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Chick Ludwig covers the Cincinnati Bengals. He also writes about his other passions: college football, basketball and golf.Home > Blogs > Chick Ludwig At Large > Archives > 2008 > July > 23 > Entry
Rookie holdouts are playing with fire
W-A-R-N-I-N-G!
GET TO CAMP ON TIME
OR RUIN YOUR CAREERS
===LUDWIG AT LARGE ALERT: Coming Friday, July 25, 2008, I will celebrate my 54th birthday by delivering “CHICK LUDWIG’S FABLED FOOTBALL GLOSSARY.” It’s my blog party, and I’ll cry if I want to.===
This is neither a plea nor a request …
This is neither an appeal nor a demand …
It is simply a pure, unadulterated statement of fact:
Rookie draft picks who hold out for any length of time struggle their freshman NFL seasons.
So here’s my overture to the Cincinnati Bengals’ remaining six unsigned rookies…WLB Keith Rivers, WR Jerome Simpson, DT Pat Sims, WR Andre Caldwell, OT Anthony Collins and FS Corey Lynch.
If you want to make the 53-man roster and not just play in 2008 — but have a positive impact — you had better get your Bengal butts signed in time for the first training camp practice — 9 a.m. Monday, July 28, at Georgetown (Ky.) College.
This year’s camp lasts 19 days (July 28-Aug. 15). It’s the shortest in memory. It’s “The Big Squeeze.” The learning curve will be swift. You miss a day; you miss a lot.
Know this, studs: You’re all slotted. You’re all budgeted for by the club’s cap-ologists Katie & Troy Blackburn. Your agents are all angling to get you an extra penny here, an extra nickel there. an extra dime everywhere. My advice is get your signing bonus NOW, bank it, and get to work.
Think of the money you could’ve ALREADY MADE IN INTEREST ALONE!
If you hold out, you’re dead. Don’t think so? Try it and you’ll see. Just ask …
David Pollack — Missed all of camp in 2005 and never caught up. His career is over because of a serious neck injury.
Chris Perry — Suffered a hamstring injury shortly after ending his holdout. He’s played in 22 games in 4 years.
Akili Smith — Held out for nearly three weeks, then became biggest bust in franchise history. Career ended after 4 ugly years.
Justin Smith — Ended 50-day holdout on the eve of the 2001 opener. He never matched his rookie total of 8.5 sacks.
LUDWIG AT LARGE will climb down off his high horse now, shut up and let loyal readers get on with their busy day’s work.
Permalink | Comments (17) | Post your comment | Categories: Bengals
Comments
By Howie Feltersnatch
July 23, 2008 12:54 PM | Link to this
Chick over-zealous agents trying to cash in are the main culprits in hold outs. What they don’t take in to account is what there clients lose in the long run. By holding out and not being prepared they throw management a bargining chip when their rookie contract expires.By Antwan Odom in your face
July 23, 2008 1:05 PM | Link to this
they’ll be signed come Monday morning, i’m not worried. All 6 seem anxious to play in the NFL and make an immediate impact. Can’t wait to see Pat Sims smash some faces in.By yt27
July 23, 2008 2:04 PM | Link to this
I’m sure Derek Anderson is happy that Brady Quinn held out last year.By ChicagoRed
July 23, 2008 3:20 PM | Link to this
never ceases to amaze me how draft picks don’t understand this—-ESPECIALLY rookie QB’s. Granted, the bengals don’t have any QBs, but in the grand scheme of things, the long-term benefits of getting in camp and giving yourself the best chance possible to play seems a much better long-term plan than holding out for an extra $100K….yet no one among their “advisors” seems to get that…By andy
July 23, 2008 3:36 PM | Link to this
Uh, I don’t know if pointing out that Justin Smith had a career high in sacks the only year he DID hold out supports your argument too well.By Rick
July 23, 2008 4:02 PM | Link to this
after carson’s remarks about the buckeyes, i hope bengals never win another game til carson is gone….By Tom
July 23, 2008 4:29 PM | Link to this
The NFL should establish a pay chart (MAX/MIN)for draft picks. After the rookies play for two or three seasons and establish themselves as a competative player, they can demand competative salaries. There are too many failures which keep teams from becoming competative, because they are still paying flops and cannot afford primetime players.By Tom
July 23, 2008 4:32 PM | Link to this
