KChiefs1
06-27-2005, 10:51 AM
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/peter_king/06/27/mmqb.law/index.html
Law lingers
CB hasn't found right offer, health questions loom
Posted: Monday June 27, 2005 12:39PM; Updated: Monday June 27, 2005 12:49PM
As we enter the real offseason (when only hard-liners like Tom Brady will be working out at facilities now -- and I'm not kidding about that one), here's my question of the month: Where's Ty Law going to play this year?
"I'm going to be the best cornerback in football this year,'' Law told me the other night, from his home in Aliquippa, Pa., after returning from a workout with the Jaguars. "I'm just not sure where that's going to be yet.''
The next three weeks are going to be absolutely dead in footballville. BillBelichick will be on his beloved Nantucket. Brian Billick disappears to the wilds of Minnesota. Bill Parcells goes to the barns at Saratoga Race Course at dawn. Fred-ExMitchell's going to Brazil. And so on. Coaches will start filtering back to work between July 18 and July 25. (This column will take the next three weeks off too, and reappear July 25, the day I leave on my 17-day training-camp odyssey.) Until then, not much will happen in the NFL. Except some teams will flirt with Ty Law.
"I'm still the best out there until someone proves he's better,'' he said.
Well, that's debatable. Highly debatable. Last time we saw Law, he was limping off the field in Pittsburgh on Halloween afternoon with a serious foot injury. He had suffered a fracture in his left foot, which healed by late in the season, but also had a Lisfranc ligament sprain, which didn't heal and which Law claims was not diagnosed by the Patriots medical staff. It wasn't until he went to see Dr. Mark Myerson, one of the country's foremost foot and ankle specialists (he operated on Terrell Owens after T.O.'s ankle injury last season), that Law learned he had the ligament sprain. "If it had been diagnosed on time,'' Law told me, "I'd have been ready for someone's minicamp. But now I'm about 85 percent and I know I'll be fine for training camp.''
The question is where. "I had a good workout in Jacksonville,'' he said. "They told me, 'Play corner,' and I went and did all the drills -- plant, cut, do every angle you can possibly do, sprint. I was fine. Now Miami wants me to come back and visit. But if you can't afford Patrick Surtain [who was dealt to Kansas City in April], how can you afford me? The Jets are interested. Kansas City called again. Tampa Bay faxed an offer. Indianapolis is in it. I got an offer, sight unseen for $2.5 million for one year. If I wasn't ready, I'd just take it. But I'm going to be ready to play and that's not the kind of contract I should get. Before they signed Surtain, the Chiefs gave me, like, a $42 million offer. But it was structured so bad that I'd probably only make $10 million before they'd cut me. So I didn't do it.''
But making a judgment on Law now is difficult. One coach of an interested team told me, "I want to wait to see what he looks like right before camp, if he's still on the street, before we commit to making him an offer. He's 31, coming off a major injury, and he's still not 100 percent. If we do anything, it won't be for a lot of money.''
In fact, this coach told me (and this is a coach who needs a corner) his team would probably offer Law only the minimum. But will any team out there offer Law, say, $6 million to sign, as part of a four-year, backloaded, heavily incentived deal? I think that's what would be fair if and only if you trust him to give you a couple of healthy years.
Two things I had to ask Law about: his weight, and his relationship with Belichick, whom Law called a liar last year when the Patriots didn't give him the contract he felt was fair.
I told Law there were people in the NFL world who were worried that he'd gotten fat from all his inactivity. "I heard that,'' he said. "You know, I went six months non-weight-bearing. (Meaning he couldn't put any weight on his foot.) I usually report to camp at 200 and play at around 205. Being non-weight-bearing, I was probably on the plus side of 220, but I never weighed myself. Who's not going to gain some weight when you can't put any weight on your leg for half a year? I was bedridden, basically. Come on. I can't recall an offseason where my weight didn't go up anyway, and I never was overweight entering training camp.''
On Belichick: "We have a good relationship. When I saw him at our Super Bowl ceremony a couple of weeks ago, we shook hands. We hugged. I have no bitterness whatsoever toward Bill Belichick. He was great for my career. When it's all said and done, I was a great player before he got to the Patriots, but we worked together and won three Super Bowls together. I think what happened last year was the business side of football. The Patriots had one idea of how much I should make, and I had another idea. You can't blame a team for trying to cut a player's pay, but you can't blame a player either for not letting it happen. Sometimes business gets emotional. You put your heart and soul into something, and some team doesn't want to pay you what you're supposed to make, and it hurts. But we got over it. We squashed everything in training camp, forgot about it, and moved on. After the season, I asked for my release, and I respect Bill for giving it to me. He could have waited. Lots of players have to wait till June, but Bill released me and let me go about my business. I will have a good relationship with Bill when football is over.''
The Law I talked with for 45 minutes the other day was eager to prove a lot of people wring, but I noted after the call that he said a couple of times he didn't want go somewhere just to be able to beat the Patriots. He wants to play for a contender, but he also wants to be paid. It'll be interesting to see if anyone forks over a bonus, or if Law will have to sign a one-year deal and prove he deserves real money in 2006. I expect we'll have an answer by a month from today, when the training camp doors open leaguewide.
FACTOID THAT MAY ONLY INTEREST ME
Undergraduate classes at the University of Florida ended on April 20. That was 69 days ago. Yesterday, the Florida baseball team played in the final game of the College World Series championship series in Omaha.
Since the academic year ended, the team has played 34 games.
I wonder if any kid on the baseball team -- especially a non-starter -- has brought up the schedule is totally insane. They've been playing baseball for almost 10 weeks since classes ended, and it's impossible for the players to get a summer job or internship (isn't that what college is designed to set you up for between semesters?) because classes start back up in less than two months.
Does anyone at the NCAA monitor these schedules that allow the College World Series to be played until the week before the July 4th holiday?
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Ice cream? Mom, I want a chocolate mocha frappuccino instead.''
-- Montclair (N.J.) Bears third baseman Carly Goldstein, frowning at the prospect of coach King-bought ice cream instead of her beloved Starbucks product, after the Bears' unlikely comeback to win the Readington Recreation Tournament 10-and-under championship under relentless 97-degree sunshine on Sunday in Readington, N.J.
The Bears, sponsored by Sports Illustrated (what a company!), came back from 4-0 and 2-0 deficits in the quarterfinal and semifinal games earlier Sunday, then broke a 7-7 tie in the title game and beat Skylands (N.J.) 10-8 to win the first 10U tournament championship in the town's history. ("History?'' Well, we've been at it all of four years.)
I will just say this about these diminutive Bears: On Saturday and Sunday, when the high in New Jersey was 96 and 97, respectively, these kids got up at 5:45 a.m., were on a wide-open, unshaded field complex at 8, played three games a day, and didn't finish till 2:30. Our kids never once said: "It so hot out there.'' It may have helped that I told them on Saturday: "Not one word about the heat. It doesn't help.'' But since when do kids really listen? Before the last inning, when we were trying to protect a 10-8 lead, we were trying to figure out who to play at catcher. All three of our backstops were burnt to a crisp. I turned to spunky, athletic beanpole Caroline Kohl, a fair-skinned, always-smiling, retainer-wearing utility player who must weigh in at about 41 pounds. I think my ear weighs more. Her eyes were swollen and her face, even sun-screened, was bright red. The way I read it was, she was cooked. Stick a fork in her. "Can you catch one more inning?'' I said. Caroline's eyes popped open. "Yeah,'' she said, and hustled to put the shinguards on.
Like I said a couple of weeks ago in this space: Worried about the youth of America? Come see the Bears this summer. Then you won't be worried.
Carly, by the way, is the daughter of Mike from Montclair, the highly addicted Mike and the Mad Dog caller on WFAN radio in New York. She did not get the frappuccino, because she is already naturally too highly caffeinated. She had to settle for cookies and cream, with Reese's pieces sprinkled on top.
STAT OF THE WEEK
The amazing thing about the Montclair Bears' performance in the Readington tournament was the first game. Berkeley (N.J.) Barracudas 17, Bears 1. Over the next five games, the Bears got their running shoes on, winning them all and outscoring foes 65-22.
TEN THINGS
1. I think, with or without Terrell Owens, there is still ridiculous Eagles fever in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the team has 60,000 people on its season-ticket waiting list. The capacity of Lincoln Financial Field is 68,400. Which tells me that a good number of the people on the waiting list will be dead before their name comes up.
2. I think if he pushes the holdout, Owens will be traded by Sept. 1 if the Eagles get a fair offer, or an offer that gives them a useable receiver and a high draft choice. If that doesn't happen, he'll sit. The Eagles will take the medicine.
3. I think I can't believe Travis Henry is still a Buffalo Bill. The Bills should get a third-rounder in the 2006 draft for him from some team. Now I suspect it'll be Jacksonville if there are health or contract concerns about Fred Taylor early in training camp. The biggest problem for the Bills will be if Henry doesn't come to training camp. Then they'll lose some leverage. Teams will say, "Hey, you're not getting anything out of the guy. Why should we pay anything more than a fourth- or fifth-rounder?'' Whatever happens, now that he's waited this long, Buffalo GM Tom Donahoe has got to hang tough and make sure he gets a first-day pick for Henry.
