|
i actually hope i am not right. i dont want you guys getting surtain. LOL! i just think it's gonna happen.
my opinion on the marcus thing.
he wanted more money before his rookie contract was up.
al agreed.
he then wanted to be the highest paid running back in the league.
again, al agreed.
the following year, eric dickersen signed a contract that made him the new, highest paid running back in the nfl.
marcus wanted al to redo his contract a 3rd time.
al did not agree this time. and rightfully so. can you imagine all this bending backward for a player prior to free agency? hell, team's dont do that now if they dont want to. it's not like al wasnt being more than fair.
marcus ran and bitched about it in the press.
beginning of rift.
al took a wild roulette spin, chance on bo jackson in the 7th round. all this after bo vehemently maintained he would not play football and only baseball. al took a gamble on him changing his mind and it panned out.
at this time bo was a better, fresher running back. i know that sounds crazy, but bo jackson was a bad mofo. also a heisman winner.
al wanted to make bo a running back and marcus a f.b. he figured that would be one helluva backfield with a bad ass like bo, and marcus in the backfield getting lots of touches and catches. think larry centers with the ability to REALLY run and cut when he got hand offs and yac. best possible backfield ever.marcus was a helluva blocker too(tony richardson never once complained about being bounced around to the press that i remember) solid team player who plays for alot less than marcus was getting. even back in those days).
marcus did not want what was best for the TEAM at the time. he wanted what was best for MARCUS. it was simply not good for marcus in his mind.
instead of marcus wanting to utilize the new heisman trophy winner, he decided to pout.
they had a rift, yet al has remained silent. marcus yells and screams to the press every chance he gets and just says, "i dont understand what the problem is". al was always "no comment". marcus would say various things about it over the years, but al was always solid and said nothing.
so when marcus starts getting all the pub around hall of fame time, he starts bringing it back up on t.v. and in the papers. al said nothing. no comment. i dont remember AL bringing it up, when he was getting pub for going into the hall of fame......
if marcus truly wanted to bury the hatchet he would have just called al up. hashed it out in private. this is if we are to believe that marcus is out for altruistic reasons to mend the relationship.keep in mind it was marcus who started the relationship to sour by flapping his gums to the press and bitching about more money when al already took care of him twice.
instead, marcus says on t.v., "that he wants to kiss and make up with al and just put it all behind them, but he doesnt know what the problem is". something to that effect.
it would be a helluva lot more appropriate to just call him. why the need to grandstand?
he knew al wasnt gonna show up on tv and kiss and make up on marcus' terms. al was NOT gonna let marcus look like the good guy after he continually would not honor his contracts and put the organization on front street. this is al davis we are talking about. as secret as they come. this is not your average owner who just hires others to do his work for him. he is not like a snyder who just got wealthy and bought a team as a fan of football.
this is a guy who worked his ass off to get where he is and he deserves some MUTUAL respect on even terms in private. not t.v.. get a grip. we all know al is like howard hughes. he is a workaholic and he is reclusive.
al was not gonna let the guy he thought SCREWED him, make up the time and the place on t.v. of all places. give me a break. LOL
let's face it. this surely is not the whole story. just my TAKE. i am not a mind reader. just observant(LOL) on all raider issues. plus marcus used to be my favorite raider. i was also an s.c. fan at the time as i am now.
that is just a counterpoint to the "al screwed marcus" takes i hear from people sometimes.
all i want to ask people is, how?
who screwed around with who, first?
here is a little something to think about. if al is so bad, why have more people chosen al to introduce them into the hall of fame, than anyone else?
life is all about perception. LOL!!!!
|