Letting loose on Duce

Eagles' Staley is being paid to play -- not sit and talk

There was a time, back in the mid-1990s, when Duce Staley was knocking around the practice fields at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Miss. Nestled along the Tombigbee River, ICC is a quaint campus, certainly a long way from the City of Brotherly Love. Remember those days, Duce?

Then there were the hot August afternoons under the glaring sun in Columbia, S.C. Two-a-days. Game prep for the toughest competition in the land -- an SEC schedule. Ah, but those fall Saturdays at Williams-Brice Stadium, or Sanford Stadium, or Bryant-Denny or Jordan-Hare or Neyland ... those days made it all worth the blood, sweat and tears. Surely you remember those days, Duce.

Apparently, Duce does not.

Due $2.2 million in the final year of his contract, ol' Duce wants to know where he stands with the Philadelphia Eagles. In fact, he wants to know so badly just where he stands that he's making a statement: I'm holding out of camp until Andy Reid and the Eagles communicate with me just what my future is in Philadelphia, he says. Forget that 390 other NFL players are in the final year of their contracts, or that 389 of those players are in camp.

"Unfortunately, not one person in the Eagles' front office has given me any idea of what the future holds for me as a player for the Eagles beyond this season," Staley said in a statement addressed to his teammates, coaches and Eagles fans. "This has come as a real shock to me. After a while, you start to wonder what's going on. Why hasn't the Eagles' front office even tried to talk to me and see what my thoughts are on the subject of my future?"

Here's a clue, Duce -- 2.2 million of them, in fact: You are getting paid to put on a helmet, strap on the pads and play football for the Philadelphia Eagles. Your future holds nothing, because there is no guarantee injury won't end your career -- this season or five years from now.

Forget the "where I stand," never mind the "communicate with me." You are hired help; suit up and do your job. There are 1,696 jobs spread among 32 NFL teams. Duce, your job is to play for the Eagles -- not coach or handle the finances or sell concessions or hawk souvenirs.

Duce says that he wants to be clear on one thing -- that the Eagles are not communicating with him, as if the team's silence is disrespecting him as a man. Maybe the team thinks that that many dead presidents speaks volumes for how highly they regard your talents, Duce. Maybe the team thinks that despite having Correll Buckhalter and Brian Westbrook, you're worth that much jack when it comes to trying to win a Super Bowl.

Of course, the Eagles are levying a $5,000 fine for each day Duce is out of camp. At that rate, it'll take 440 days to deplete this year's salary, so there's no rush to get back into camp. And don't worry about your teammates; Buckhalter and Westbrook, they've got your back.

Duce, consider the 2000 season when you missed 11 games, and the '01 season when you missed three games. But those paychecks -- in your time of need -- arrived right on time. And, yes, you were owed that money; that's what a contract is all about. So what's the difference in that contract situation and this one, Duce? Nothing -- you are paid to play, and you are paid when injured. You are not, however, paid to go on TV and talk about communication or a lack thereof from the Eagles.

And while you're sitting there waiting on the phone to ring, know this, Duce: $2.2 million can buy you a lot of things -- homes, cars, jewelry, another tattoo or seven. What it cannot buy is respect. You are now overdrawn on that account.

B. Duane Cross is a senior producer for SI.com. The opinions expressed here are solely those of the writer.

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