"Texans players say they had illegal contract drills at 2008 mini-camp"

[Dread-Head]

who snitched!?!?

[HoustonFrog]

Originally Posted by ArlingtonTexan

Bunches frats haze, and everybody knows frats haze, but as long as no one really gets injured or the injured are taken care of properly, it is ignored. Once the issue gets into the public, the offending frat is going to get punished and maybe more severely than they should, even if they are not the worst offenders.

Exactly....its the whole..."if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying" mentality..until you get caught and then you are on your own. But they had their fair warning in this case..if I read it correctly.

[Errant Hothy]

Originally Posted by Texans_Chick

I think there are two issues. Illegal drills. And player injuries.

The team is supposed to pay for injuries that occur during practice whether or not a drill was illegal.

Stevenson clearly was wanting his injury taken care of. It wasn't.

So this is when the whole illegal drills stuff comes up.

If I were to completely speculate based on public information, it appears that something was screwed up in Stevenson's paperwork on his grievance. That whoever screwed up that something wanted to fix their goofup by leveraging the illegal drills information in a way to get the Texans to actually pay up.

I think it is wrong when teams or fans think of players as pieces of meat. I do think that especially in comparison to the past, Kubiak doesn't care where you are drafted--he wants the best players on the field. He has a history of giving no name players a chance.

Maybe I'm missing something here, but if Stevenson's injury wasn't atken care of; what was he/the team doing while he was on IR for all of last season?

[Yankee_In_TX]

Originally Posted by TEXANS84

But you could also reference players like Brisel and Bullman, players that rode the practice squad for years and eventually made it to either the starting lineup or regular rotation swing man.

'Must spread rep'

Fair counter-argument.

[ArlingtonTexan]

Originally Posted by HoustonFrog

Exactly....its the whole..."if you aren't cheating, you aren't trying" mentality..until you get caught and then you are on your own. But they had their fair warning in this case..if I read it correctly.

It seems that way and there is some question about how the Texans handled the injuries.

[Runner]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

You act as if the players aren't willing participants in the practices.

Since the players - and from what I know of these situation not just the ones that got injured - had the union rep complain to Kubiak at the time, I'd say they were less than willing participants. Any player could refuse to participate, of course, but they'd likely be cut later on. The problem is the teams have a lot of unchecked power.

Football teams are companies and players are employees. The fact that it is a dangerous profession means the employer should take more care, not less. I don't think any of us would be happy if our companies put us in dangerous or "illegal" situations where we had to comply or lose our jobs. I don't see why football should be any different. The players really are people with lives and families and concerns just like us.

I'd be willing to bet that if this story was about the Titans rather than the "good guy" organization of the Texans it would be seen in a different light.

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Hoth-Boy

Maybe I'm missing something here, but if Stevenson's injury wasn't atken care of; what was he/the team doing while he was on IR for all of last season?

This is what I don't get. Why is stevenson acting like he was done wrong when he wasn't cut after his injury? Did he sit on IR without being compensated? Did he not get his shoulder surgery paid for? Did his rehab cost him money? Is he that mad that he got hurt during a football drill because I don't see where the team just used him up and tossed him to the side. Out of the 3 players bringing this up, Stevenson stayed on IR, Black signed with the Jags, and Okkobi is the one I see as having a real beef because he was cut AND not signed by another team.

I think it's interesting that Weary doesn't want to support this guy. And he's a fellow player.

[Errant Hothy]

From everything I can gather surgery is not always needed to fix a torn labrum.

Which is leading me to think that Stevenson wants the surgery and the team is taking a more conservative approach, and this is causing the issue.

Update:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6249413.html

Weary refused to be interviewed by ESPN and said he didn’t know his affidavit was going to be part of a story on ESPN.

“I signed the affidavit to help Dan’s grievance,” Weary said. “I was contacted by ESPN, and I wouldn’t do an interview with them. Dan texted me that he’d already done an interview and that the team needed to get what they deserved. That wasn’t the kind of situation I wanted to put myself in.”

Stevenson underwent surgery on his right shoulder on June 11 in Los Angeles.

“I’m not healthy,” he said. “I’m still rehabbing my shoulder. I’d love to play again. This is something I’ve been doing since I was a kid."

Ciapciak said the Texans sent Stevenson, who spent last season on injured reserve, to Los Angeles to continue his rehabilitation.

“Two days ago, they bought him a one-way ticket to L.A. and didn’t give him a choice,” Ciapciak said.

To me this is sounding more and more like Stevenson is out for a pay day and nothing more. He doesn't care what effects this has on the team. Not that his motives excuse the team from any wrong doing.

[Honoring Earl 34]

In my opinion the Texans have fairly mild practices ... as far as hitting goes ... when I've attended training camp . I can't see the coaches wanting them to kill each other but as been mentioned someone wants a job and someone is out of the league .

Having played highschool football in the late 70's , these guys would be amazed at what we had to do . We were just on the good side of the Junction Boys . We played both ways in Aug/Sept and getting a drink was for sissies but salt tablets were ok . In the offseason , if the weather was bad , you paired up with someone your size , grabbed the community mouthpiece out of the igloo , put on boxing gloves and beat the hell out of each other for two minutes . Where was Richard Justice back then ?

