Or maybe he's just stupid. The moronic statement made by an immature and spoiled young man only serves to decrease empathy for him amongst his fan base.
It shouldn't be a surprise anymore. This is what pro sports have devolved to. It's entertainment and Devin Hester is entertaining. I don't know if it's Hester or just the general mindset that pisses me off, but reading Hester's comment upset me.
That being said, I like Devin Hester. I had problems with him taking life advice from Primetime Sanders and showboating touchdowns. I'm old school in that way, but I like Devin Hester. I'm sure I'll like him again granted he suits up as a Bear this season. He's a likeable guy.
The problem with Hester's demands is that fans don't empathize because fans don't make half-a-million dollars playing a game. For most of us mutts, the amount of money that Hester is scoffing at is significant. In fact the median family income in 2006 was $48,201. Historically and in the post free-agent world, fans do not typically rally around a star player holding out once the season has begun. In 2005, one of the most popular player's in Steeler history, Hines Ward, was lambasted publicly by the Pittsburgh media and by a devout fan base for his two-week holdout. The end result was a new deal for Ward during the season despite a long-time Rooney policy of no new negotiations in-season. While Ward's popularity has resumed, there was little support for his demands at that time. Remember our Lance Briggs public war of the words with the Bears brass? Few, if any, backed Briggs. And Briggs showed up and played...
A team may chose to reward a player for past services, but why? In the cutthroat world of pro sports, why pay again for services rendered? There is no reason other than decency and that's for the Mom & Pop stores. It's an admirable trait, but uncommon and with the demands and implications of a salary cap, it's often impractical. Though the Bears have yielded a recent track record of rewarding "their guys," Chicago sports teams have traditionally had no problems with severing ties harshly once a given "star" has declined in ability (Carlton Fisk, Jay Hilgenberg, Etc...)
The Chicago Bears entered into a contract on July 1, 2006 with Devin Hester to pay him $2.61 million over four years ($1.264 million guaranteed, including a $907,500 option bonus in the second year) after drafting him in the second round as a cornerback out of the University of Miami. Clearly the Bears were aware that Hester had a great deal of potential as a return man. That being said, professional contracts are based on speculation. Management is speculating what a player is worth to the organization over an allotted time period. The Bears speculated what Hester was worth and Hester, alongside his agent/advisor, agreed.
The situation we currently find ourselves in is that Hester would like to have that contract revisted and re-speculated otherwise he is threatening to breach his agreement with the team. Devin Hester's initial contract was likely based on his ability to improve the return teams and serve as a solid nickel back and reserve corner. Though he is not a defensive back and considering our lack of quality behind our starters, this fact speaks volumes, Hester has outplayed his contract on special teams alone and with the promise of a highlighted receiver role looming. The problem is not that the Bears have not paid Hester enough thus far as that is a sunk cost for Hester.
You do not agree to paint a house for a hundred bucks and then after painting one side of the house appreciate your work so much that you demand two-hundred for one wall alone because there is no reason for the homeowner to pay you any more unless he or she agrees that you deserve more for the remaining three walls. The problem is that the homeowner needs the house painted again and you want more to do the same job even though both parties previously agreed to a price. If you enter into a contract and choose not to fulfill, you are in breach of contract. Devin Hester is playing the old "I'll take my ball and go home." The luxury that he's afforded is that he does not need to go to work today, tomorrow or the next day, whereas most Americans have to. They can't afford to sit out because they want a better wage for the day. Then again most of us aren't in such demand and my analogy really sucks.
The Bears do not need to pay Devin Hester any more at this point unless they feel that they cannot do without him and that's a question that may need answering. Devin Hester is certainly confident enough to waste a season and face a fine of $15,000 a day for each day he is absent. In roughly 30 days, Devin Hester's 2008 salary will be bunk. Or maybe he's desperate? Maybe he feels his value will drop after this season. We'll get to that.
I don't enjoy giving credit to the Bear brass, but they have recently resigned many of their premier names after each player publicly stated that they wanted an increase in pay during the offseason. Outside of Thomas Jones (and maybe Kreutz as he took a paycut to stay), the Bears have made due on their public statements. Even at that, Thomas Jones had entered into an agreement to move on ahead of time and the Bears honored that. The Bears publicly stated that they would like to resign Hester, but had not yet gotten to it and from the recent cap updates, there does not appear to be much in the tank. The Bears assessed their needs and felt that Hester was not as high of a priority, but would likely be one after this season. A wise choice in my opinion.
The Bears need to see if Hester can produce as an offensive weapon in order to accurately assess how valuable Hester is. What pay grade is he rated at, etc... What is his value to the team in the coming years, etc... Obviously you want to lock him up before he hits a free agent bidding frenzy, but you don't want to overpay for offensive contributions that he may not provide. His price could skyrocket, even as a return specialist alone, should a borderline SuperBowl team be in need of someone like Hester. If someone like Hester is the missing link for some team, the Bears could end up in a two way bid with a team far more inclined to invest in Hester, especially if that team has an adept offense that can move the ball and threaten to score more frequently than ours likely would/will.