4. I think I've softened my stance that the Saints will move to L.A. They might stay in New Orleans now, even if the Louisiana legislature doesn't come up with the $15 million it must commit to the team by July 15. Ex-Saints GM Bill Kuharich tells me that owner Tom Benson won't move the team under any circumstances. Benson told him a few years ago this wasn't a money thing. Now we'll see if it is or it isn't.
5. I think the most important thing about Ricky Williams to Dolphins coach Nick Saban is what the running back can produce in the form of a trade bait. I might be overstating that, because obviously Williams is going to have to show something good on the field to get something back in trade. If Williams plays great in November, maybe Saban won't deal him. But I think Saban looks at Williams and thinks: "Wouldn't it be great if I could trade him for the 65th pick of the draft next April?''
6. I think Nick Saban might have lost his trust in GM Rick Spielman when Spielman starting talking about how much he liked Akron quarterback CharlieFrye, and Saban remembers Frye as the guy who threw the ball into the third row of the RCA Dome bleachers at the Scouting Combine. That's what I hear, anyway.
7. I think it was interesting to read BillRhoden's column in the New York Times the other day, where he noted everyone he knew was watching the NBA Finals and wondered why the TV ratings were so microscopic for the games. Well, Bill, we live only a couple of area codes apart, and I can answer the question for you. None of my friends watch the NBA. I wish I could get into it, but I just can't. Bores the stuffing out of me.
8. I think we will all miss Myron Cope, who retired as the voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. His was the most unique voice, in the history of sportscasting. Now that's taking in a lot of ground, but you know I'm right if you've heard Myron. Guys like VinScully, Johnny Most and Ernie Harwell are hugely famous for being identified with one specific team. But no voice was more important to the history of a sports franchise than Cope was to Pittsburgh. My in-laws lived there, and I can't tell you how many people in that town turned down the sound on the TV to listen to Myron. It's going to be mournful to be in Pittsburgh and not have Myron Cope to look forward to on the radio.
9. I think, however, that Tunch Ilkin, long-term, is going to be a terrific radio analyst in Pittsburgh. Insightful, tough when he has to be, and a lover of the inside of the game.
10. I think I'd like to wish everyone a happy summer. I'll be back in three weeks. See you in training camp.
Law lingers
CB hasn't found right offer, health questions loom
Posted: Monday June 27, 2005 12:39PM; Updated: Monday June 27, 2005 12:49PM
As we enter the real offseason (when only hard-liners like Tom Brady will be working out at facilities now -- and I'm not kidding about that one), here's my question of the month: Where's Ty Law going to play this year?
"I'm going to be the best cornerback in football this year,'' Law told me the other night, from his home in Aliquippa, Pa., after returning from a workout with the Jaguars. "I'm just not sure where that's going to be yet.''
The next three weeks are going to be absolutely dead in footballville. BillBelichick will be on his beloved Nantucket. Brian Billick disappears to the wilds of Minnesota. Bill Parcells goes to the barns at Saratoga Race Course at dawn. Fred-ExMitchell's going to Brazil. And so on. Coaches will start filtering back to work between July 18 and July 25. (This column will take the next three weeks off too, and reappear July 25, the day I leave on my 17-day training-camp odyssey.) Until then, not much will happen in the NFL. Except some teams will flirt with Ty Law.
"I'm still the best out there until someone proves he's better,'' he said.
Well, that's debatable. Highly debatable. Last time we saw Law, he was limping off the field in Pittsburgh on Halloween afternoon with a serious foot injury. He had suffered a fracture in his left foot, which healed by late in the season, but also had a Lisfranc ligament sprain, which didn't heal and which Law claims was not diagnosed by the Patriots medical staff. It wasn't until he went to see Dr. Mark Myerson, one of the country's foremost foot and ankle specialists (he operated on Terrell Owens after T.O.'s ankle injury last season), that Law learned he had the ligament sprain. "If it had been diagnosed on time,'' Law told me, "I'd have been ready for someone's minicamp. But now I'm about 85 percent and I know I'll be fine for training camp.''
The question is where. "I had a good workout in Jacksonville,'' he said. "They told me, 'Play corner,' and I went and did all the drills -- plant, cut, do every angle you can possibly do, sprint. I was fine. Now Miami wants me to come back and visit. But if you can't afford Patrick Surtain [who was dealt to Kansas City in April], how can you afford me? The Jets are interested. Kansas City called again. Tampa Bay faxed an offer. Indianapolis is in it. I got an offer, sight unseen for $2.5 million for one year. If I wasn't ready, I'd just take it. But I'm going to be ready to play and that's not the kind of contract I should get. Before they signed Surtain, the Chiefs gave me, like, a $42 million offer. But it was structured so bad that I'd probably only make $10 million before they'd cut me. So I didn't do it.''
