My View on BBS's views of Reggie Wayne

[Editor's Note]: I re-titled the post to make it reflect a bit more what the author is actually intending, whether the author knows it or not. Comments are also blocked because, once again, this isn't a post about what Reggie Wayne did or didn't do, but yet another post about me. FanPosts like this are not helpful, and don't further the discussion on this subject. It's just another "shot" at one of the featured writers (namely, me). In general, I don't really care what people think of me, but as this contributor made clear, posts like these are tiresome to other readers of this blog.

If I see more FanPosts like this, they will get deleted and people will get banned. This falls under the "instigating something" category. When comments are locked on another thread, taking the same argument to a new thread or creating a FanPost specifically to continue said argument is akin to trolling. Once an article or FanPost's comments are locked, discussion terminates. If you do not like this policy, kindly stop reading or posting on this blog. Thank you. -BBS

Note: I read the remaining 109 comments that are on the Reggie Wayne contract fanpost and I know that there were comments that were deleted so if I pick something out of context, I'm apologizing in advance. I'm likely going to stay away from the comments that don't make sense to me because I probably don't know the whole story. That being said, since the comments on that story are locked and I've got the day off from work I want my voice to be heard, for whatever it's worth. 

First off, in reading the story there are a few things I want to point out. 

BBS: Yep, that's right Reggie. Compare your current contract negotiations to the sleazy, deceitful antics of LeBron James. That's gonna go over reeeeeeeaaaaaaaal well with Midwestern fans.

The quotes you used included him laughing after he made the initial LeBron James comment. I take that as Reggie joking around and making light of a situation that is pretty serious (contract talk). I understand his non-committal tone isn't comforting but Reggie has ALWAYS been reliable and he's never made me feel that he'd put himself above the team. He's out there having a little fun. If he doesn't show up on August 1st, I'll be unhappy but until then I'm not going to start lashing out against him. 

BBS:  I also wouldn't be all that upset if, while he is holding out, that Jim Caldwell make good on some of this "open competition" nonsense and actually have Anthony Gonzalez compete for Reggie Wayne's starting job.

Hmm... 

BBS: (from July 15th - John Oehser: Pierre Garcon "Logical" to be Starter Over Anthony Gonzalez) - At best, Gonzo is fighting with Austin Collie for the slot receiver gig. But, considering Collie played better at slot in 2009 than Gonzalez ever did during his two previous seasons at the position, it's doubtful Gonzo will win that job; unless, of course, Collie gets hurt.Thus, Gonzo is the team's 4th wide receiver.

Now, tell me if I'm wrong but you're saying you want a guy who YOU believe is the team's 4th WR to compete for the #1 spot in Reggie's starting job? I love AG and I think that he's got a ton of potential and he's put up some great numbers at times but you really want there to be an "open competition" between a top 3 receiver in the league and a guy you don't even think will be the #2 WR on the Colts depth chart? 

What I think many people are failing to realize is how important Reggie Wayne is to the Colts. He's an intricate piece to what the Colts do on offense. The connection that Manning had with Harrison has obviously been shifted and it even happened before Harrison fully departed (it had to with his injury problems) with Wayne taking over as the number 1 guy, in my mind, around 2006-2007.  

Colts Homer: If there is an open competition, Reggie Wayne would not lose his starting job even if he shows for just one day. Why start an inferior player because of some stupid grudge against him? It would be like if the 49ers benched Michael Crabtree last year, their best wide receiver, because of his holdout.

That's the best way to describe my feelings about the "open competition" - I saw this quote from CH later on as it's further down in the thread so I'm posting it as well. 

BBS: Again, as always, I bring this back to Peyton because he typically shows us what real leadership and real commitment are. Like Reggie, Peyton wants a new deal. Unlike Reggie, Peyton attended OTAs, did tons of work at  mini-camp, and will like be in Anderson early before the start of training camp.

Yes, Peyton attended OTAs and did tons of work at mini-camp. The one difference between Peyton and Reggie wanting deals is that it's a foregone conclusion that Peyton will get a deal and it will be a MEGA-DEAL. Comparing those two situations isn't fair to Reggie at all. Reggie's trying to make a statement the only way he can and until it has either affected his play on the field and he's missing games or he's missing actual time during training camp, then I might think differently but until then, I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. 

Also, everyone is still pointing out the route during the Super Bowl - Reggie has done some pretty great things too, guys and here are a couple of reminders:

Reggie Wayne TD Catch 11/15/09-Patriots (via pgill1994)

18to87 (via Drakuluhh)

On to some of the comments, I wanted to address... 

DZ: I can't stand...

When fans are totally ignorant of the way sports works as a business.

Why can’t you stand it when athletes ask for more money? On what basis? Do you hate it when teams tell players to take less money or get cut? Is it just players who can’t try and renegotiate.

Why should the team hold all the power?

That’s an irrational position.

I know we all know that, in the end, sports is a business but, as fans, we seem to ignore that fact a lot. Reggie is trying to do what's best for him and while some us don't like what he's doing, the least we can do is understand it? That's the way I see it. 

BBS: Nothing wrong with readers being upset with Reggie taking his issue public. Nothing wrong with people expressing anger over his non-answer to holding out of camp. Nothing wrong with people expecting millionaires to honor their obligations.

DZ had a really good point about people bashing Reggie for wanting more money and all you did with this comment was portray the message that you're okay with people agreeing with you and not okay with people disagreeing. Pretty sure Cass stated that as well (I'm not going to quote every comment I could say "THIS" to as it would be pointless.

Also, your comment about arguing the meaning of words over the topic itself. I don't completely understand it. Delving deeper into what you said, if the words actually have something to do with the topic (he was addressing someone's dislike for Reggie wanting more money) then why can't he/someone else address that? I find that a bit unfair on a public blog. He didn't tell a person they were an "idiot,' "douche," or "schmuck." He just didn't agree with an argument they made and he provided a reason for disagreeing. 

BBS: We understand you like Reggie, and you make excuses for his behavior that most others don’t care for. We get it already. We get it.

That's kind of how some of us feel when you talk about Pierre Garçon being the number 2 receiver. 

Anyway, this dribble has run on quite a while now. One last note - the Reggie article was locked because people didn't stay on topic. Hopefully that won't happen here - I did the best I could to follow community guidelines.

EDIT: One last comment, saw some talk of the NO receivers (all 4) making a similar number to Reggie - yeah that's fine because as I said, IMO, Reggie is a top 3 receiver in the league - those 4 WR's from a place I sort of hate now, none of them are in the top 10 and I'd have to get thinking about top 15 so yeah - my last 2 cents!