Devin Hester is paid to score touchdowns. On special teams. I hate to break it to you, but Devin Hester is not a number one receiver and he's likely not a number two either. He illustrated that last year. Devin Hester isn't even a receiver consideration on any team with any sort of receiver talent outside of being a gimic or Hail Mary supporting cast member. If you can protect your golden goose, then you do.
He has iffy hands and questionable field intelligence. Why didn't Miami convert him? They've had good luck with gauging pro-talent. He only nabbed 20 receptions and 2 TD's (81,55). It should be said that he did illustrate some potential late in the season as he tallied 11 receptions over the last quarter of the season. He was also technically a part time receiver, though part time is debatable as he saw more and more action as the Bears became more mired and desperate. He has potential, but do you want your future Hall of Fame return man running post routes over the middle against Indy with Bob Sanders ready to tee off? Do you want Hester dragging over the middle underneath Ray Lewis? Would you like to see Devin blocking a physical run stop corner? If you answered "No," then you don't want him as our #1 or #2 receiver. What you want to see is Devin Hester score touchdowns and fast. You want him on a safe fly route scoring touchdowns like he did twice last year. Let him do what he does... Run and outrun. One reason for Hester's abrupt holdout may be that his potential as a wide receiver currently outweighs his practical value as a wide receiver, a fact that may be exposed in the coming months. Right now he has value as both and by the end of this year, he may only have value as one.
Like I said, Hester is paid to score touchdowns. He does this better than anyone in the history of the NFL on special teams. But is his value on the decline? Well as a Bear anyway. We saw last year that anyone dumb enough to kick to Devin was dumb enough to hand away a touchdown.
Why kick to him this year? At this point and until the Bear offense proves otherwise, there is no reason to kick him the ball. It's a what have you done for me lately kind of thing and being that we ranked #27th in yards per game, 18th in points per game and 93 of our 334 (36%) came via field goal... What kind of threat does providing the Bears with good field position via squib kicking, kicking away from Hester and kicking out of bounds (penalty) present? Toub still serves as a threat outside of taking the penalty. He's demonstrated his genius and may be able to find innovative ways of getting the ball to Devin. Toub has received a significant amount of acclaim behind Devin Hester. It has been a mutually rewarding relationship.
Can we accurately assess how much of Hester's success as a return man is Dave Toub's scheme and how much is Hester's open field elusiveness? Do we have faith in Toub's ability to replace Hester if need be? I have some. It's already been reported that he is working with Nathan Vasher, who has demonstrated return ability in the past via interception and short field goals. Is he in Hester's class? No, but if we tout Toub as a special teams genius, he should be able to maximize the ability of whomever lines up on returns. If it's more scheme than we realize, the dropoff may not be as drastic and as terrible as we think right now. I hope it doesn't come down to a Hesterless special teams (and a new Joniak nickname for whomever is back there), but I'm ready to do so if need be.
Simply put, I'd rather the Bears hold their ground, as they have every right to, rather than negotiatiating a foolish contract that hurts the team long term in regards to cap space and in doing so set a precedent that they will buckle in negotiations. This is not something we need looming on the horizon as we try to return to a being a championship caliber team.
Devin Hester is a special talent, but he is not the player that you build your franchise around. If there was no cap threat, I'd say give it away... Give Devin whatever he wants. Players are overpaid in my opinion until one considers what percentage of the gross revenue that they receive considering the product they put on the field. If they decide to negotiate and give in to Hester's demands, I hope they give him the same base and sugar coat the incentives. If he thinks he's worth it, let him go out and prove it. Until then and for every day Devin Hester is out of camp, he remains truly and irrevocably ridiculous.
Great read bro. And under normal circumstances (i.e. NORMAL average players) I would agree.
But.....
Quote:
Clearly the Bears were aware that Hester had a great deal of potential as a return man. That being said, professional contracts are based on speculation. Management is speculating what a player is worth to the organization over an allotted time period. The Bears speculated what Hester was worth and Hester, alongside his agent/advisor, agreed.
Clearly, the BEARS and Devin Hester's agent/adviser UNDER "speculated" what Hester was worth.
PAY Da MAN what he's proven to be worth. ...........
Yes he is worth it but 2 years left on contract and no inkling of a potential holdout up until he did it, we had more important needs to address, he should realize by now the Bears will reward you and get to you if you perform. No need for the drama!
__________________
Gifts:
Click the signature, join up and help out our newest site! Thanks!
