- Joined
- Aug 27, 2006
- Messages
- 9,967
- Reaction score
- 13,334
-a contract is a contract; Branch owed them his services for the year regardless of how he felt. Regardless. He is responsible for doing whatever intrapersonal and emotional work he needs to do to get himself on the football field. It is one of life's few black and white situations.
Branch had already accepted money to play this year, in the form of a bonus, so he has a double obligation. If someone paid you a year in advance, and then you decided you didn't want to show up because something was bothering you, and you insisted on keeping the money and demanded more, wouldn't that be a bit unreasonable?
-anything management did to give in to Branch would have been a precedent that would be used against them in other contract situations, and in future arbitration situations for other players. It wasn't just about the money they would have spent on Branch, it was about every contract for every player on the team.
-other teams would have been rightfully upset at the Pats for creating a precedent that their players would use against them.
-management bent over backwards by offering him an extension before his contract was up - that's already offering the player something they aren't obligated to do.
-the team's offer would have taken care of many generations of Branch's; nobody needs any more than $30M (or any substantial portion of it); the issue is entirely emotional.
Branch had already accepted money to play this year, in the form of a bonus, so he has a double obligation. If someone paid you a year in advance, and then you decided you didn't want to show up because something was bothering you, and you insisted on keeping the money and demanded more, wouldn't that be a bit unreasonable?
-anything management did to give in to Branch would have been a precedent that would be used against them in other contract situations, and in future arbitration situations for other players. It wasn't just about the money they would have spent on Branch, it was about every contract for every player on the team.
-other teams would have been rightfully upset at the Pats for creating a precedent that their players would use against them.
-management bent over backwards by offering him an extension before his contract was up - that's already offering the player something they aren't obligated to do.
-the team's offer would have taken care of many generations of Branch's; nobody needs any more than $30M (or any substantial portion of it); the issue is entirely emotional.