We all know the story and this holds true more in the NFL than any other league. Athlete has a breakout season, and the following season, decides that he deserves more money based on what he did the previous season. Then things turn ugly. All the naysayers come out saying, “you signed the contract, get out there and play”, “Player X believes he is greater than the team” “this hold out is hurting the team” etc, etc etc.

The sentiment is well understood by players, but players not only have to think of the team, they have to think of themselves and their families well being as well. Because the NFL doesn’t have guaranteed contracts, football players typically have to try to get as much money as possible upfront.

This off season, we have dealt with a lot of high profile players holding out for better contracts (Chris Johnson, Darrelle Revis) due to their previous season’s work. One player that could have gone the same route is Denver Broncos’ LB Elvis Dumervil.

After producing one of the most productive seasons in NFL history with 17 sacks, Dumervil was scheduled to “only” make around $500K (I know I know, I wish I could “only” make that amount too) for this upcoming season. Dumervil didn’t make a lot of noise (threaten to sit out, request a trade) but simply went about his business and was honored with a new $61.5 million  contract (with $43 million guaranteed). After signing his new contract, Dumervil said:

“And so at the end of the day, I knew my value and there was no need to go out and pout or go out, you know, the way other guys may have handled things because I know that character is No. 1 for me and I knew if I could bring the stats along with that it gave me a good chance.”

End of a good story, right? Unfortunately not, as Dumervil suffered a potentially season ending pectoral muscle tear on August 4th during training camp practice. Luckily for Dumervil, he had already signed his new contract.

I’m sure that this injury has given more fuel for players such as Reevis, Johnson, Adrian Peterson and others that may be fighting for more money in the near future.

Best of luck to Dumervil and hopes for a speedy recovery!

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