King Kaufman's Sports Daily
Elite NFL pass-catchers have a lot to learn when it comes to whining for more money. Here's a primer for Terrell Owens, Antonio Gates and anyone else with a beef.
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Aug. 22, 2005 | There's good news for Cindy Sheehan. After this weekend she now knows exactly what she has to do to get an audience with President Bush.
Win the Tour de France seven straight times.
So I feel that I should explain my absence these last two weeks. When the magazine announces on the cover that I'm "on leave," without further explanation, it makes people wonder.
I want to assure you that I wasn't suspended for standing outside the boss's house in the middle of the night, throwing pebbles at the window and screaming that I need and deserve "Tony Kornheiser money."
Again.
They were nickels, not pebbles. I'm an artist.
But I feel the experience gives me standing to offer advice to some big-name NFL receivers, which I plan to do at the next monthly meeting of Unseemly Public Whiners for More Money Anonymous (UPW4MMA).
First, to Antonio Gates of the San Diego Chargers: If you're going to cave in and report to training camp, do it before the deadline to avoid a three-game suspension that includes the season opener, not the day after.
The Chargers invoked a clause of the collective bargaining agreement last week, telling Gates to report and sign the team's third-year tender of $380,000 by the day before the second practice game, Saturday, or they'd place him on the Roster Exempt List once he did sign, which would trigger a three-game suspension.
Gates, who set a record for tight ends by catching 13 touchdown passes last year, his second in the NFL after not playing football in college, reported and signed Sunday.
Guess he didn't take any business classes in college either.
Why report Sunday? If Gates wasn't willing to go to the mat, he should have signed in the offseason, reported to camp on time and gotten his work in. He's not yet an accomplished route-runner or blocker and he has plenty to learn about his position even after that spectacular 2004.
After this season, he'd be eligible for restricted free agency, meaning he could test the market but the Chargers could match any offer. The big money is coming next year.
But he only needed to play six regular-season games to qualify as a three-year man. So his real deadline if he were going to match the Chargers and play hardball was around Thanksgiving, before San Diego's 11th game.