Rookie contract holdouts are a regular thing in the National Football League. Every summer there’s at least one athlete who doesn’t show up to training camp on time because his contract is still under negotiations. Maybe both sides can’t agree on the exorbitant dollar amount the fresh faced 22-year old will collect over the coming years, or perhaps the player wants guaranteed pay over an extended period of time to secure his financial future…or, and we’re moving into the real issues here, the dude just wants to surf.
That seems to be the case for this year’s 2nd overall pick in the NFL draft, Marcus Mariota. Mariota became the first Hawaiian to win the Heisman Trophy in 2014 when he led the Oregon Ducks to a National Championship Game appearance, endearing himself even more to the people of Hawaii that have come to see him as football royalty. When the Honolulu native accepted the award last fall he said he wanted his success to inspire young Polynesian athletes, and now that it’s time to start his pro career he’s keeping to his roots. Apparently the holdout between Mariota and the Tennessee Titans while negotiating his rookie contract is that the 6 foot 4 quarterback doesn’t want to give up surfing. At least that’s one of the pieces of fine print in the Titans’ offer to Mariota that he’s not willing to sign on for.
Pro contracts in all sports regularly include language that prevents athletes from taking on risky activities they’d normally enjoy. In 1990, Major League Baseball slugger Will Clark was prohibited from spelunking when he signed his contract with the San Francisco Giants. In 1999, the Detroit Red Wings suspended Uwe Krupp without pay when he aggravated an already herniated disk while dogsledding. It cost him $8.2 million. But spelunking and dogsledding aren’t nearly as cool, or as fun, as surfing. So can we blame Mariota for saying thanks but no thanks? He certainly balked at a lot more than $8 million, with 1st overall pick Jameis Winston signing his rookie contract for $23.35 million with a $16.7 signing bonus. Dante Fowler, selected right after Mariota at #3 collected $23 million and some change as well, with a $15.3 million signing bonus.
Mariota and the Titans will agree on his first NFL contract sooner or later, but it does start a pretty good conversation – How much would it cost to keep you out of the ocean?
