Eric Weddle, the Chargers Pro Bowl safety is back in camp, angry, bitter, resentful, hurt and firing shots.  The season has not even started, but this looks like we are at the end of his stay in San Diego.

All this over the lack of a contract offer from the team, to replace the 7.5M final season deal he must play under. This isn’t about him wanting more money for 2015, but rather wanting additional money upgrades going forward.

Good players get extensions. Older players, sometimes not.

But the issue here are the things coming out of Weddle’s mouth, and the mindset of his agent, to let him burn this relationship to the ground. I don’t understand it, I don’t agree with it.

Weddle has been everything good about what a professional athlete should be. Dedicated to the craft, a leader, active in the community, and a guy who stays on the field.  This is not good at all.

But he has also been richly rewarded, with his first contract, and then the 4-year upgrade the last time the deal came up.

But he is taking the wrong route, reacting very badly, firing bullets, taking shots, and now making threats. He has really come out of character for who he has been, the way he has played, and how he represented himself on and off the field.

Weddle has given the Chargers a July 30th ultimatum, make me a multi-year offer, or I will play out my option and leave. Good luck with that, for they don’t have to, and you cannot go anywhere till next February. He’s not going to go out on a strike.

He says he’d refuse to play special teams this year, begging the question, since when does a player dictate things to coaching staffs, when he will be used and how he wants to be used?.

Whining about playing the final year of his deal with risk of injury?. What should make him so different than any other of the 1800 players in the NFL, who with rare exception, are on year-to-year deals, sharing the same risk. In the NFL you are one snap away from the end of your career.

Worrying about taking a pay-cut, or being outright released, should be the least of his problems. If the Chargers put him out in the street between now and the end of the season, he would be picked up and probably signed to a contract extension by teams who value what he has made himself into, a dedicated pro.

Weddle has been paid well, has played well, and has another payday coming. If the Chargers don’t value his contributions, somebody else will.  Seems like he is trying to force thier hand to deal him, even if it means they don’t fair market value in return.  Clubs don’t give up lots in deals unless the player is willing to sign an extension.

Of course he is upset others have been taken care of, and he has not. But age and the last contract value have lots to do with it. If Corey Liuget were Dwight Freeney’s age, if Donald Butler had Jarrett Johnson’s miles, they probably wouldn’t get an extension either.

I’m not saying the Chargers are right in handling it this way, it’s just business for a player the other side of 30-years old. Did Weddle feel sorry when it happened to Rodney Harrison?

He just needs to stop talking, for it makes him look spoiled and entitled. He’s earned good money, and will likely earn one more contract with a good 2015-season.

The player has a right to his feelings. The agent has a responsibility not to let the player soil his clean image in the community. It’s gone too far and he does not have the leverage. The Chargers don’t have the smarts yet to re-invest in a quality player and person.

For Weddle, time to stop pouting, get to playing, for another payday may be coming.  It sounds and feels like this is the beginning of the end of a football relationship. before the season even starts. .

 
 
Hired to be fired. That’s the old baseball axiom, and that axe fell on Padres manager Bud Black yesterday at Petco Park.
 
It was sudden, swift, shocking, stunning, disappointing.. Was it deserved? Only time will tell.
 
General Manager AJ Preller, who gave Black a roster full of baseball card stars, only to see the team struggle, wanted new leadership for all his new players. He wasn’t getting it from Bud Black.
 
You could sense the pressure building, the frustrations boiling over. Black got ejected from games, the shuffling of the roster seems over the top, the lineups never had a consistent theme to them.
 
The pitching staff has underperformed, aside from ace James Shields. The top three veterans, who pitched so well last year, are a combined (8-20) this year.
 
I’m not sure if the woes of Tyson Ross, Ian Kennedy and Andrew Cashner’s are Black’s fault, but the dominance of last year is missing. Maybe it was all the innings from a season ago, taking a toll on that staff.
 
The bullpen has been spotty around closer Craig Kimbrel, and overuse may the reason. How all that is Black’s fault, is anyone’s guess.
 
