Walker: Thompson drove me from Green Bay

[Zero2Cool]

DENVER — On the day he signed a five-year contract extension worth between $40 million and $42 million with the Denver Broncos, former Packers receiver Javon Walker said Ted Thompson, not Brett Favre, was the reason he demanded a trade from Green Bay.

After a Pro Bowl season in 2004, Walker requested a new deal. He threatened to hold out of training camp, which drew a sharp rebuke from Favre.

On Wednesday, however, Walker said Favre wasn’t why he soured on Green Bay: “I would play with Favre if he went to another team. The thing I liked about him was he gave me a chance to make plays.â€

 

[WinnipegPackFan]

Interesting information Z2C,

I always thought management might have been the ones to do more in this particular situation and although I am sure to take heat for saying it, I think this is another example of TT's Player / Public Relation skills needing some serious work. Thanks for bringing me back out of hibernation !!!

I am not saying Walker's demands were fair, just or whatever ( I don't know the particulars ) I am just saying that there are many ways of handling a situation and "maybe" TT could have handled things better than a flat out "NO" .

 

[digsthepack]

Waaah, waaah, waaaah. Cry me a river Javon. I am quite sure that TT summed it all up in a one syllable word...disrespectfully, no less...when asked to re-write your contract.

Bottom line is that Walker did not like the answer he received...whether short and sweet or a rambling, eloquent disertation....he simply got the wrong answer.

Personally, I am excited about Greg Jennings...how about we talk about current guys than some whiney-*** once upon a timer.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

BTW, Franks never held out. He was a FA coming into last season and was in negotiations for a new contract. Franks could not report to camp until he was under contract.

TT could have handled the situation better, but I'm tired of reading quotes from Javon about players that are completely inaccurate. He misrepresented the situations with Franks, Green and Driver just to make it seem that he was being treated unfairly.

Walker was pushing for his payday and he would have been happy playing in GB if TT offered the same incentive laiden deal he signed with Denver.

 

[DePack]

Waaah, waaah, waaaah. Cry me a river Javon. I am quite sure that TT summed it all up in a one syllable word...disrespectfully, no less...when asked to re-write your contract.

Bottom line is that Walker did not like the answer he received...whether short and sweet or a rambling, eloquent disertation....he simply got the wrong answer.

Personally, I am excited about Greg Jennings...how about we talk about current guys than some whiney-*** once upon a timer.

If this doesn't concern you or any other poster on this board, then it just proves what a blind hingehead said poster is.

IF TT can't communicate with "today's athlete" he should not be in his position. TT is giving the impression that he is "too good" to even discuss this with a star player. To be honest....he had the same air about him when discussing the Favre situation. The only difference is that Favre IS the NFL.

Digs........if this was Mike Sherman you'd be ripping him a new a-hole and using the old one as a coaster :shock:

Everybody is excited about Jennings.....until he does well and TT runs him outta town. Then he'll just be another "whiney-*** once upon a timer".

 

[digsthepack]

Lemme see here, DePack.....you are goiong to take the word of JW...a guy who started a false rumor about Donald Driver...who uses fellow players to leverage his contract demands (Bubba Franks) and who took the adversarial stance right out the gate to initiate his renegotiation request...over TT who might not be the most eloquent communicator, but also a guy who is consistent in his dealings with players. Whether you like his style or not, he is consistent...something that Javon's story has never been.

But, let me ask...does your desire for TT to "communicate with today's athlete" basically entail bending over and taking it up the chute...no lube no less.........because that was essentially what JW and his agent were expecting/demanding?

Yeah, that is the way to run an organization.

 

[musccy]

Don't assume that TT's public relations skills are the same as his interpersonal skills. He comes off as a stiff in public because he's admitadely petrified of public speaking.

btw...I agree w/ digs...I assume that TT is the reason Javon is no longer here, but I don't necessarily hold that against TT...JW is salty because he didn't get what he wanted, and I trust that his story is manipulated to sling mud at TT

 

[digsthepack]

It should also be pointed out that the Packers, as an organization, have for years stood on the premise that contracts, with very few exceptions, are not renegotiated until their last year....which is what this issue is ALL ABOUT.

 

[DePack]

Lemme see here, DePack.....you are goiong to take the word of JW...a guy who started a false rumor about Donald Driver...who uses fellow players to leverage his contract demands (Bubba Franks) and who took the adversarial stance right out the gate to initiate his renegotiation request...over TT who might not be the most eloquent communicator, but also a guy who is consistent in his dealings with players. Whether you like his style or not, he is consistent...something that Javon's story has never been.

