Brooks' holdout has nasty aura about it

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By GARY SHELTON

© St. Petersburg Times,
published July 31, 2001

Forecast: Ugly.

Duration: Long term.

Conclusion: Bloody.

The battle of wills began Monday when the Bucs showed up for training camp just in time to see a dozen Derrick Brooks jerseys, undoubtedly a delightful sight until it was discovered that none was filled by their favorite linebacker. The Bucs defense huddled up and, oops, they were one right linebacker short.

So began the holdout, or, depending upon your point of view, the holdup. Brooks was away without liberty or, you might argue, with darned too much of it. Either way, Brooks has drawn his line in the dirt, and the Bucs have drawn theirs, and there appears to be some distance in the geography.

As for the rest of us, only two questions matter. How long will it last, and how much will he cost?

Answers: A while, and a lot.

It would be nice to suggest this was a tug of war about pennies that will be decided in a matter of minutes. It would be nice to believe that Brooks could be back in the huddle by the weekend and that by the start of the season, this will have no more effect than a kid missing the first day of school.

This doesn't have that kind of feel, however. It has the feel of two sides trying to use time as a sword, each telling the other how much it is needed. It has the feel of a team offering the player gobs of money, and the player wanting gobs and a half. It has the feel of a holdout that will spill into the regular season, affecting team and outcome, breeding resentment and remorse. If that happens, everyone loses.

This isn't an argument about whether Brooks deserves more money. He does. The Bucs admitted that when they entered into negotiations with him two years before his contract was completed. But the Bucs and Brooks appear to have different definitions on the concept of a good raise, and that's where all the argument begins.

It's a shame it came to this. On the field and off, the Bucs don't have a more credible player than Brooks. On the other hand, the Bucs have built credibility of their own in recent seasons. No one has accused the Bucs of being cheap when it comes to paying their players for a very long time. They have, repeatedly, signed players to new contracts before old ones ended. Brooks knows that; his current contract was signed a year and a half before his first one ran out.

So is Brooks guilty of asking for too much money?

Or are the Bucs guilty of offering too little?

Pick a side. Pick either side. From the sounds of it, we all have some time to discuss things before Brooks jogs back onto a field.

For the Bucs, of course, this could not have happened at a worse possible time. Which, if you are an agent, is the best possible time to hold out. That way, you have as much leverage as possible. It's impossible to threaten a team going nowhere because it has nothing to lose but games it was going to lose anyway. Remember Errict Rhett and the world's most ill-advised holdout? He went eight games without a paycheck and came in hoisting a white flag. Let's hope it doesn't take that long for Brooks and his team to agree on a pay scale.

No one would suggest the Bucs don't need Brooks. When he is missing in action, frankly, there simply isn't enough of it. No linebacker in the league runs like he does, tackles like he does. Take him away from the Bucs, and it's like Dracula losing a fang.

Oh, for the most part, you know how this will go. If you follow this league, you know the script all holdouts follow. As training camp ends and real checks begin, Brooks' agent, Roosevelt Barnes, will begin to talk of retirement or how his client will go into pro wrestling. The Bucs will talk about their outside linebackers and how much confidence they have in them. Near the trading deadline, Barnes will talk about other teams. The Bucs will decline trade requests. As the halfway point of the season approaches, Barnes will ask to speak to the Glazers. He will be told to take a number and sit in the lobby.

Eventually, Brooks will get a solid raise, something that pays him like one of the elite linebackers in the league. Everyone will smile. Bygones will be bygones. Hugs will be exchanged. Then Brooks will go out and pull a hamstring. (Long-term holdouts always seem to pull a hamstring.)

Question to both sides: Why can't we skip two months of posturing? Why can't the contract happen now? Why can't Brooks report to camp, go straight to Rich McKay's office and work things out?

That would be my advice. Over the next few weeks, Brooks is going to get plenty of it. We hope he'll listen to everyone's but Rhett's.

After all, someone must know how much money is in gobs and a quarter.

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