Quote:
Originally Posted by AlwaysSunnyinIndy
I think a lot of people forget some of the Colts players who have held out over the years.
I wouldn't say that players that hold out lack integrity - there are a lot of players that have held out.
If that is the determining factor, then:
Reggie Wayne lacks integrity.
Robert Mathis lacks integrity.
The reason why I bring up their names is because they held out at the same exact time.
They both had 2 years left on their (non-rookie) contract. Player salaries had gone up since they signed their deals so they were underpaid vs their peers. They both wanted to renegotiate their contract. Hmmm, that sounds familiar to the details in this thread.
Polian told them to go pound sand. OK, he said it a little more delicately than that but not much, because it was Polian after all. Polian hid behind the CBA negotiations a bit - he said he didn't want to sign any long term deals before knowing the details of the new CBA.
So Wayne and Mathis sat out of voluntary OTA's - this wasn't unusual for Wayne because he typically skipped OTA's anyway. Reggie preferred to work out on his own.
Next Wayne and Mathis sat out of mandatory minicamp.
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ing-new-deals/
In the end, they both reported to training camp that year.
I don't think there was any hard feelings between the player and team - both Reggie and Robert signed a new deal with the Colts once their contract was finally finished.
|
o
It's not the same because the players essentially had no rights way back then, but Mickey Mantle, Joe Dimaggio, Sandy Koufax, and Don Drysdale also had famous/infamous holdouts when they played.
The Yankees fined DiMaggio $100 per day when he held out (that was a lot of money back then, considering that the minimum salary for Major League players was $4,000 per year.)
The Yankees told Mantle to take a hike if he didn't like their salary offer.
The Dodgers used to play Koufax and Drysdale off of one another. They would tell Koufax,
"Are you kidding me ??? We're only paying Drysdale $70,000. We can't pay you $100,000." Then they would tell Drysdale the same .......
"Are you kidding me ??? We're only paying Koufax $70,000. We can't pay you $100,000."
Eventually, Koufax and Drysdale became wise to the chicanery of the Dodgers' front office, and they held out TOGETHER prior to the 1966 season. Even though the players had no other recourse other than holding out (no free agency, no salary arbitration, and a reserve-clause that bound a player to a team for life) the Dodgers eventually caved ...... the mid-1960's Los Angeles Dodgers without Koufax and Drysdale would have been like an ice cream sundae without the ice cream.
o