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Harris might hold out, but do you care?
Posted: July 13, 2006
Rick Braun
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Green Bay - As we wait another two weeks until training camp opens, we once again get to play that guessing game.
"Will (Fill in name) be there for the first day of camp?"
This year's "Fill in name" is Al Harris.
So will the unhappy cornerback be where he's supposed to be? Will he be on Clark Hinkle Field for the first workout? Will he show up for his physical? Will he be at the first meeting?
These questions grip the Packer Nation again.
In 2004 it was Mike McKenzie.
In 2005 it was Javon Walker.
In 2006 it's Harris.
And we're left here with all these questions.
And I've decided the answer is pretty simple.
The answer is . . . I simply don't give a darn any more.
Three consecutive years of petulance, and I've pretty much had it.
Show up if you feel like it Al, don't show up if you don't feel like it. I couldn't care less.
You're unhappy, I hear, because your contract doesn't quite match up to those of Aaron Kampman and Charles Woodson.
Tough.
You seemed pretty happy when you signed it back in 2004.
Judging by your appearance on "MTV Cribs," you're obviously not wondering where your next meal is coming from or living in squalor.
So somebody makes more money than you. Big deal. Call me when you have a real problem.
Call me when you can't afford food for the family.
Call me when the price of a tank of gas means you're only getting a quarter of a tank at a time.
But don't go into a snit because someone else got a better contract than the one you yourself were only so happy to sign two years ago.
The McKenzie snit ruined 2004 for the Packers. Remember that team, Al? It was the one that just missed going to the NFC championship game a year earlier. The team that Brett Favre pretty much said Super Bowl or bust about.
Did you like having a chance at the Super Bowl wrecked by a crybaby?
How about the 2005 team?
Walker skipped all of the off-season programs and camps but showed up for training camp. Then, in a most-unfortunate occurrence he got hurt. Of course that all became management's fault and Walker got his wish and an under-valued ticket out of town.
The only good part about all of that was he at least got rid of Drew Rosenhaus before he got his money from the Denver Broncos.
But here we are in 2006, and now we've got to wonder about whether you'll be gracing us with your presence.
And I'm tired of it.
Go ahead and call it business.
The funny part is, players always say it's business. Nothing personal, they're just looking out for themselves. Don't take their holdouts personally, the players always say.
Then the team makes a business decision and players start popping out of the woodwork saying they're underpaid for this reason or that. Or the team doesn't care about them.
Or - one of my favorites - it's not about the money but about respect.
We all know it's always about the money.
Never mind that fans have to spend $65 to sit in nose-bleed seats. The players believe there is an infinite supply of such suckers.
In Green Bay, the waiting list for season tickets is miles long. Stand all those folks in a line, and we're not talking figuratively.
But what if . . . what if . . . what if fans finally said they'd had enough?
What if a different player crying about his contract every year finally made the majority of fans say they were done with it all?
Yeah, that's living in a dream. Yeah, it's wishful thinking. Yeah, it's just not going to happen.
But what if, just once, fans could send the message? How would they do it?
We'll never find that out in Green Bay. With a team where folks take their vacations and travel from around the country just to stand outside the fence of a practice field, we're never going to find out what could happen if the fans decided to spend their money elsewhere.
And we're not even suggesting that they do that in this space. But what if?
What if every-year holdouts were enough to send the folks elsewhere?
The Packers will never find that out.
But what the Packers could do to fight the situation is at least take a stand.
They capitulated to McKenzie, sending him to the New Orleans Saints for a player since waived and a second-round pick that turned into Nick Collins.
And they again capitulated to Walker, sending him to Denver for a second-round pick.
But just once . . . just once wouldn't it be nice to see a team take a stand. "Play for what your contract says or retire."
Walker claimed he'd retire rather than play again for the Packers. Wouldn't you have liked to see them call his bluff?
Now it's Harris who's posturing. And it would be nice if the Packers took a stand.