But making a judgment on Law now is difficult. One coach of an interested team told me, "I want to wait to see what he looks like right before camp, if he's still on the street, before we commit to making him an offer. He's 31, coming off a major injury, and he's still not 100 percent. If we do anything, it won't be for a lot of money.''
In fact, this coach told me (and this is a coach who needs a corner) his team would probably offer Law only the minimum. But will any team out there offer Law, say, $6 million to sign, as part of a four-year, backloaded, heavily incentived deal? I think that's what would be fair if and only if you trust him to give you a couple of healthy years.
Two things I had to ask Law about: his weight, and his relationship with Belichick, whom Law called a liar last year when the Patriots didn't give him the contract he felt was fair.
I told Law there were people in the NFL world who were worried that he'd gotten fat from all his inactivity. "I heard that,'' he said. "You know, I went six months non-weight-bearing. (Meaning he couldn't put any weight on his foot.) I usually report to camp at 200 and play at around 205. Being non-weight-bearing, I was probably on the plus side of 220, but I never weighed myself. Who's not going to gain some weight when you can't put any weight on your leg for half a year? I was bedridden, basically. Come on. I can't recall an offseason where my weight didn't go up anyway, and I never was overweight entering training camp.''
On Belichick: "We have a good relationship. When I saw him at our Super Bowl ceremony a couple of weeks ago, we shook hands. We hugged. I have no bitterness whatsoever toward Bill Belichick. He was great for my career. When it's all said and done, I was a great player before he got to the Patriots, but we worked together and won three Super Bowls together. I think what happened last year was the business side of football. The Patriots had one idea of how much I should make, and I had another idea. You can't blame a team for trying to cut a player's pay, but you can't blame a player either for not letting it happen. Sometimes business gets emotional. You put your heart and soul into something, and some team doesn't want to pay you what you're supposed to make, and it hurts. But we got over it. We squashed everything in training camp, forgot about it, and moved on. After the season, I asked for my release, and I respect Bill for giving it to me. He could have waited. Lots of players have to wait till June, but Bill released me and let me go about my business. I will have a good relationship with Bill when football is over.''
The Law I talked with for 45 minutes the other day was eager to prove a lot of people wring, but I noted after the call that he said a couple of times he didn't want go somewhere just to be able to beat the Patriots. He wants to play for a contender, but he also wants to be paid. It'll be interesting to see if anyone forks over a bonus, or if Law will have to sign a one-year deal and prove he deserves real money in 2006. I expect we'll have an answer by a month from today, when the training camp doors open leaguewide.
FACTOID THAT MAY ONLY INTEREST ME
Undergraduate classes at the University of Florida ended on April 20. That was 69 days ago. Yesterday, the Florida baseball team played in the final game of the College World Series championship series in Omaha.
Since the academic year ended, the team has played 34 games.
I wonder if any kid on the baseball team -- especially a non-starter -- has brought up the schedule is totally insane. They've been playing baseball for almost 10 weeks since classes ended, and it's impossible for the players to get a summer job or internship (isn't that what college is designed to set you up for between semesters?) because classes start back up in less than two months.
Does anyone at the NCAA monitor these schedules that allow the College World Series to be played until the week before the July 4th holiday?
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"Ice cream? Mom, I want a chocolate mocha frappuccino instead.''
-- Montclair (N.J.) Bears third baseman Carly Goldstein, frowning at the prospect of coach King-bought ice cream instead of her beloved Starbucks product, after the Bears' unlikely comeback to win the Readington Recreation Tournament 10-and-under championship under relentless 97-degree sunshine on Sunday in Readington, N.J.
The Bears, sponsored by Sports Illustrated (what a company!), came back from 4-0 and 2-0 deficits in the quarterfinal and semifinal games earlier Sunday, then broke a 7-7 tie in the title game and beat Skylands (N.J.) 10-8 to win the first 10U tournament championship in the town's history. ("History?'' Well, we've been at it all of four years.)
