thinking is that play for Stallworth leading up to and in the first day of free agency wasn't nearly what he'd hoped, so he leaked the info to get Donte's name in the press.  Also, as an initial reaction is "this will drive his price down", it might entice more teams to get involved in bidding, hoping for a bargain.  And when he can respond, "Donte did a dime bag in his rookie year and checked himself in to make sure he always put his NFL career first," it makes Stallworth look even more upstanding.

I wouldn't put anything past Rosenhaus, Banner, or any of the possible people that could have leaked this.  The NFL is a cutthroat business.