Hines Ward to Pittsburgh front office. Pay me beyotches!!

[MeShawn]

He deserves the money and a new contract.

No doubt there. Top 5 receivers shouldn't be making better than top 29 money.

Definately

[KingGhidra]

Updating previous news.

The News
Hines Ward said earlier in the week?after Tommy Maddox signed a contract extension?he wants to get paid too. Now that the Steelers have finished up minicamp workouts, Ward is hinting he might hold out of training camp. "I come out here, I worked hard, I did what I had to do out here and now I'm going to continue to work hard this offseason," Ward told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "I'm going to go home from the break and get ready for training camp. We'll see what happens then." The wideout re-iterated his stance on Friday, telling the Associated Press, "I maxed out all my incentives?and I'm still underpaid. That's just a fact." Head coach Bill Cowher isn't sure what to expect when training camp opens at the end of July. "We'll wait and see," Cowher said. "I have no control over that."
Our View
You get the impression Cowher has had about enough drama from his starting wide receiver tandem. Plaxico Burress was a no-show for minicamp, but will apparently be on hand for training camp?and now Ward might not be there. The guess here is that, if Ward stages a holdout, it will be a short one just so he can make a statement. He is under contract through 2005, so he really doesn't have a lot of leverage?other than the deal Maddox just signed even though he had a contract past this season.

[Arrowhead Nation]

Shut up and play out the contract YOU signed...if the team wants to extend your deal or restructure its their decision. If Hines didnt like his deal when he signed, he shouldnt have signed it.....let your "yes" mean "yes" and your "no" mean "no". You work for the organization, the organization doesnt work for you, Hines

SO many of the NFL players bitch about money and its so much worse than any other sport, by a long shot. Why even sign deals if your not going to shut up and honor them?

[CC]

Because even if Hines knew he would put up these kinds of numbers, Pittsburgh still wouldn't pay him this prior to him having ever played a game. I don't really like contract holduts, but this is one case where the player really deserves more money.

[moochman]

SO many of the NFL players bitch about money and its so much worse than any other sport, by a long shot. Why even sign deals if your not going to shut up and honor them?

I hate holdouts and contract disputes as much as anyone. But honor is a 2 way street, how can one be expected to honor a contract knowing the other party can dishonor the contract the moment they feel like it. The NFL expects players to play under-paid intil the end of their contract but refuse to honor a contract should the player be deemed overpaid. Wars of words in the press and threats of/or holdouts are a player's only bargining chip once they have a contract.

[TheHeat24]

SO many of the NFL players bitch about money and its so much worse than any other sport, by a long shot. Why even sign deals if your not going to shut up and honor them?

I hate holdouts and contract disputes as much as anyone. But honor is a 2 way street, how can one be expected to honor a contract knowing the other party can dishonor the contract the moment they feel like it. The NFL expects players to play under-paid intil the end of their contract but refuse to honor a contract should the player be deemed overpaid. Wars of words in the press and threats of/or holdouts are a player's only bargining chip once they have a contract.

This is a topic we have discussed many times on the cafe... Do the players deserve the monye or should they play out the contract... Me personally I hate it when athletes who get paid 2.5 million hold out just to get paid 3... Im not saying this is the case here but thats just my opionion.

[Arrowhead Nation]

Moochman I see your point but again I say....the players play for the organization. Its like an employee demanding a raise or they dont work.......guess what? Very few bosses will EVER repsond to that if they have any honor about them. Most would say "Well then find another place to work"

And most bosses wold fire them before they could quit just so other empluyers knew what they were dealing with.

Now, most good workers will get rewarded either at the end of the contract with a renewal and/or raise....and many times an employer does it in the middle of a contract....but either way its their decision, because they are the boss and the worker works for them, they dont work for the emplyee. If the employee wants to be the boss, then they should start their own company.

It sounds elitist, but its true.....

[KingGhidra]

Moochman I see your point but again I say....the players play for the organization. Its like an employee demanding a raise or they dont work.......guess what? Very few bosses will EVER repsond to that if they have any honor about them. Most would say "Well then find another place to work"

And most bosses wold fire them before they could quit just so other empluyers knew what they were dealing with.

Now, most good workers will get rewarded either at the end of the contract with a renewal and/or raise....and many times an employer does it in the middle of a contract....but either way its their decision, because they are the boss and the worker works for them, they dont work for the emplyee. If the employee wants to be the boss, then they should start their own company.

It sounds elitist, but its true.....

Your standard 9-5 office job rules don't apply here. At XYZ company there are usually hundreds of thousands of people who can replace any particular worker at any given time. Not in the NFL. There are very few people who can perform at the level that Hines Ward does and he wants to be compensated fairly for his VERY unique talents. Hines is a stand up guy and you never hear anyone calling him a complainer or crybaby. He has a legitimate beef here. They extended Maddox's contract and he isn't a top five or even ten player at his position like Ward is.

[moochman]

Thanks KG, couldn't have said it better.

[Arrowhead Nation]

Well I guess I will have to just agree to disagree...I still think all players should play out the contract they signed without any whining whatsoever, and then if the team like what they have done they will re-sign them when the appropriate time comes.....if that isnt the case then why sign contracts at all if they hold no water for even the greatest athletes.....just hop around from team to team.