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by Honoring Earl 34

In my opinion the Texans have fairly mild practices ... as far as hitting goes ... when I've attended training camp . I can't see the coaches wanting them to kill each other but as been mentioned someone wants a job and someone is out of the league .

Having played highschool football in the late 70's , these guys would be amazed at what we had to do . We were just on the good side of the Junction Boys . We played both ways in Aug/Sept and getting a drink was for sissies but salt tablets were ok . In the offseason , if the weather was bad , you paired up with someone your size , grabbed the community mouthpiece out of the igloo , put on boxing gloves and beat the hell out of each other for two minutes . Where was Richard Justice back then ?

I understand Stevenson's grievance. He's a fringe player that has never gotten paid and is trying to work himself into the league. If he was injured in a minicamp and was not being financially taken care of, he should do what he needs to in order to be compensated. I get that. Selfishly, as a fan, I just don't want to lose a draft pick.

[Errant Hothy]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

I understand Stevenson's grievance. He's a fringe player that has never gotten paid and is trying to work himself into the league. If he was injured in a minicamp and was not being financially taken care of, he should do what he needs to in order to be compensated. I get that. Selfishly, as a fan, I just don't want to lose a draft pick.

Since he was, and still is, on IR (and by extension the team); I'm fairly certain he was getting paid according to the terms of the contract he signed. I'm also fairly certain that the team apid for his surgery, his rehab afterwards, and the other assorted costs involved in going to LA to have the surgery.

What more should he be getting?

[Runner]

Given the number of injuries the Texans rack up every year, I don't think the players are all that coddled. I don't think modern players are a bunch of wimps - I think they hit each other much harder though.

[Honoring Earl 34]

Originally Posted by Runner

Given the number of injuries the Texans rack up every year, I don't think the players are all that coddled. I don't think modern players are a bunch of wimps - I think they hit each other much harder though.

They've had alot of injuries no matter who was the coach .

This stuff and other shady dealings have gone on forever . The things below have nothing to do with the Texans but it shows the world of the NFL .

http://www.amazon.com/Youre-Its-Just.../dp/0312136277

http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-onlin...t_9965297.html

KEENAN MCCARDELL, JAGUARS WIDE RECEIVER (1996-2001)- The doctor numbs him with novocain with the needle, and he just takes a scalpel and cuts into his leg, you know, and then they just start pushing the bruise's blood out. It looked like grape jelly. It's, like, "Is this really happening right here in the training room?"

http://espn.go.com/page2/tvlistings/...ranscript.html

[Ole Miss Texan]

“Two days ago, they bought him a one-way ticket to L.A. and didn’t give him a choice,” Ciapciak said.

Hahaha.

[badboy]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

I understand Stevenson's grievance. He's a fringe player that has never gotten paid and is trying to work himself into the league. If he was injured in a minicamp and was not being financially taken care of, he should do what he needs to in order to be compensated. I get that. Selfishly, as a fan, I just don't want to lose a draft pick.

If I lose my 4th round pick Rashad Johnson FS, I am going to be pretty mad.

[Runner]

Originally Posted by Honoring Earl 34

They've had alot of injuries no matter who was the coach.

Agreed. Of course Capers broke this rule too.

Im not attacking Kubiak. I consider it an organizational problem. It might be time for the team to try something different, like follow their agreements.

The team's history is mired in mediocrity at best; maybe the contact in OTAs isn't as beneficial as learning the new schemes would be? It might be worth a try, and maybe that would be the silver lining if the league comes down on them hard.

[Honoring Earl 34]

Originally Posted by Runner

Agreed. Of course Capers broke this rule too.

Im not attacking Kubiak. I consider it an organizational problem. It might be time for the team to try something different, like follow their agreements.

The team's history is mired in mediocrity at best; maybe the contact in OTAs isn't as beneficial as learning the new schemes would be? It might be worth a try, and maybe that would be the silver lining if the league comes down on them hard.

They probably did last year so Gibbs could hit the ground running . To me when you pay players the kind of money they make ... you protect your assets .

I posted earlier that I went to two open practices last year and they really didn't hit . I think this is why they got their butts kicked by to physical teams to start the year .

At the end of the day I really believe this is Justice pouting that his buddy was fired and is going to milk this until the teet runs dry .

[False Start]

Adam Clanton interviewed Fred Weary, and hes not exactly thrilled about it.

Podcast Link: http://www.sportsradio610.com/topic/...udioId=3417264

[InterestedJeff]

I played ball for 10 years and when we had no contact days we dressed in shorts, shirts and a helmet. We took the field with the idea that we were gonna have a full speed practice, just no one gets tackled. The line always goes all-out or you dont get to play because the guy next to you IS going all out. All that no contact meant was that we didnt have to wear pads and the sissy runningbacks and wide recievers didnt get tackled. Going half speed is what gets people hurt. It's either go all out or dont go at all.

I'm sorry that these players got hurt but these kind of drills have been going on since little league football. Stevenson is a pathetic rat that didnt get his way. He'll have to live with selling his employer out. The Texans will survive this.

[Errant Hothy]

The more I read about this, the more I am convinced that Stevenson is just out for money. He does not care about the team, any of the other guys who were injured, or ever playing football in the NFL again. He wants to get paid, wether he get's paid to shut up and go away or he gets paid via a lawsuit he does not care.

This does not excuse the Texans of wrong doing though.