04/26/24
September 12, 2002
Heisman Trophy winner Eric Crouch cut himself from the St. Louis Rams today and is returning his $395,000 bonus, joining Pat Tillman in the short list of athletes who really aren't about the money.
I'm not buying it yet either. A few months in the real world (making real wages) and football might not look so bad afterall.
posted by justgary at 06:57 PM on September 12, 2002
Yeah but it's much easier to make it in the real world of Nebraska when you're a legend in the state. He probably won't have a problem making a good living selling insurance to the Husker faithful.
posted by gyc at 12:37 AM on September 13, 2002
Or as I heard on the radio today, when you've not played one full professional game, it's not called "retiring" -- it's called "quitting." Exactly.
posted by jacknose at 01:57 PM on September 13, 2002
I didn't mean to imply that Crouch is doing some noble thing; I just think it would have been extremely easy for him to pull a Ryan Leaf, keep the money in his contract that was guaranteed, and sleepwalk through his contract.
posted by rcade at 02:45 PM on September 13, 2002
"athletes who really aren't about the money." While that may be true for Tillman, I'm not sure about Eric. Much of the information about Eric comes from his agent. Maybe he just couldn't handle the pros. Maybe he was getting ridiculed. Maybe he didn't like Coach Martz telling him what he could or could not do. Maybe he didn't like being drafted so low. Maybe he was tired of doing the humiliating grunt work that rookies are traditionally made to do during their first year. Maybe he was tired of being a wide receiver. Sure, he could have just stuck it out and collected the cash, but maybe he was too much of a baby to stick around. Maybe not. But I don't know if it's so noble to walk away from a contract that he already signed, especially if the team is not asking him to leave. Regarding the return of the $395,000, it didn't sound like he had a choice. He did walk away from his contract, but I'm not going to swallow his agent's explanation--not completely. I'll just chew on it for a while.