Matt Kemp is playing hard, but is not hitting. Wil Myers is back on the DL again with another wrist injury. Jedd Gyorko isn’t here, because he was not hitting, and he’s not hitting in El Paso either.. And of course Melvin Upton can’t buy a hit this season, though he is making 15M a year.
 
They have utilitymen starting at 2nd, short and 3rd, players the GM gave his manager, with instructions go win..
 
Did Bud Black have shortcomings as a manager? Maybe in game strategy, maybe an ever changing lineup.
 
Maybe too the reality that a clubhouse full of veteran players, some of them divas, is very different from a clubhouse made up of guys named Headley, Hundley, and Venable. Maybe Black was better leading kids then trying to drive veterans.
 
The critics will bark Black had only two winning seasons in 8-years. He also didn’t have the luxury of big budgets, much from a farm system, or even continuity. His acumen somehow helped the team to a (617-680) record
 
Lest we forget, in his run, there were 3-owners, 4-different general managers, and a malaise that existed forever. Aside from the 2010 battle for first place, that went to the final day of the season, he did not have much to work with.
 
The Padres are a combined 50-games under .500 since opening day in 2011. That is more a condemnation of what the organization gave him to manage, than him as a manager.
 
So the change has been made. AJ Prellar will get to choose his own manager rather than the one he inherited.
 
Maybe it will be El Paso-AAA manager Pat Murphy, who flew into town late last nite. Maybe it will be ex-Padre Phil Nevin, who has climbed the managerial ladder to Reno in the Diamondbacks farm system. Might it be Ron Washington, who managed Texas into post season when Preller was part of that organization? Maybe it’s ex Twin boss Ron Gardenhire. There will be no shortage to choose from. Likely there will be a change in personality though in that manager’s office.
Reaction has been mixed. The Padres season is not over for sure. They are not the Red Sox, buried in last place, but a team just 5-games or so out of first place. Maybe the change is a catalyst to trigger a run to first place.
 
Or maybe Preller has made so many mistakes on players, and traded away so many prospects, that he has outsmarted himself. Preller indicated he would never have thought Matt Kemp would have just 2-homers at this poiint, the defense would be so unsettled, or the pitchers couldn’t get to the 8th inning of games.
 
The reaction in the clubhouse was a diverse bag of reaction. Interim manager, and close friend, Dave Roberts said his meeting with Black was emotional but that Black was a pro and handling it in stride. Roberts said the players had to hold themselves accountable.
 
Slugger Matt Kemp said the players were shocked by the sudden departure of the manager. Pitcher James Shields indicated people in the clubhouse bear some responsibility for the decision.
 
Scouts on press row, who ovbviously respected Black, dinged the Padres, asking where’s the plan?. All you did was announce you are hiring someone as interim for nearly 100-games.
The change better work, the Padres better win, or they will be stuck with alot of bad contracts, and Bud Black wasn’t to blame for that either.
 
You look back at his eight year run, and he did more with less than anyone I know. And history should write, aside from Tony Gwynn, Bud Black was as classy as anyone.
 
Good guy, who just did not win enough games, with substandard talent. Hired to be fired, even it is unfair.

 
 
Now everyone has had something to say as we head into the third week of negotiations between the City, the Chargers, over the Stadium situation.
 
And now the fans, the season ticket holders, and the citizens have spoken out.
 
In a 15-question survey authored by the Union-Tribune, residents in both the city and county were asked their opinions in the open debate over the future of the team, the potential of a vote on financing, and the need for a Stadium.
 
The city knows what it wants to do. The team has hidden within their corporate offices, never releasing their true feelings nor plans. The public has now told everyone the temperature of their feelings.
 
59% of those polled say it is important to them to keep the Chargers in San Diego, as a team, as a business entity. 40%, mostly non-sports fans, don’t believe this is life or death.
 
46% percent are now of the opinion this franchise will wind up in Los Angeles, predicting it’s all about the money, or it’s just impossible to get anything done civic wise in San Diego.
 
69% of the fans surveyed said they were Chargers or NFL fans.
 
The stunning number is that 60% polled said if the team moved to LA, they would no longer be a fan of the franchise, which means, they won’t attend games.
 
In the crossfire of verbal exchanges involving politicians and the team, involving Mark Fabiana, 68% say they disapprove of the way the Chargers have handled this situation.
 
