Zorn76 wrote:Wrong.
It Absolutely Matters if a player wants to be here or not, that's a Major reason a guy like Earl plays with passion, emotion and grit. You don't play that way year in and year out for only money. Doesn't work that way. You can hold out for more money, but for it to be a player's main motivation is what kills the career for a lot of guys. We see it all the time - they hit their own personal super lotto and get lazy. HOF calibre players like Thomas...goes beyond money.
Furthermore, you do realize this is his 9th season in the league coming up. He's still young, but there's a lot of miles on that guy. It's like a real nice sports car...with 220,000 miles on it. It still has power, but the best days are behind her.
If our 'wannabe Cowboy' is willing to work within the cap, I don't have problem with it. If he continues to make comments along the lines of holding out and then proceeds to does so, then he can go f*** himself. Get the value while you can if it comes to it. The LOB is Dead, people. Has been for a couple seasons now.
BS. Players play for teams they don't want to play for all the time for money. Every fricking day. And every draft they go to a team that isn't ideal. It's very rare a player goes to their perfect team.
What makes Earl play with passion is being a professional. Knowing his million dollar contracts rely on him being a professional that performs at a high level. His entire career and reputation are on the line once he signs a contract for millions to perform. That is what makes Earl play with passion. Do you really believe he plays the way he does because he plays on the Seahawks and likes being thousands of miles from his home? Give me a break. This wasn't Earl's ideal team when he got here. He still performed at a high level.
Fans like to think who the player plays for matters, but it doesn't and never has other than the quality of the coach and organization. For players this is their job. Same as guys that work in banking at a high level or any person performs at a high level regardless of whether they want to be there or not. They have a work ethic, are being paid a large sum of money to perform, a sum they worked hard to earn by doing such a great job.
I don't care what you believe. I'm not going to buy fan BS about coaches and FOs worrying about whether a player wants to be here. If that mattered one bit, half our team wouldn't be here. Most of the league would be playing in places like LA, San Diego, Miami, New York, Texas, and other larger market states with chances to make more money from endorsements and better weather. That's why the draft and free agency rules allow teams to retain talent to make them competitive whether it's a place like Cleveland where few want to go or Dallas. Pete and John's job is to field the best team possible within the rules. Earl is part of that whether some nutty fans want to believe that or not.
What's next? "Russell said he doesn't want to be here. Pete and John should trade him." Sure, that's how teams run their free agency and trades. If fans that thought that way ran teams, we'd never be competitive.