An Obligation to be Greedy

There's been some speculation in my office about Tom Brady, the Patriots quarterback. Since the Raiders just got WR Randy Moss, I'd voiced my preference for getting a new quarterback. The rest of my office consists of 49'ers fans. There is NO doubt, those fans want a good quarterback for their team as well.

We also wondered how much a 3-time Super Bowl quarterback (within 4 years) would make, considering the outrageous amount for the Mannings. WELL!!!! There seems to be a quarterback in the NFL who cares more for winning than for money. Negotiations are in place currently between Brady's agent and the Patriots for the Patriots to keep Brady and yet have enough money left over to build a strong team around him.

First off, to all those sports announcers who wondered how a dynasty could be built in today's age. This is how. It takes a talented individual to realize that in a sports that's leaking fans, the bottom line isn't cash if you want to win. The bottom line is talent and having it around you in a team of 11.

Secondly, in the WaPo article today by Mark Maske, there was a sentence that read: "Still, Brady and his agent, Don Yee, have an obligation to other players to avoid signing for too much below market value."

Excuse me?

This kind of thinking really pisses me off. No, Brady does NOT have an obligation to the other players. Brady has an obligation to his family and to his own soul. That's it. HIS PRINCIPLES obligated him to his teammates. The other players' agents need to tell the other owners (if the quarterbacks opt for greed and not talent) that FIRST OFF, TOM BRADY DOESN'T WANT TO WORK FOR THEM, DOES HE? Therefore, the market rate ISN'T about Tom Brady, because what Tom Brady is getting from the New England Patriots is intangible - PRICELESS.

This is reminding me of my girls' work situation. Both of us have decided that money to us, is merely a tool. If we have enough to save, enough to eat on, enough to have a roof over our heads, and enough to buy a few toys (get your head out of the gutter) now and then, we're making enough AND DON'T HAVE TO MAKE MORE.

So when she and her bosses started negotiating, she told them she wanted help with her work. They thought it was a negotiating ploy for more money. She was actually negotiating for less.... in terms of time. We can get by with her working 10 hours a weeks, so 40 was waaaay too much for her - lol. She *much* preferred a 30-35 hour week, get her massive work load done within those hours. What she couldn't handle was the stupid shit her boss threw at her a few times a day that whittled away her precious time to finish her actual job.

So she said she was unhappy. To that boss, that translated to "I want more money"; to which his response was, "work more hours and you can make more AND get the stupid shit done for me that I am too lazy to do myself even though it takes me just as long to tell you what needs to be done as if I did it myself." Her response? "I Quit."

There *ARE* people in the world where making the most dollars isn't the important thing to us. I suspect Tom Brady's motivation is to have a dynasty for the next 10 years (hey, if the Patriots put their dollars in offensive lineman, Tom's got probably 10 more years). What would be better? To have the record books have your name 10 times as the Super Bowl Quarterback? Or to make sooooooo much, all of the other quarterbacks wants to be you.... just until the next greedy person comes along and makes a better deal?

Filed under Sports Talk.