Lurie also criticized Terrell Owens's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, for giving the wide receiver "self-destructive advice" in persuading Owens to hold out for a new contract."It's not even an issue," Lurie said in an exclusive interview. "It's a nonissue. There are a lot of things I spend time thinking about, but that's not one of them."
On top of that, Donovan McNabb did an interview today, and he stated:
``I feel that if he plays or not, we definitely have a chance of making it to the Super Bowl and winning it,'' McNabb said Wednesday, one day after owner Jeffery Lurie said the team won't redo Owens' contract. ``That's nothing against T.O. and it's nothing against anybody else. I just feel confident in the guys that we have. With T.O., I think we can do a lot of great things. Without him, I still think we can do a lot of good things.''
The main problem is this: wide receivers think they are worth more to the team and thus more money than they actually are. That's not to dimish the importance of a good passing game, but the credit and the criticism goes to the quarterback, not the receivers (that is, unless you are the Eagles, then throwing three picks in an NFC Championship Game is always the fault of the receivers). That's why Tom Brady received a six-year, $60 million dollar contract extension this week. The quarterback leads the offense.
But for some reason, wide receivers in today's NFL are ego driven, and then you get a guy like Drew Rosenhaus that will chat them up and they think they're invincible. Unfortuantely, this isn't the NBA. In the NBA, not only would T.O. had gotten a new deal, but he also would have had his previous contract bought out.
You should have worked on that J in high school, T.O.
Not only does Owens face having to give back money for missing the spring mini-camp (the Eagles says he owes almost $2 million), but it will take some time to get back into the team's good graces, no matter what McNabb says. Don't worry, because there are several other receivers that Rosenhaus has duped along with him. When it comes down to it, Rosenhaus doesn't care, because he's going to get paid regardless.
Chris Carter wrote about this a few weeks ago:
Of course, you better be a very good football player if you decide to hold out. You're the one taking the huge risk, not Drew. He isn't playing in the NFL. He doesn't care about your reputation and he doesn't care about the fans. Once the deal is done, though, there are never any lingering effects on either side. Teams know that it's just the nature of the business.Carter's right about Rosenhaus's style, but I think this time around there will be lingering effects, namely Rosenhaus's reputation as well as the reputation of his clients.