And 51% now have a more negative view of ownership since the tidal wave of announcements three months ago, the task force, the Carson project, the proposal and the reaction responses.
 
The most consistent response from the community is that 54% say no tax funds should be used in the project. Only 51% say they would support the financing plan, even if it does not involve tax money.
 
60% of the tabulated responses indicated they are not confident the Mayor can get an agreement with the team that will be good for taxpayers.
 
So everyone is expressing ideas, concerns, approval anddisdain, and all that is important.
 
What should be important to the ownership of the team, is that the city, some season ticket holders, and those who will vote, are offended by the plethora of negativing coming out of Chargers Park as the community attempts to find a way to fund this project after 14-years of futility.
 
The owner cannot ignore what he has allowed his spokesman to do to this project. The Chargers have provided alot of white noise. But the franchise and the city cannot say this is meaningless noise from the taxpayers and football fans.
 
Maybe it can be saved at the negotiating table. Maybe the owner allowed his spokesman to forever poison the water.
 
Fame or shame is coming soon, somebody will be the hero, someone will be the villian.

 
 
The most important man on the field, should get the most money.  They don’t come down the draft turnpike all that often, and everyone wants on, because everyone needs one.
 
The 1983-NFL Draft of quarterbacks was a bonanza of all time. You remember the names, and you have followed the greatness of those careers.
 
John Elway came out of Stanford to become the greatest quarterback the Denver Broncos ever had.  It took him time, and a couple of head coaches, to win a Super Bowl ring.  He was a game-changer.
 
Jim Kelly was a refugee from the Houston Gamblers of the USFL, but he delivered the goods in the K-Gun offense with all the talent the Buffalo Bills put around him.  You get to four straight Super Bowls, despite not winning one, is still a level of accomplishment hardly reached by anyone ever.
 
Dan Marino fell down the draft board, then raised the expectations of the Miami Dolphins, throwing to the Marx Brothers.  Sadly there would be no Super Bowl trophy in his career of accomplishments, but he was so dangerous, so dynamic getting the ball down the field.
 
That draft also brought in Tony Eason from Illinois, who did get New England to a Super Bowl, plus the Jets’ Ken O’Brien and the Chiefs Todd Blackledge.
 
Fast forward to the modern day, and the current crop of throwers, equally dominant…
 
The 2004-NFL draft delivered a trifecta of greatness too, and a bevy of Super Bowl rings.
 
Eli Manning, rolled out of Ole Miss, and his New York Giants have been to the Super Bowl, have rings under Tom Coughlin, emerging from the shadows of brother Peyton Manning.
 
Ben Roethlisberger came out of tiny Miami of Ohio and has become the cornerstone of greatness at that position, playing under the shadow of Terry Bradshaw from back in the day.  The rings he has helped the Steelers win, have resurrected a proud franchise.
 
Phillip Rivers has been the heart, the soul, the voice, the spirit of the Chargers, rewriting every page of the team’s record book, missing out on just one thing, a chance to play in the Big Show on Super Bowl Sunday.
 
That ’04 group of guys have all been rewarded, with likely Hall of Fame ceremonies still to come. And in a league where quarterbacks make or break your team, they are breaking the bank too on payday.
 
Roethlisberger has just started a 5-year-$99M deal, that encompassed a $30M-signing bonus.
 
The young quarterbacks have signed extensions too, even though Cam Newton has never been to a Carolina Panthers Super Bowl, though being given a 5-year $103M package.  And ditto for Miami, just handing out an extension worth 5-seasons-$96M-to Ryan Tannehill.
 
Manning and Rivers are waiting for their paydays.  The Giants, whose franchise has fallen on tough times, does not seem willing to entertain the kind of guaranteed money other stars are giving their passing icons.  Manning is making $17M-this final go round.
 
Rivers will take home another $16M in San Diego, though he is expected to get another three year extension.  Whether or not he breaks the bank with a guaranteed bonus remains to be seen.
 
The other unique name out there is Russell Wilson of the Seahawks, with a ring, and Super Bowl appearances.
 