But, let me ask...does your desire for TT to "communicate with today's athlete" basically entail bending over and taking it up the chute...no lube no less.........because that was essentially what JW and his agent were expecting/demanding?

Yeah, that is the way to run an organization.

Actually I am taking the word of both. TT has said a number of times that he would not and did not discuss redoing JW's contract with him.

Where is the contradiction?

Like I said....hingeheads :lol:

Don't feel bad...school will be out this afternoon and all the other hingeheads will join you.

Like I said before...I have not been a TT basher and I like some of the things he has done but I refuse to nod "yes" to every move he makes, like some of you guys.

 

[digsthepack]

DePack...I like you, I really do...but you are increrasingly becoming a 66 clone. Read your posts...absorb the names you throw at those who dare to hold a different opinion. There is a way to disagree...and generally you do it right....but when push comes to shove, you resort to name calling...same as 66.

Hingeheads....schools out soon...all us hingeheads can frolic together??

Your condescending attitude is really a delight...a real contribution to the dialogue!!!

Come on, man...you are better than this.

 

[digsthepack]

And, relating to TT saying he "did not and will not discuss re-doing JW's contract"...basically, he said no. It was discussed and TT said no. Perhaps discussed very briefly, but discussed...and the answer was no.

Like a child at the checkout counter who really wanted the candy....Javon flopped on the floor and threw a tantrum.

Yeah...I want that single digit on the Wonderlic induced attitude on the team.

 

[DakotaT]

DePack...I like you, I really do...but you are increrasingly becoming a 66 clone. Read your posts...absorb the names you throw at those who dare to hold a different opinion. There is a way to disagree...and generally you do it right....but when push comes to shove, you resort to name calling...same as 66.

Hingeheads....schools out soon...all us hingeheads can frolic together??

Come on, man...you are better than this.

How long until we can put the Javon Walker saga behind us? I remember when Sharper pulled his B.S. threat to hold out 2 days before the season opened. I never looked at that guy with the same admiration again.

I feel the same way towards Walker now. They guy is not irreplaceable.

Uncle Ted could have handled the whold situation differently, but Walker is the one who backed him into a corner. Walker went to the press, and Walker picked a year to do this crap when we had no cap room to speak of. Should JWalk take a little responsibility here instead of giving an interview stating that Thompson drove him out of Green Bay.

 

[TheStone]

IF TT can't communicate with "today's athlete" he should not be in his position.

What exactly do you mean with "today's athlete" :?:

I won't divide athletes in "today" or "yesterday".
I'd rather divide them into "professionals" or "nonprofessionals"

It is not acting in a professional way when you hold your breath until
your contract is changed. It's not even "nonprofessional"
It's stupid!!

 

[warhawk]

Renegotiating a contract means compensation for past performance that exceeded the original terms, and, extends the contract amount to a level par with other players with similar numbers.

I think TT had a problem with both to a degree. Why renegotiate the terms which in affect changes the amount of money he was paid for the first three years when the amount he was paid for those years was fair in the first place?

Sometimes rookies that sign multi-year contracts do put up numbers that obviously outperform the compensation paid the first few years. If the club wants to adjust that as a reward that's fine.

Some say it's only fair and should be done and sometimes it may be the right thing to do.

But what about the guys that are signed that do not play anywhere near the the level the contract pays? The teams get saddled with having to try and reneqotiate the deal or cut the player and still have to pay. C. Hunt for example, is still costing the club a bunch of money. KGB and Fergy are being overcompensated.

It puts management between a rock and a hard place when hind sight is 20-20 in redoing contracts for more money when a player has obviously outperformed the terms, yet continues to pay players that are not playing up to level their contracts calls for.

It's a checks and balance system and yes it's a buisness.

If this kind of thing were to become commonplace in the league than for every guy paid MORE for what they have done there needs to be an equal amount taken from those that performed less.

And you know who won't let that happen? The players union.

 

[rob836]

TT knows more about his job then we know about his job.

 

[spardo62]

and Sherman drove McKenzie out of town as well. As a previous poster noted, it has been company policy to start extension talk with 1 year left on deals rather than 2 or more.

Could the situation have been handled differently, probably, by both sides. But it is what it is and although we will surely miss his athletic talents(assuming he comes back to form), we will be better off minus the attitude and acrimony.

 

[Bobby Roberts]

But what about the guys that are signed that do not play anywhere near the the level the contract pays? The teams get saddled with having to try and reneqotiate the deal or cut the player and still have to pay. C. Hunt for example, is still costing the club a bunch of money. KGB and Fergy are being overcompensated.

