Whitlock: Chiefs hope money doesn’t go to Dorsey’s head

[Deberg_1990]

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/col...ry/722079.html


Man, we love to beat up the Hunts and Carl Peterson for their frugality, but you have to feel for them today.

Their reward for a 4-12 season was the right to select an unproven player at the top of the draft and give him more than enough money to kill his eye of the Tiger.

Congratulations, Glenn Dorsey. If you handle your money properly, you will live a fantastic life for the next 50 years, thanks to the potential you displayed at Louisiana State University.

The Chiefs have no such guarantees. In fact, they’re likely to spend the next two years holding their breath, praying that Dorsey is a solid NFL player and somewhat worthy of a $50 million contract that includes at least 20 million guaranteed dollars.

If Dorsey is a flop, it will be easy to blame KC’s latest draft failure on The Artist Formerly Known as King Carl. He’s had terrible luck identifying young defensive tackles. He misfired on Ryan Sims, Junior Siavii, Eddie Freeman and, quite possibly, Tank Tyler and Turk McBride, too.

In those instances, it’s fair to fault Peterson and his scouting department. Sims was inconsistent at North Carolina. Siavii didn’t even really like football at Oregon. Freeman was a ridiculous reach in the second round. Character questions haunted Tyler before the draft. And the Chiefs somehow surmised that McBride could be an emergency fill-in at defensive end while Jared Allen sat out a 2007 suspension.

If Dorsey bombs, we shouldn’t blast Peterson. Dorsey was a no-brainer selection at No. 5. Seemingly every draft projection had Dorsey pegged as the top defensive tackle, and a lot of experts viewed him as the most talented player in the draft. At No. 5, every team in the league would’ve been more than happy to take Dorsey.

If he fails, there will be two likely causes: 1. Injury; 2. The ridiculous amount of money he was guaranteed before ever playing an NFL down.

Rarely do we talk about the role money plays in the success or failure of a young player. Most people agree — including commissioner Roger Goodell — that NFL rookies are paid way too much money.

We think it’s unfair that an unproven player such as Dorsey received a better contract than Tony Gonzalez has ever received during a Hall of Fame-worthy career.

Obviously, it’s a bad business model. It’s the equivalent of a law firm handing associates better deals than the firm’s partners. The NBA and Major League Baseball don’t allow this sort of consistent foolishness (although MLB teams are starting to give out fat signing bonuses).

The current NFL setup creates instant locker-room disharmony. It’s my contention that no pro-sports league deals with a higher percentage of veteran players dissatisfied with their contracts. I’d say 97 percent of NFL players believe their contracts should be renegotiated. And at this time of the year, when top-10 rookies are having dollar bills rained on them, the percentage of unhappy veterans is 99.

The system needs to be revamped for competitive reasons, too.

Football is just too violent and challenging to give a young person all that money. It’s like boxing. Mike Tyson was on his way to dethroning Muhammad Ali as the greatest and then Iron Mike got filthy rich and soft. It’s hard to run five miles at 5 in the morning when you have mansions in five states and five time zones.

Do you think Glenn Dorsey is as hungry today as he was two years ago at LSU?

Money changes people — in good and bad ways.

Tiger Woods is the only athlete I’ve ever seen be given lifetime financial security at the outset of his career and perform every day as though he doesn’t have a nickel in his pocket. But Tiger was raised from birth to be the world’s best golfer.

OK, Glenn Dorsey, Jake Long, Chris Long, Matt Ryan and Darren McFadden, the players at the top of the 2008 NFL draft, weren’t given Tiger money. But it might feel like it to them. You never really know.

The addition of mega millions makes maturity even more important when developing young athletes. NFL owners and general managers are constantly weighing whether a young player can handle the responsibility of being rich.

The Rams selected Chris Long, a defensive end, with the second pick in the draft. He doesn’t have as much upside as Dorsey. But Long’s father, Howie, is in the Hall of Fame and a wealthy broadcaster for Fox.

Like Tiger Woods and the Mannings, Chris Long was groomed for NFL greatness at an early age.

I’m sure the Hunts and Peterson believe Dorsey can handle the wealth they just gave him. Well, “believe” is probably too strong a word. I’m sure they hope he can handle all that money and still retain the attitude necessary to excel in the trenches.

[Rausch]

Dorsey is in camp early enough. He should be as up to speed as any rookie and in fairly good shape.

Whit's right, the only thing to stop Dorsey will be Dorsey...

[picasso]

This article is a piece of shit.
Sounds like a jealous rant and a misunderstanding of how an athlete thinks in terms of becoming an icon in a sport they live and love.
If you want to compare salarys for rookies to guys that have been in the league 10 years it's going to be on opposite ends of the scale. No team will give a 10 year vet higher pay on the downside of their career. We all know that. They will over pay for the expected unproven production from a top five draft pick. In a law firm the principals get paid for the time they put in, the money they have brought to the firm, and the wisdom and mentorship they give to the new blood as they get older, maybe they even make partner. Wrong comparision IMO.

[Chiefshrink]

FWIW, I have been a shrink for nearly 20 years and my gut clinical instincts tell me this is a quality guy that is not ego motivated around money. I actually met his uncle who lives here in Denver and he says he is a .top quality kid who has his values in the right place.