Safety Eric Smith Speaks Out Against Player Workouts

[JetNation]

In a recent interview with the Washington Post  New York Jets safety Eric Smith voiced his displeasure over the player organized workouts that have been conducted all over the country.  Smith offered:

“I don’t understand why guys are doing this stuff. You’re risking injury. And you got the rookies who aren’t getting paid any money flying in to do these workouts. So they’re putting themselves in a hole before they make any money. Basically, we’re giving the owners all these practices for free. They aren’t spending any money, but their players are still practicing. So they’re making out.”“

This is an interesting take from a player who could be headed to free agency once a new collective bargaining agreement is put into place.  On one side you can understand Smith’s reasoning as the risk of injury could jeopardize his next contract, or career for that matter.  At the same time most of the workouts were nothing more than doing exercises, light drill work, along with film studies.  These are the same types of  activities that most players are doing on their own.

In the end it all comes down to money and each player has to do what is in their own best interest.  It is one thing to be a team player, it is another to risk your next paycheck.  I do not find fault with any player that does not want to risk injury by participating in these workouts.  The NFL stands for “Not For Long”, so players must maximize their opportunities to make the most of their careers.

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[Matt39]

You'll end up putting yourself at a much bigger risk if you don't stay in shape. You think teams are going to cater to guys that show up 25lbs overweight? Hell, that's the easiest way to get injured.

If you cant avoid injury while doing conditioning drills without any pads...then its fairly certain you would have ended up getting hurt anyways.

[Bleedin Green]

This dipsh*t does realize that, with the exception of certain bonuses, they don't get paid for offseason workouts to begin with, right? Outside of a nice run at the end of last year, I always thought this guy was complete garbage, and this just about does it for me with him. I hope the Jets don't re-sign this boob, good riddance. If his level of commitment to football is that much lower than the rest of the team, then he doesn't need to be on this team. There are a whole lot of guys on this roster that were more than happy to do what was needed to help improve this teams chances of winning in September and beyond. Maybe the poor guy who only made a measly $1 million last year can go back to that free gym of his. What a douche.

[T0mShane]

Hard to imagine him getting an offer from any team. He's a liability in coverage and he's just ok on special teams. He really doesn't have a niche.

[JohnnyHector]

Hard to imagine him getting an offer from any team. He's a liability in coverage and he's just ok on special teams. He really doesn't have a niche.

I'm sure there's at least a few teams that could look to employ a token white defensive back in order to boost post-labor strife ticket sales.

[bitonti]

I think Eric Smith makes some salient points. think about the NFL player's schedule. They have non-stop committments from August to Jan. Then another month if they are in the playoffs. between March and May they are expected to "voluntary workouts" for 90% attendance or they get labelled as a troublemaker. then there's minicamps. but they haven't seen a game check since Jan/Feb. basically they get 6 weeks away from the team.

this is the new normal by the way... in the new CBA, when they make one... the above system will be gone. The players need a real offseason, that's how football works.

[bLguerriero1]

real athletes compete or are in constant preparation for competition... eric smith is a turd

[Barcs]

I really like Eric Smith, but I think he's being a tool right now. I guess winning a championship isn't as important as sticking it to the owners for him. Players risk injury all the time and normally they'd be risking it during summer training camp anyways, so this changes nothing. I think that preparing for the season is important, and when players ignore special training camps like Sanchez Jets West and the likes they are only hurting themselves and risking more injury when they come back and aren't in shape. Remember Revis last year? He missed the entire training camp and got injured in week 2. The injury persisted for more than half the season.

[bitonti]

it should also be noted that Eric Smith is not under contract with the Jets, and has no requirement to be loyal, shut his mouth or anything else. He's a UFA under any new system and loyalty is a two way street. He's living at home because he doesn't know what city or state he will be working in come August. We can sit here and say "shut up eric" but really, he doesn't have to shut up. No one owns him.

[Vudu]

This is why Eric Smith sucks as a safety

[T0mShane]

I think Eric Smith makes some salient points. think about the NFL player's schedule. They have non-stop committments from August to Jan. Then another month if they are in the playoffs. between March and May they are expected to "voluntary workouts" for 90% attendance or they get labelled as a troublemaker. then there's minicamps. but they haven't seen a game check since Jan/Feb. basically they get 6 weeks away from the team.

this is the new normal by the way... in the new CBA, when they make one... the above system will be gone. The players need a real offseason, that's how football works.