The NFL should establish a pay chart (MAX/MIN)for draft picks. After the rookies play for two or three seasons and establish themselves as a competative player, they can demand competative salaries. There are too many failures which keep teams from becoming competative, because they are still paying flops and cannot afford primetime players. (It would still be more than some of them received playing college ball).By Tom
July 23, 2008 4:32 PM | Link to this
The NFL should establish a pay chart (MAX/MIN)for draft picks. After the rookies play for two or three seasons and establish themselves as a competative player, they can demand competative salaries. There are too many failures which keep teams from becoming competative, because they are still paying flops and cannot afford primetime players. (It would still be more than some of them received playing college ball).By Alex
July 23, 2008 5:24 PM | Link to this
Mr. Ludig, you are such a clown. Great “blogging.” Embarassing.By Alex
July 23, 2008 5:25 PM | Link to this
Mr. Ludig, you are such a clown. Great “blogging.” Embarassing.By Ft. Myers Foursome
July 23, 2008 6:36 PM | Link to this
You hit the nail on the head Chick. There is only so much money allotted. Owners know it. Agents know it. Rookies and fans don’t understand it. It’s a lot more fun to play than sit on the bench (unless your a fan). As for Carson Palmer comments, big deal. Why wouldn’t a guy root for the team he played for? I love Ohio State. But I also root for Notre Dame, Penn State, UK, my nephews Michigan (except against Ohio State), my beloved Florida Gators, and last but not least, my new found team, the University of Cincinnati. I would like nothing more than to see Cincinnati kick Ohio State’s butt. The bottom line is I like football. If you only watch one team, you’re missing out on a lot. In our younger years, my wife and I would watch the Elder Panthers of Cincinnati on Friday night, our son’s grade school football games on Saturday morning, college football Saturday afternoon and the NFL/AFL (I’m old), on Sunday. It didn’t get any better than that. In fact we even remember when the Bengals were good. We enjoy other sports, but we love football.By Dan B - Austin TX
July 24, 2008 1:31 AM | Link to this
For sure it’s the agents trying to squeeze the extra chump change from NFL franchises. It makes their cut a little bigger after all. Sports agents are the biggest scumbags on the planet next to Al-Queida worms. After all, many of them ARE lawyers.By bburton359
July 24, 2008 4:44 AM | Link to this
Rick, quit your belly-aching!!! You and every other Buckeye fan like you, whining about Carson’s comments are giving the rest of us Buckeye fans a bad name. So what if he dislikes the Bucks. He should dislike the Bucks. As a sports fan, I would be ashamed if he said anything less. Should he have used a bit more tact? Sure, but who really cares as long as he is 100% Bengal. If you are a Bengal fan then stick with our QB, regardless of who he roots for on Saturday. Heck most Bengal fans hate Browns fans (and visa versa). Most Browns and Bengal fans are also Buckeye fans. Does that mean most Browns and Bengals fans really do hate the Bucks? See how ridiculous that sounds?By Brian
July 24, 2008 8:30 AM | Link to this
Rick, you are an idiot (Must be a troll or a Browns fan). Good news! LB Jerod Mayo has been signed by the Pats (#10). Rivers should be soon to follow.By Cletus
July 24, 2008 8:59 AM | Link to this
Chunk, your argument that rookies must start camp on time or else “their careers will be ruined” is not only a poor assumption (not fact like you state), it is quite poorly backed up by you in your blog. Out of the 4 players you list as examples, only 1, yes 1, shows signs of struggling through his career based on performance (Akili). As much as I hate Chris Perry (wouldn’t mind seeing him have both legs ripped off by a tiger), his career has sucked because he has been injured. David Pollack - injured (unrelated to a holdout). Justin Smith - had his career best year in regards to sacks his ROOKIE YEAR (aka the year in which he held out). Chunk, this is very poor writing. You’re better than this and you know it. Stick to your articles and get away from this blog crap.By scott
July 24, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
time to adopt the rookie pay scale the NBA has… you get picked 4th you get x, no haggling, no need for an agent until that rookie contract is up