His is the strangest case, in that he is headed to free agency as the 40th highest paid quarterback in the league.  That’s right, 40th on the money list.  It’s the final year of his initial deal.  No one knew how good he would be coming out of Wisconsin, by way of North Carolina State.  He will earn $1.2M this year.  Now we all know how good he is on a team of very good players.
 
If they franchise tag him, he gets $20M next year.  If they do a multi-year deal, the $20M number will likely be a starting point.  A staggering amount of money.
 
John Elway, Dan Marino and Jim Kelly were highly paid, though the dollar figures were very, very different then to now.
 
The NFL is a quarterbacks league now, maybe even more so than ‘back in the day’ in the Elway-Marino-Kelly era.  Today, in the NFL, if you have one, you better keep him, you better keep him healthy, you better put good players around him.
 
And as Big Ben, and the others will tell you, you better be ready to pay them too.  You want greatness with your franchise, you’ll have to spend for greatness at that position.

Time out from all the issues with the San Diego Chargers Stadium crisis.
 
Time in to salute one of the absolutely best of all time.
 
In the history of Chargers football, we have been blessed to see great quarterbacks.  We’ve also had the opportunity to experience dynamic running backs like Keith Lincoln from the AFL-glory days, to Chuck Muncie and the Air Coryell days.
 
Now this community can salute #21-LaDainian Tomlinson.  His number being retired today, his induction into the Chargers Hall of Fame this coming November.
 
I first met him when he was a sophomore running back at TCU, scampering here, there and everywhere in a Sun Bowl win as the Horned Frogs trampled a once proud USC team.  They ran him off tackle, they ran him right on sweeps.  They ran pitch tosses and option packages.  He was relentless in Dennis Franchione’s triple option offense.  He did things against big time teams few had ever done, including his 406-yard rushing day his final season.
 
Tomlinson was one of the first gems drafted by new GM John Butler and his chief scout AJ Smith, in the early years of that regime.  You remember Chargers football then, the ruins Butler inherited in the aftermath of the Ryan Leaf era of error, (1-15) and all that.
 
Maybe it was luck, maybe it was by design, but Tomlinson fell down the draft board, as did another guy, quarterback Drew Brees.  The Cleveland Browns, incompetent in its early years as an expansion team, bypassed him.  They went after an oft injured defensive end from Penn State.  Drafted a drug troubled back from Boston College.
 
San Diego said thank you with that lst round pick of Tomlinson, who rewrote the running back record books at TCU, a school known for running backs, back in the days of the old Southwest Conference.
 
Oddly, the Miami Dolphins, in desperate need of a quarterback, bypassed Drew Brees too, and he wound up going in the later rounds to the Chargers too.
 
Tomlinson, built like a fire-plug, was a loaded firecracker.  He could go the distance on any snap.  He was great at jump cuts, explosive with a second gear when he got to the second level.  Tough, shifty, he never took direct hits, but rather glancing blows.
 
And what a perfect marriage, once the right coach got to San Diego, the arch-enemy from Kansas City, Marty Schottenheimer, he of history of quality running backs carrying the mail for the Chiefs.  Martyball was built around the kid from the hill country of Texas.
 
The stats are staggering, an 11-year career, 9-in San Diego, 2-with the Jets.  LT with 3,174-carries, 13,684-yards rushing, a 145-TDs on the ground.  They didn’t throw the ball at TCU, but they sure did throw it to him in San Diego, another 624-receptions.  Tomlinson wound up the career with 18,456-all purpose yards and 162-TDs in his career.
 
He was Butch Cassidy to Phillip Rivers-Sundance Kid.
 
This honor will precede the next honor, for I believe Tomlinson will be be giving a speech soon under the tent, on the steps, of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
 
Close your eyes and see his dart-dash explosions and the long runs and scores into the end zone.  Close your eyes, and see him carried off the field on the shoulders of his teammates.
 
Forget the sad moment, him sitting on the bench, helmet on, with a knee injury, in a cold-dark loss to the Patriots in the AFC-championship games, or the guy wearing the weird looking colors of green and white, playing for Rex Ryan and the Jets.
 
#21 surely #1-in the hearts of Chargers fans.  A great honor for a great player, who is also a great person.