He makes some decent points, but he's possibly the dead last player who should be complaining. He's less than fringe.

[dbatesman]

He's less than fringe.

That's exactly why he's right.

[Larz]

what a pussy

[jason423]

Hes not wrong about anything and I dont think being vocal is going to make him less interesting to the Jets. I will say that the players do need these offseason activities. I think there is a significant difference in the shape of the players of today and 20 years ago and a big reason for that is the offseason programs that the teams essentially force the players to attend. There is only so much you can do in the weight room by itself.

[Sperm Edwards]

it should also be noted that Eric Smith is not under contract with the Jets, and has no requirement to be loyal, shut his mouth or anything else. He's a UFA under any new system and loyalty is a two way street. He's living at home because he doesn't know what city or state he will be working in come August. We can sit here and say "shut up eric" but really, he doesn't have to shut up. No one owns him.

Hes not wrong about anything and I dont think being vocal is going to make him less interesting to the Jets. I will say that the players do need these offseason activities. I think there is a significant difference in the shape of the players of today and 20 years ago and a big reason for that is the offseason programs that the teams essentially force the players to attend. There is only so much you can do in the weight room by itself.

Yeah I agree. Despite his obvious shortcomings, he'll still probably catch on somewhere even if it's for his level of veteran minimum. While it's not millions of dollars a year (or even $1M per year), it's still in the $700K per season range. Just because that's not a lot by NFL salary standards doesn't mean it's not a lot compared to the general population, which is the workforce he'll enter if he isn't on an NFL roster this year. If he blows out (or even if he severely sprains) a knee in mid-June, his days of making money as an NFL player are over and he'd be lucky to make even $50K by the end of 2011.

I'm all for being team-first, but technically he is not under contract with the Jets any more than Peyton Manning is. The Jets - like other NFL teams - know what he is whether or not he participated, and wouldn't assume his play in 2011 would be noticeably different at all if he worked out with the team with no coaches for a week in June.

[Bleedin Green]

Yeah I agree. Despite his obvious shortcomings, he'll still probably catch on somewhere even if it's for his level of veteran minimum. While it's not millions of dollars a year (or even $1M per year), it's still in the $700K per season range. Just because that's not a lot by NFL salary standards doesn't mean it's not a lot compared to the general population, which is the workforce he'll enter if he isn't on an NFL roster this year. If he blows out (or even if he severely sprains) a knee in mid-June, his days of making money as an NFL player are over and he'd be lucky to make even $50K by the end of 2011.

I'm all for being team-first, but technically he is not under contract with the Jets any more than Peyton Manning is. The Jets - like other NFL teams - know what he is whether or not he participated, and wouldn't assume his play in 2011 would be noticeably different at all if he worked out with the team with no coaches for a week in June.

True, but there's a difference in looking out for yourself and your future with your decisions and being a whiny little bitch about it. Considering this is days after he got himself to be the center of some puff piece on the poor millionaire who has to go to a free gym, he comes across as nothing more than a whiny douche with absolutely no sense of reality, thinking people who don't play a game for a living and make an insignificant fraction of what he does should give a crap about his supposed "financial woes". Keep in mind, any player or owner who has complained about their situation throughout this process I've felt the same way about, but when you suck at your job as much as Eric Smith does, it gives you even less freedom to make these type of already douchey comments.

[Sperm Edwards]

True, but there's a difference in looking out for yourself and your future with your decisions and being a whiny little bitch about it. Considering this is days after he got himself to be the center of some puff piece on the poor millionaire who has to go to a free gym, he comes across as nothing more than a whiny douche with absolutely no sense of reality, thinking people who don't play a game for a living and make an insignificant fraction of what he does should give a crap about his supposed "financial woes". Keep in mind, any player or owner who has complained about their situation throughout this process I've felt the same way about, but when you suck at your job as much as Eric Smith does, it gives you even less freedom to make these type of already douchey comments.

The free gym stuff was a bit much. The whiny stuff I could do without, but I don't disagree with him not risking injury as a veteran - technically in his prime, for what it's worth - without a contract.

Basically, I don't have a problem with him sitting it out and think it's the most rational move for him to have made. I do have a problem with him doing an interview about it, and (in doing so) lamenting over his financial dire straits; like 2 months after people were pushing each other out of the way for $9/hour McDonald's jobs. It registers a bit on the jerkoff scale.