I will just say this about these diminutive Bears: On Saturday and Sunday, when the high in New Jersey was 96 and 97, respectively, these kids got up at 5:45 a.m., were on a wide-open, unshaded field complex at 8, played three games a day, and didn't finish till 2:30. Our kids never once said: "It so hot out there.'' It may have helped that I told them on Saturday: "Not one word about the heat. It doesn't help.'' But since when do kids really listen? Before the last inning, when we were trying to protect a 10-8 lead, we were trying to figure out who to play at catcher. All three of our backstops were burnt to a crisp. I turned to spunky, athletic beanpole Caroline Kohl, a fair-skinned, always-smiling, retainer-wearing utility player who must weigh in at about 41 pounds. I think my ear weighs more. Her eyes were swollen and her face, even sun-screened, was bright red. The way I read it was, she was cooked. Stick a fork in her. "Can you catch one more inning?'' I said. Caroline's eyes popped open. "Yeah,'' she said, and hustled to put the shinguards on.
Like I said a couple of weeks ago in this space: Worried about the youth of America? Come see the Bears this summer. Then you won't be worried.
Carly, by the way, is the daughter of Mike from Montclair, the highly addicted Mike and the Mad Dog caller on WFAN radio in New York. She did not get the frappuccino, because she is already naturally too highly caffeinated. She had to settle for cookies and cream, with Reese's pieces sprinkled on top.
STAT OF THE WEEK
The amazing thing about the Montclair Bears' performance in the Readington tournament was the first game. Berkeley (N.J.) Barracudas 17, Bears 1. Over the next five games, the Bears got their running shoes on, winning them all and outscoring foes 65-22.
TEN THINGS
1. I think, with or without Terrell Owens, there is still ridiculous Eagles fever in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports the team has 60,000 people on its season-ticket waiting list. The capacity of Lincoln Financial Field is 68,400. Which tells me that a good number of the people on the waiting list will be dead before their name comes up.
2. I think if he pushes the holdout, Owens will be traded by Sept. 1 if the Eagles get a fair offer, or an offer that gives them a useable receiver and a high draft choice. If that doesn't happen, he'll sit. The Eagles will take the medicine.
3. I think I can't believe Travis Henry is still a Buffalo Bill. The Bills should get a third-rounder in the 2006 draft for him from some team. Now I suspect it'll be Jacksonville if there are health or contract concerns about Fred Taylor early in training camp. The biggest problem for the Bills will be if Henry doesn't come to training camp. Then they'll lose some leverage. Teams will say, "Hey, you're not getting anything out of the guy. Why should we pay anything more than a fourth- or fifth-rounder?'' Whatever happens, now that he's waited this long, Buffalo GM Tom Donahoe has got to hang tough and make sure he gets a first-day pick for Henry.
4. I think I've softened my stance that the Saints will move to L.A. They might stay in New Orleans now, even if the Louisiana legislature doesn't come up with the $15 million it must commit to the team by July 15. Ex-Saints GM Bill Kuharich tells me that owner Tom Benson won't move the team under any circumstances. Benson told him a few years ago this wasn't a money thing. Now we'll see if it is or it isn't.
5. I think the most important thing about Ricky Williams to Dolphins coach Nick Saban is what the running back can produce in the form of a trade bait. I might be overstating that, because obviously Williams is going to have to show something good on the field to get something back in trade. If Williams plays great in November, maybe Saban won't deal him. But I think Saban looks at Williams and thinks: "Wouldn't it be great if I could trade him for the 65th pick of the draft next April?''
6. I think Nick Saban might have lost his trust in GM Rick Spielman when Spielman starting talking about how much he liked Akron quarterback CharlieFrye, and Saban remembers Frye as the guy who threw the ball into the third row of the RCA Dome bleachers at the Scouting Combine. That's what I hear, anyway.
7. I think it was interesting to read BillRhoden's column in the New York Times the other day, where he noted everyone he knew was watching the NBA Finals and wondered why the TV ratings were so microscopic for the games. Well, Bill, we live only a couple of area codes apart, and I can answer the question for you. None of my friends watch the NBA. I wish I could get into it, but I just can't. Bores the stuffing out of me.
8. I think we will all miss Myron Cope, who retired as the voice of the Pittsburgh Steelers last week. His was the most unique voice, in the history of sportscasting. Now that's taking in a lot of ground, but you know I'm right if you've heard Myron. Guys like VinScully, Johnny Most and Ernie Harwell are hugely famous for being identified with one specific team. But no voice was more important to the history of a sports franchise than Cope was to Pittsburgh. My in-laws lived there, and I can't tell you how many people in that town turned down the sound on the TV to listen to Myron. It's going to be mournful to be in Pittsburgh and not have Myron Cope to look forward to on the radio.
9. I think, however, that Tunch Ilkin, long-term, is going to be a terrific radio analyst in Pittsburgh. Insightful, tough when he has to be, and a lover of the inside of the game.
10. I think I'd like to wish everyone a happy summer. I'll be back in three weeks. See you in training camp.