With Dez Bryant threatening to skip games due to the lack of progress in contract negotiations, everyone seems to have an opinion on whether or not athletes are in the right or in the wrong for holding out for a better salary.
Chicago Bears running back recently weighed on the debate and thinks the whole thing is hypocritical.
Here are his quotes from the Chicago Sun-Times:
Matt Forte knows what people would have said had he not spent the last seven weeks as part of the Bears’ offseason program.
“If I don’t show up (to voluntary organized team activities), everybody’s on me: ‘Oh, you’re selfish. You’re this. You’re that. Honor your contract,’” he said Thursday at Halas Hall.
“But then if, say, I didn’t perform last year and (the Bears) wanted to cut me or cut my pay, they can do that. They can get rid of you. So nobody says nothing to the team about that.
“It’s a hypocritical league. That’s what it’s about. As a player, all I can do is go out there and perform.”
“Either they want to give you an extension or they don’t,” Forte said. “And, me personally, from my position, you see it the other way: ‘Why wouldn’t you?’
“Everyone else is looking from the outside in — ‘Oh, you’re 29! You’re getting old.’ But I’m out here. I’ve done OTAs and minicamp. I look the same as I’ve been since I’ve got here. I haven’t slowed down. I continue to run, catch the ball, run theroutes, do everything the same, be versatile, which, as I said, adds value to a team.
“So if I’m the GM, I’m getting an extension.”
I’m with Forte on this one. For NFL players you are damned if you do or damned if you don’t when it comes to contract negotiations. I won’t ever fault a guy for wanting to cash in on a pay day, especially if he has earned it given that careers are not forever in the NFL.
If you have a chance to get a pay day, I suggest you do whatever you can to get the most out of it.