The Following User Says Thank You to kegstand For This Useful Post:
I love the kid, but he is really damaging his reputation by opening his mouth. Some of the crap he says is just retarded. If you wanted to holdout and make a point, fine do it and let your agent do the talking.
He has reported to camp, which is great. And its also great to have a bunch of threads discussing him instead of Favre. We all know Hester is worth more then what he is being paid. Thats not the issue. The issue is WHEN will he get his new contract. He unfortunately picked a bad time to start his holdout, beginning of mandatory training camp, after the Bears already opened their checkbook for half of the damn team.
I just hope we lock him up long term, so we dont have to hear any more garbage spewed from his mouth again. Thats all we need, a Chad johnson or Terrell Owens. Actually, it all makes sense now. He just switched to WR, so i think he got infected by the WR bug. There's something about that position that makes players act like fools, someone should look into that
I love the kid, but he is really damaging his reputation by opening his mouth. Some of the crap he says is just retarded. If you wanted to holdout and make a point, fine do it and let your agent do the talking.
He has reported to camp, which is great. And its also great to have a bunch of threads discussing him instead of Favre. We all know Hester is worth more then what he is being paid. Thats not the issue. The issue is WHEN will he get his new contract. He unfortunately picked a bad time to start his holdout, beginning of mandatory training camp, after the Bears already opened their checkbook for half of the damn team.
I just hope we lock him up long term, so we dont have to hear any more garbage spewed from his mouth again. Thats all we need, a Chad johnson or Terrell Owens. Actually, it all makes sense now. He just switched to WR, so i think he got infected by the WR bug. There's something about that position that makes players act like fools, someone should look into that
Bears | Hester placed on NFI list
Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:58:16 -0700
Brad Biggs, of the Chicago Sun-Times, reports Chicago Bears WR Devin Hester (hamstring) has been placed on the non-football injury list because he has a hamstring injury and failed his physical with the team. He is able to come off the list and return to practice when he passes a physical.
_____________________________________________
I made it out to camp today and it was nice to see Hester there. Clearly the Bears and Hester have come to some sort of agreement. Perhaps Hester trusts the Bears to do right by him after this season.
His holdout, albeit brief (unless this mysterious injury keeps him off the field indefinitely), was illogical at this point. Devin Hester deserves more money regardless of whether or not he develops into a receiver. The Bears know that. Hester knows that. And we know that. There appeared to be little doubt it would happen, so why the public demonstration? It is not something that helps him out.
This injury business needs to remedy itself and quick. Hester has not mastered the offensive playbook by any means and needs as much time practically applying the classroom work as possible. I'm suspicious but hopefully he'll be out there by early next week doing what he should - practicing with his team.
He should get more, but didn't we find ourselves in a similar situation not too long ago with Lovie Smith? A winning coach who was underpaid that has become a losing coach (could change this year) that is overpaid. He's getting paid for the present and future, not the past. While he was underpaid as an NFC Championship coach, he was overpaid last year as a NFC gutter coach. On the flip side, should management be able to ask that a player return money should they not play at the same or an improved level?
Quote:
All of these over-paid crybabies should try living on a cop/soldier/EMT/nurse/teacher/etc's salary.....
Talk about being paid less than what they're WORTH.
Tommie Harris was right.... .
I understand where the players are coming from. They simply want their piece of the pie. And it's a big pie. The problem is that we the fans (consumers) baked that pie and allowed team ownership and each league to overinflate the cost of being a fan because of our desire(s). Though it'll never happen, if fans would band together and sit on their wallets for a bit, we'd receive a much more affordable pastime that is equal in quality. While we see the players as robbers, we often miss the ownership barons. It's unfortunate that your real deal fan cannot afford to take his or her family/friends to a game for less than the cost of a month's rent.
That being said, you are absolutely correct. Civil servants, servicemen and women, etc... are underpaid considering their accomplishments and impact on society across from a pro athlete. The problem is that we crave a high level of competition and those suited for that career path are rare and thus seen as more valuable. And we're willing to pay for it. It's like the price of smokes and gas... It just keeps going up and our want of it never decreases.
Quote:
Actually, it all makes sense now. He just switched to WR, so i think he got infected by the WR bug. There's something about that position that makes players act like fools, someone should look into that
I think the issue is two-fold. One, pro football is a business and these athletes are conducting themselves like businessmen. They constantly look out for their best interests irregardless of the team. Just as there is no corporate loyalty, there is no team loyalty. Clearly this is not a constant, but it's more and more common. Perhaps that's because the team may not always look out for their best interests either. I dunno...
The other part of the equation is that these special talents have likely been afforded special priveliges for most of their lives as a result of their ability to excel on a football field and thus have not had to deal with the responsibilities and long-term realities that most of us have. Regardless of background, pro athletes have not been held to the same standard that we have for the most part. It's like the super smart kid that can't tie his shoe. You can teach quantum physics, but you can't teach common sense.
