Trotter Cut - The Axeman Gets Axed

As news broke this morning of Jeremiah Trotter's accelerated exodus from the annals of Philadelphia professional football, reactions ranged from sentimental musings about the linebacker that was to outright attacks on "that bum would couldn't tackle." While word of Trotter's release was a welcome respite from "all dog killing news, all the time," I couldn't get my mind off the first player I thought of after hearing the Trotter news. I'll give you a hint...first name "T"...last name "O".

Aside from being the player who Philly currently most loves to hate (no offense Pat Burrell), T.O.'s name is of relevance because Trotter's firing (and let's face it, generous parting words from Andy Reid aside, that is what it was) brings to light an ugly truth for NFL players of the modern era - there's no such thing as guaranteed money.

Come with me in the way back machine to a not so distant August of 2005. The "Iggles" are coming off a Superbowl loss and the city is abuzz about how the team and its star QB and WR will bounce back. "Was McNabb really hacking up chunky soup in the huddle?" "Will this be the year Andy fields an entire squad of fat linemen?" The questions were endless and the possibilities mind-numbing.Into this foray of 2005 NFL off-season nonsense stepped everyone's favorite anti-hero Terrell (alternatively "Tare-ull" and "Tare-el" depending on the year) Owens. After a spectacularly entertaining display of front yard ab exercises, Mr. Owens "throws McNabb under a bus" (thus lending national credence to an already annoying phrase), gets himself kicked out of practice and clubs baby seals at the Philadelphia Zoo. And you thought Ron Mexico was a jerk. To add insult to incredibly hysterical "injury," Owens then has the stones to suggest that perhaps he needs a new contract.

It was the last of those missteps that served as the proverbial straw that broke the fighting pit-bull's back. "A new contract? But this is Philadelphia! This is a "blue collar town" where everyone works in a union, lives in Sout' Philly and eats cheese steaks for breakfast. What kinda millionaire jerk can stand up and say he's not making enough money when he's only one year into his old contract? What kinda bum does dis T.O. guy tink he is? You wouldn't see Rocky pulling that shit!"

And so went the 2005 Eagles season...straight down the drain. T.O. became public enemy number 1 in Philadelphia, as even the casual fan would learn to hate him for trying to "get out of his contract." Sure, D-Chunky and T.O. awkwardly co-existed for a few games, but then D-Chunky's prosthetic leg fell off, T.O. got into a fistacuffs with the Eagles dance team and Andy Reid got so stark-raving mad about the whole thing that he started raising his voice when his kids waived guns at him.

Back to the present - what have we learned with two years of wisdom? Simply this...T.O. was right. Lost amid the circus of the lawn exercises and ridiculous press conferences of T.O. the lunatic was the fact that T.O. the player was standing up for the only person that the team didn't have to answer to, or care about, in the long run...himself.

NFL contracts are complicated, incentive laden and often times quite lucrative. They are not guaranteed. Ask Jeremiah Trotter. For that matter, ask Bobby Taylor, Troy Vincent, Hugh Douglas, Duce Staley, or any of the other of a host of players that the Birds have unceremoniously axed in the past. Sure, a player can make alot of money for playing a game that you would "play for free," but you can't play - they can.

Basic economics dictates that teams can only offer ridiculously high salaries because they charge ridiculously high ticket prices and enter into ridiculously lucrative television deals. Dan Snyder fields a losing team almost every year - but he's not losing money. Put yourself in the player's position, or them in yours, would you take a "hometown discount" for the benefit of your accounting firm? Would you turn down a job offering triple your H.R. Management salary because you "already signed a contract"? Now imagine if you only had the ability to work 8-10 years - wouldn't you want to make as much money as possible in that time period?

This is not to say that NFL players have tremendous financial responsibilities. Though it is understandably hard to maintain and upkeep 10 cars and provide housing and salary for your entire extended family while still "making it rain" each week at the local gentlemen's club, NFL players simply do not live normal lives. That does not mean they should stand by and let their teams take advantage of them. The Eagles' actions are merely indicative of the attitude demonstrated by teams across the league - players are interchangeable and they will be interchanged. While we can't weep for the financial suffering of the players, we should be able to understand their desire to stick up for themselves...and to make as much as they can while they can still get paid. You would do the same.

Until next time - it's time for Tuesday night dogfights at STH Headquarters. Don't worry, we only cut the losers...