The Ravens got absolutely jobbed in the Terrell Owens Affair.
No one should ever truly feel sorry for an NFL team after it loses out on a player it wanted badly. There are other fish in the sea. But if Baltimore were a patient in the NFL Memorial Hospital, I'd advise suing the pants off the place for malpractice. What in the world was the league thinking when it upheld the sanctity of Owens' contract with the 49ers after his agent did not meet an NFL-mandated deadline for filing for free agency, allowed the 49ers to trade Owens to Baltimore, told Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome that Owens was dead-solid the property of the Ravens and then -- when Owens brought a grievance through the NFL Players Association claiming he should be a free agent -- caved after the grievance hearing? Unbelievably irresponsible.
Did the NFL not read Owens' contract? Did the NFL not understand that it could certainly be up for debate that Owens didn't have to live with the Feb. 21 deadline to void contracts because he had signed his deal with San Francisco before that date was put into effect? I, and almost every other media person covering this story, should take a great lesson from this, as should Newsome: When an NFL lawyer cavalierly -- or not-so-cavalierly -- says a rule is a rule, view said lawyer with a jaundiced eye. The Ravens, spurned in an attempt to get Owens, now must address the biggest weakness (receiver) on their team after allowing a good one of their own (Marcus Robinson) to walk away, watching two others (Keyshawn Johnson, Joey Galloway) get traded for one another and letting two more solid players (Darrell Jackson, Justin McCareins) sign with other teams as free agents. In the end, Baltimore got a fifth-round pick from Philadelphia, the league's attempt to throw some salve on a gunshot wound. A fifth-round pick buys a backup linebacker, maybe a nice special teams player. It doesn't buy a good wide receiver.
What's so laughable is NFL Management Council head Harold Henderson saying after the deal between the Eagles, Ravens and Niners that the "settlement resolves the dispute in a manner which satisfies all involved parties.'' Oh, it does? Talk to the Ravens. They haven't said much, but believe me, they're plenty ticked off about this. I can't believe they've held their tongues with as much dignity as they have. In six days the NFL begins its annual meetings in Palm Beach, and I can't wait to see how Henderson explains his way out of this one when he sees Newsome and Brian Billick walking down the gilded halls of the Breakers Hotel.
OK. Got that out of my system. Now, let's talk about those dinners.
amen,peter....amen..
No one should ever truly feel sorry for an NFL team after it loses out on a player it wanted badly. There are other fish in the sea. But if Baltimore were a patient in the NFL Memorial Hospital, I'd advise suing the pants off the place for malpractice. What in the world was the league thinking when it upheld the sanctity of Owens' contract with the 49ers after his agent did not meet an NFL-mandated deadline for filing for free agency, allowed the 49ers to trade Owens to Baltimore, told Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome that Owens was dead-solid the property of the Ravens and then -- when Owens brought a grievance through the NFL Players Association claiming he should be a free agent -- caved after the grievance hearing? Unbelievably irresponsible.
Did the NFL not read Owens' contract? Did the NFL not understand that it could certainly be up for debate that Owens didn't have to live with the Feb. 21 deadline to void contracts because he had signed his deal with San Francisco before that date was put into effect? I, and almost every other media person covering this story, should take a great lesson from this, as should Newsome: When an NFL lawyer cavalierly -- or not-so-cavalierly -- says a rule is a rule, view said lawyer with a jaundiced eye. The Ravens, spurned in an attempt to get Owens, now must address the biggest weakness (receiver) on their team after allowing a good one of their own (Marcus Robinson) to walk away, watching two others (Keyshawn Johnson, Joey Galloway) get traded for one another and letting two more solid players (Darrell Jackson, Justin McCareins) sign with other teams as free agents. In the end, Baltimore got a fifth-round pick from Philadelphia, the league's attempt to throw some salve on a gunshot wound. A fifth-round pick buys a backup linebacker, maybe a nice special teams player. It doesn't buy a good wide receiver.
What's so laughable is NFL Management Council head Harold Henderson saying after the deal between the Eagles, Ravens and Niners that the "settlement resolves the dispute in a manner which satisfies all involved parties.'' Oh, it does? Talk to the Ravens. They haven't said much, but believe me, they're plenty ticked off about this. I can't believe they've held their tongues with as much dignity as they have. In six days the NFL begins its annual meetings in Palm Beach, and I can't wait to see how Henderson explains his way out of this one when he sees Newsome and Brian Billick walking down the gilded halls of the Breakers Hotel.
OK. Got that out of my system. Now, let's talk about those dinners.
amen,peter....amen..