As a wide receiver, the player is in a unique position to score points and is therefore a better interview after the game. You have to make the most of your time on camera as your public perception equates to money in the bank. You have to have something to say and the biggest ego's seem to have no problem manufacturing a statement. The problem is that they do not always consider the impact of their statements. Run a test... Check out how many interviews you see with Marty Booker versus Olin Kreutz. Both have time as Bear starters, but I think you'll see Marty get more press time than Olin. Who is/has been more important to the Bears? It doesn't make a hell of alot of sense considering Booker is a bad interview to begin with, but it is what it is.
On the topic of public perception and paying Hester what he's due, he'd be wise to take advantage of Chicago. We have the second largest market that is devoid of a frontrunner star. A marketable and personable player that is a virtual highlight clip could do well for themself if they play the game correctly. In reality, a large corporate or market endorsement could pale whatever Hester's wildest payday dreams are. Mike Jordan didn't often complain about what he was paid despite many years where he was not near the best paid pro basketball player, however he was smart, likeable and cashed in on big endorsements. Pissing off your target demographic does not help your marketability - so keep your mouth shut unless you're reading what someone else wrote for you.
I found this interesting... Kids love Devin Hester. So do some adults, but I brought my nephew with me to camp and he was like OJ at the airport to get to Hester. They don't care about his problems with his paycheck, they just love the guy. Being a kid ain't half bad...
Until some adult "fan" runs you over and shoves you down and then falls on top of you to get Hester's autograph. I saw that today and it disgusted me. I spoke my peace to the unapologetic gentleman, but it didn't make me feel any better. I don't know if he got to Hester, but if he did, I hope he got birdflu shortly after.
It's different if you're at some signing session and you paid admission to get in and see each player one by one in a single file line, but let the kids have the free stuff. It's part of how they become the next generation of great Bears fans. If you shove a kid down to get an autograph, then you are pretty much a scumbag that needs to grow up. And Olin Kreutz needs to punch you in the jaw.
This is a nice thread to insert this comment into:
Underpaid at $445,000? Unreal
July 26, 2008
YORKVILLE—I want to thank Devin Hester of the Bears for adjusting my salary expectations. He said, "I can't go out and play this year making $445,000. Come on, man." When I read that I thought, "Hey, what about me? How can my employer possibly expect me to work for less than say, half a million a year? After all, I've got a wife and kids to feed. Cost of living being what it is, I'm surprised I can get by on less."
I now earn considerably less than that, but Devin Hester has enlightened me to my true value. With his current salary, I calculate that Mr. Hester currently gets paid (in 16 games) between $2,000 and $3,000 every time he runs onto the field. Who can possibly live on that? It's just plain wrong. And he actually has to work six months out of the year. That's unreasonable. No wonder he wants to jack his salary up to ... what, $8,000 to $10,000 per play? After all, on any given play he might touch the ball. Or, maybe not.
Whatever, I'm with you, Devin. Thanks for clearing my head about my own salary.
I'm in sales. I think I ought to tell my boss that I should make at least $2,000-$3,000 every time I touch the phone. Every time I touch the phone, something good might happen. Or, maybe not. Anyway, how can he expect me to work for less? And work all year as well? I can't go out and do that. Come on, man.
This is a nice thread to insert this comment into:
Underpaid at $445,000? Unreal
July 26, 2008
YORKVILLE—I want to thank Devin Hester of the Bears for adjusting my salary expectations. He said, "I can't go out and play this year making $445,000. Come on, man." When I read that I thought, "Hey, what about me? How can my employer possibly expect me to work for less than say, half a million a year? After all, I've got a wife and kids to feed. Cost of living being what it is, I'm surprised I can get by on less."
I now earn considerably less than that, but Devin Hester has enlightened me to my true value. With his current salary, I calculate that Mr. Hester currently gets paid (in 16 games) between $2,000 and $3,000 every time he runs onto the field. Who can possibly live on that? It's just plain wrong. And he actually has to work six months out of the year. That's unreasonable. No wonder he wants to jack his salary up to ... what, $8,000 to $10,000 per play? After all, on any given play he might touch the ball. Or, maybe not.
Whatever, I'm with you, Devin. Thanks for clearing my head about my own salary.
I'm in sales. I think I ought to tell my boss that I should make at least $2,000-$3,000 every time I touch the phone. Every time I touch the phone, something good might happen. Or, maybe not. Anyway, how can he expect me to work for less? And work all year as well? I can't go out and do that. Come on, man.
2 hands and your eyes on the phone at all times biz...We don't want you to drop it. But we all know you wouldn't.
__________________
Gifts:
Packers Suck!!!!!!!
Biggest no-brainer in the history of earth.
Proud U.S. Army vet zip: 345140
STFU, Devin!! 
Linear Mode
