PA Season Ticket Holder
05-21-2003, 12:57 AM
Several years back, Bengals president Mike Brown made waves throughout the NFL by placing in the standard contract a clause that prohibits a player from bad-mouthing the team.
The loyalty clause, which resulted from the propensity of former receiver Carl "We Sure Hope You Invested In Something Other Than Rims" Pickens to run his mouth regarding the Bengals bungling ways, has become a standard provision in all Cincinnati rookie contracts. Most recently, and as our friend Len Pastabelli has reported, the loyalty clause appears in quarterback Carson Palmer's deal.
As it turns out, Brown might have been ahead of his time.
For once.
According to a league source, other teams will begin slipping the loyalty clause into their contracts this summer.
Per the source, the overriding goal won't be to ensure that the players will keep their mouths shut, but to give the team another bargaining chip that can be used to gain a concession from the player's agent.
In hindsight, we're surprised that other teams haven't used this device sooner. Given that the loyalty clause has been approved by an arbitrator, it should be standard language in every deal. If the guy wants to have the right to speak his mind, he needs to give up something else in exchange.
With that said, we doubt that other NFL teams will be buying up the Bengals old medicine balls and their plastic, sand-filled weights from Sears.
http://profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm
The loyalty clause, which resulted from the propensity of former receiver Carl "We Sure Hope You Invested In Something Other Than Rims" Pickens to run his mouth regarding the Bengals bungling ways, has become a standard provision in all Cincinnati rookie contracts. Most recently, and as our friend Len Pastabelli has reported, the loyalty clause appears in quarterback Carson Palmer's deal.
As it turns out, Brown might have been ahead of his time.
For once.
According to a league source, other teams will begin slipping the loyalty clause into their contracts this summer.
Per the source, the overriding goal won't be to ensure that the players will keep their mouths shut, but to give the team another bargaining chip that can be used to gain a concession from the player's agent.
In hindsight, we're surprised that other teams haven't used this device sooner. Given that the loyalty clause has been approved by an arbitrator, it should be standard language in every deal. If the guy wants to have the right to speak his mind, he needs to give up something else in exchange.
With that said, we doubt that other NFL teams will be buying up the Bengals old medicine balls and their plastic, sand-filled weights from Sears.
http://profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm