Thursday, March 21, 2013

Pride


The focus of this post is now former Chicago Bear linebacker Brian Urlacher.  As an avid Green Bay Packer fan, you would expect me to hate the Bears and your expectations would be correct.  However, hating the team does not require one to revile its human constituents.  In fact, over the years, I have had a certain respect and fondness for two Bears in particular; former head coach Lovie Smith and Urlacher.  While (on the down side) Urlacher was a Bear, he was also a fierce, talented competitor who was respectful of the sport and his opponents.  I liked that.  He has been a classy guy.  So, I was sorry to see the Bears part ways with Urlacher.

But the subject of this post is pride.  Although it remains to be seen whether my speculation is correct, I think perhaps fault for the divorce between the Bears and Urlacher should be attributed to Urlacher's bruised ego or (if you will) his pride.  Urlacher reported being offended by the Bears stance during contract negotiations.  Urlacher said he and his agent sought an amount significantly higher than they expected to sign for expecting to give some during back and forth negotiations.  What upset Urlacher is not the Bears original position to offer a contract of 2 million per year (which Urlacher admitted knowing to be "a lot of money") but their refusal to negotiate up from that figure.  So, Urlacher concluded, there was no negotiation, the Bears just gave him a "take it or leave it" deal.  He was insulted and offended the Bears would treat him like that.  So far, although media pundits have questioned whether Urlacher can expect to do better on the free agent market, they have generally agreed with Urlacher's view that the way the team handled its non-negotiating "negotiations" treated Urlacher shabbily. 

As Lee Corso is wont to say "not so fast my friend."  For the sake of argument, assume the media pundits are correct it is doubtful free agent Urlacher can find another team willing to pay him 2 million dollars per year or more.   In fact, pundits seem to believe Urlacher will ultimately sign elsewhere for less.  With that background, consider again the Bears offer.  In this light, instead of giving Urlacher an unrealistic low ball initial offer (to offset the unrealistic demand made by Urlacher) the Bears stepped up to the plate and gave Urlacher the respect he deserved as a lifetime Chicago Bear. Instead of trying to save money by trying him to sign for less than he was worth, they offered him a contract for every nickel of the 2 million per year he was worth.  In fact, perhaps we will learn what they offered would have given him a premium to have remained a Bear.  Of course, we won't know until Urlacher signs with another team.

I suspect Urlacher's concession that 2 million a year is "a lot of money" is not quite as candid as it might seem to you or I who will never make anywhere near that much money.  Professional athletes sometimes reach the point where they become blind to the obscene amounts of money they are being paid to play a game and fail to consider they possess no other talent that would allow them to earn so much.  instead, athletes use the salaries they are being paid relative to others in the same sport as a measure of their self worth.  They are "insulted" if a team is proposing to pay them less than a player they consider themselves to be superior to, regardless of whether the player being paid more actually merits that salary.  I suspect what insults Urlacher is that he can't wrap his head around the idea that a long time favorite of Bear fans, a player the Bears have built their defense around, and a future hall of famer should be paid less than the average middle linebacker.  His pride is getting the best of him.  Sad, but understandable. 

UPDATE - News broke on May 22, 2013 that Urlacher announced his retirement.  No team was willing to step up and match or exceed the $2 million the Bears offered Urlacher to return.  For that matter, at least publicly, no team offered him a contract to play even at the league minimum (which for a player with more than 10 years of service would have been $820,000).  I wonder if this proof that the Bears initial offer to Urlacher was exceedingly generous will cause Urlacher - and the public - to reevaluate how Urlacher was being treated by the team.  I would hope so, but I won't hold my breath. 

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