Posted: July 13, 2006
Rick Braun
Green Bay - As we wait another two weeks until training camp opens, we once again get to play that guessing game.
"Will (Fill in name) be there for the first day of camp?"
This year's "Fill in name" is Al Harris.
So will the unhappy cornerback be where he's supposed to be? Will he be on Clark Hinkle Field for the first workout? Will he show up for his physical? Will he be at the first meeting?
These questions grip the Packer Nation again.
In 2004 it was Mike McKenzie.
In 2005 it was Javon Walker.
In 2006 it's Harris.
And we're left here with all these questions.
And I've decided the answer is pretty simple.
The answer is . . . I simply don't give a darn any more.
Three consecutive years of petulance, and I've pretty much had it.
Show up if you feel like it Al, don't show up if you don't feel like it. I couldn't care less.
You're unhappy, I hear, because your contract doesn't quite match up to those of Aaron Kampman and Charles Woodson.
Tough.
You seemed pretty happy when you signed it back in 2004.
Judging by your appearance on "MTV Cribs," you're obviously not wondering where your next meal is coming from or living in squalor.
So somebody makes more money than you. Big deal. Call me when you have a real problem.
Call me when you can't afford food for the family.
Call me when the price of a tank of gas means you're only getting a quarter of a tank at a time.
But don't go into a snit because someone else got a better contract than the one you yourself were only so happy to sign two years ago.
The McKenzie snit ruined 2004 for the Packers. Remember that team, Al? It was the one that just missed going to the NFC championship game a year earlier. The team that Brett Favre pretty much said Super Bowl or bust about.
Did you like having a chance at the Super Bowl wrecked by a crybaby?
How about the 2005 team?
Walker skipped all of the off-season programs and camps but showed up for training camp. Then, in a most-unfortunate occurrence he got hurt. Of course that all became management's fault and Walker got his wish and an under-valued ticket out of town.
The only good part about all of that was he at least got rid of Drew Rosenhaus before he got his money from the Denver Broncos.
But here we are in 2006, and now we've got to wonder about whether you'll be gracing us with your presence.
And I'm tired of it.
Go ahead and call it business.
The funny part is, players always say it's business. Nothing personal, they're just looking out for themselves. Don't take their holdouts personally, the players always say.
Then the team makes a business decision and players start popping out of the woodwork saying they're underpaid for this reason or that. Or the team doesn't care about them.
Or - one of my favorites - it's not about the money but about respect.
We all know it's always about the money.
Never mind that fans have to spend $65 to sit in nose-bleed seats. The players believe there is an infinite supply of such suckers.
In Green Bay, the waiting list for season tickets is miles long. Stand all those folks in a line, and we're not talking figuratively.
But what if . . . what if . . . what if fans finally said they'd had enough?
What if a different player crying about his contract every year finally made the majority of fans say they were done with it all?
Yeah, that's living in a dream. Yeah, it's wishful thinking. Yeah, it's just not going to happen.
But what if, just once, fans could send the message? How would they do it?
We'll never find that out in Green Bay. With a team where folks take their vacations and travel from around the country just to stand outside the fence of a practice field, we're never going to find out what could happen if the fans decided to spend their money elsewhere.
And we're not even suggesting that they do that in this space. But what if?
What if every-year holdouts were enough to send the folks elsewhere?
The Packers will never find that out.
But what the Packers could do to fight the situation is at least take a stand.
They capitulated to McKenzie, sending him to the New Orleans Saints for a player since waived and a second-round pick that turned into Nick Collins.
And they again capitulated to Walker, sending him to Denver for a second-round pick.
But just once . . . just once wouldn't it be nice to see a team take a stand. "Play for what your contract says or retire."
Walker claimed he'd retire rather than play again for the Packers. Wouldn't you have liked to see them call his bluff?
Now it's Harris who's posturing. And it would be nice if the Packers took a stand.
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