In high school and college sports, it's easy to see the sweat, the drive, the passion and the heart that oozes out of players. But somehow that seems to get lost on the way to the professional levels.
What happens to these innocent warriors, once playing for the love of the game? As athletes become bigger and better and inch toward the professional level, a transformation takes place.
Players become more wrapped up in satisfying their own financial needs and less interested in their team and the game they play.
Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Jason Peters is a perfect example. Peters thought he was too good to attend mandatory mini-camp this year because his $3.3 million salary wasn't enough.
Peters hoped to gain a new contract this year even though he still had three years existing on the current deal that he signed in 2006. I know he is a football player and not a businessman, but it is common sense that a contract is a legally binding document that cannot just change and adjust whenever he deems it necessary.
Perhaps Peters is worth more in the current marketplace, but does he play for the money or for the love of the game? Remember a few years back when he was just an undrafted free agent looking to get a contract? Has his head grown that much? Does he care more about his paycheck than his team?
Take Josh Cribbs from the Cleveland Browns. Cribbs had a six-year contract in 2006 after being an undrafted agent the year before. The deal was worth just less than $6 million and included a $2 million signing bonus. A year later, Cribbs wanted a new deal and agreed to a contract extension of $987,000 per year with no guarantees through 2012.
With players like former Cleveland Brown Andr?(c) Davis signing a four-year deal with Houston worth about $4 million a year and a $10 million guarantee, players like Cribbs wonder if they too could be earning more money.
This season, Cribbs wants to see if there is something he could do to change the contract he had just signed a year ago. Players like Cribbs concern themselves with how much money they can make. These guys sign contracts and a year later want to change them when other players start making more then them.
Since when is it all about the money?
It is understandable that a player would want the most money that he could get, especially when the ordinary football player only averages playing about four years before getting injured. However, they signed a contract and that should be the end of things.
With guaranteed contracts the player will get paid no matter what, even if they play poorly. It's not like if they play badly they will have to give the money back. They get every dime because they only want to honor their contract when it benefits them.
These athletes will act like drama queens and act out until they get their way. They need to realize that they play on a team. Like the saying goes, there is no "I" in team.
Unfortunately for their teammates, these players found the "me".
The list could go on forever of athletes who think they are some type of a god due to their egocentric mentality. Thankfully, there are men out there who are still playing for the love of the game and the drive to win.
Athletes today need to go back to when they were in high school or college. They need to remember the fight and determination they once had. If they don't, everyone gets hurt in the process.
