The Man Who Met Andy Griffith
Footballguy
Here's what I don't get: what should they have done instead? As far as I'm concerned, they did the smart thing. First of all, they worded the letter so that Gates & his agent knew or should have known that he was 100% certain to miss the first game if he didn't report by Saturday. It was a classic doomsday device. At that point, you have to figure that Gates is 95% sure to report by Saturday.Chargers threaten to suspend Gates if he doesn't show up to camp. That's a choice by the organization, yes or no? And if it's a choice than it deserves criticism...I'm not the only one that thinks this was a bad move on their part. Just because you, GPN, and Groovus all agree and other FBG Chargerfans, doesn't mean you're right I'm worng...it's a difference of opinions.Maybe 1 game won't matter...but there are only 16 games in the season, it's not like in Basketball and a player misses 1 game, or Baseball, etc...Nobody cares if you blast the Chargers. We Charger fans do it all the time.But it helps if it's for a legitimate reason. When you ask why the Chargers would suspend Gates to spite themselves, for example, you're betraying a lack of information about the subject. They didn't supsend him, and it wasn't to spite themselves.Uh oh, I might be off the San Diego Charger fan Christmas Card list...that sux.
You guys make it seem like the Chargers are just following some sort of NFL policy which isn't the case. he's not the only player out there that hasn't reported to camp(althought i am sure there are not many left). I don't hear of anyone else suspended for the last 2 preseason games and week 1.
It turns out that the agent was too stupid to understand this, and Gates didn't report until Sunday. To me, that is the agent's fault. Maybe AJ should have known that the agent was a clod, but still, that's mostly the agent's fault.
Even ignoring the fact that the unexpected happened, I still think that the current result (Gates in camp today + missing week 1) is better than the likely alternative (Gates in camp on Sept 5 + playing week 1)