AJ Smith and The Chargers Organization Should Be Ashamed

I always felt that Shawne Merriman wasn't the brightest player in the NFL. Maybe it was the lack of steroids that has made him lose his mind and think he can play with a torn PCL and LCL (you can look it up if you want to know exactly what ligaments those are) after four specialists told him that he should have surgery or risk career ending injury. But this isn't about Merriman who is a football player and is doing what football players have been trained to do forever, play through injury. This is more about the Chargers organization and specifically general manager AJ Smith.

I am going to leave Norv Turner out of this because in essence he is just a figure head with no power but AJ Smith has proven to be a grade "A" asshole. I understand the desire to win and I understand the window to win a Super Bowl in today's NFL is very small, but at what point does the long term health of a player becomes more important?

The Chargers should immediately put Merriman on IR because the chances that he cripples himself are much greater than him helping them win a Super Bowl. He is going to be a target every week because when an opponent knows you are injured they are going to exploit it.

It is good to know that AJ Smith cares much more about himself and his job security as oppose to the long term health of his players. That is definitely an organization I would like to play for. Commish Goddell while he is running around playing cop should step in immediately and stop this before it becomes a disaster.