Actually Hunt isn't costing the team any money, just salary cap space. The salary cap space that Hunt is taking up this year relates to the prorated portions of his signing and other bonuses. These are bonuses that teams typically structure to count against the cap over several years rather than a single year. Hunt already received all that money, but not all of it counted against the cap when he was paid.

That being said, you are correct that the only recorse a team has for a player that underperforms is to cut that player. But that does bring up the point that NFL contracts are not guarenteed. A player can be cut at anytime and therefore the team does not honor every contract.

This is why players seek huge signing bonuses. The large signing bonus makes it more difficult to cut a player due to the salary cap hit. It also is the only money in a contract that the player is guarenteed to get.

 

[MontanaBob]

I work with a guy who is an avid Bronco fan. Grew up in Denver, was a ball ball for them at summer camps, the whole nine yards. He's estatic about Walker to the point I think his kids in class are going to notice he's wetting his pants. :shock:

I just reminded him of Walkers injury, they still have Jake the Snake as QB, and a coach who likes to get "trouble makers" on the team. Haven't heard from him in two days.

 

[pantherd]

It seems that the strategy TT has employed for contract negotiations has turned off free agents across the league from the prospect of landing in Green Bay. Though it's a nice "hard ***" type of stance, it's causing a detrement to the team as a whole.

Listen to the guy's request for a pay increase, then tell him you'll consider it closer to the time of expiration of the current contract or something. Atleast the player doesn't feel completely slighted by the team.

 

[SuperRat]

Listen to the guy's request for a pay increase, then tell him you'll consider it closer to the time of expiration of the current contract or something. Atleast the player doesn't feel completely slighted by the team.

Who is to say that this didn't occur. We know they had talked. It isn't like TT didn't completely ignore him. None of us know what was said between TT, Walker, and Walker's agent.

 

[pantherd]

I guess. However, from what you read (which is essentially the same thing that most free agents are privvy to) it sounds as though the conversation went sort of like this:

Walker: I'd like to discuss a possible contract extension.

TT: NO.

That coupled with the difficulties experienced with Wahle, Rivera, Franks, MM and others is all that outsiders get to see. When making a decision on whether to pursue an opportunity in GB, it has serious implications for prospective free agents. Some are turned off by the perception (regardless of its level of truth) of difficulty in contract negotiations with the team.

 

[digsthepack]

While I appreciate your posts, Pantherd, what evidence do you have to support your assertion that GB is now unattractive to FAs?

Pickett, Woodson, Manuel, Kampman, Taylor....nice haul, by my estimation.

Sorry in advance to all those who believe only multi-year Pro-Bowlers are the only FAs worthy of pursuit.

Bottom line is that TT did not even pursue some of the FAs you are surely using to form your opinion. You cannot lose what you never possessed, or had no desire to possess.

 

[pantherd]

I agree. And no, multi-year pro-bowlers aren't what I'm referring to. I loved Witherspoon in Carolina; he never made a pro-bowl. However, I agreed with the fact that we had to let him walk for the kind of money St. Louis felt he was worth.

I'm referring to comments I've read from MM, Wahle, and now Walker regarding the negotiations with the GB organization. I formed my opnion based on that. I've assumed it plays a role in some free agents willingness, or lack thereof, to negotiate with the team. I could be dead wrong. Afterall, we're well aware of what happens when we "assume." I'm just expressing an opinion to chime in on the topic.

 

[DePack]

You guys just don't get it so I'll stop after this one. I never said TT should have thrown money at JW or that he even should have redone his contract. I've said there is a way to communicate with these players without sticking your nose in the air. Give the man the decency of a sitdown and explain your point of view. I, like many of you, run a business and if we acted like this all the time we'd be broke. There is nothing wrong with a little communication. It can stave off many problems. It can even help you save face. It might prevent you from saying things like "we will not entertain any offers for Javon" and then be forced to trade him.


Now I'm sure this will be construed as some bash against the almighty one and many will get their ******* in a bunch. It's the way I feel.

And digs.....I know you like me when I agree with you but this isn't personal. There are guys on this forum that defend everything TT does ad nauseum(similar to the way I did with Sherman). If someone disagrees they get jumped. It gets old.

 

[pyledriver80]

There are guys on this forum that defend everything TT does ad nauseum(similar to the way I did with Sherman). If someone disagrees they get jumped. It gets old.

I hear ya!!! I don't mind people with different viewpoints but it is so obvious that some people will defend TT or bash him without any clue as to why.