I guess all is right with the world again, as Devin Hester received a contract extension and a nice bonus of cash today. This comes one day after I defended Chicago Tribune writer Jack Kree for his article criticizing Hester's recent comments that his old contract of $445,000 a year was not enough money. Kree's article was attacked by AOL Fanhouse "blogger" Michael David Smith, and I rightly bashed Smith because he was wrong defending Hester's silly and thoughtless comments. Fanhouse, apparently, takes care of their own, as another of their "bloggers" (Ryan Wilson) decided to take a shot at yours truly:
No word on the how much the team forked over to keep Hester in Chicago through 2013, but I'll guess it'll pay him more than the near-half-million he was scheduled to make in 2008, which must make this dude very, very angry. (Economics: 1, Insane Rambling Diatribe: 0)
What Wilson pathetically tries to do in his insult is change the subject, suggesting I think extending Hester is a "bad idea," or something. That's not the issue, but thanks for trying, Ryan. Next time, maybe Michael David Smith could stand up for himself rather than send you to do it for him.
The point of issue that Wilson would like to label "Insane Rambling Diatribe" was not Hester getting a bonus. I personally thought Hester did deserve a raise of some kind, but not a $40 or $50 million dollar one. The issue was Hester's comments, suggesting that his old contract (which paid roughly $450,000 year) was not enough money. I thought, and still think, those comments were foolish, especially given the harsh economic times we live in. Jack Kree seems to agree with me. It's really hard to sympathize with anyone who takes home over $400K a year, let alone a person complaining that $400K is not enough.
We now know Hester did receive a $30 million dollar contract with a $15 million guaranteed bonus. He could also get $10 million in bonuses if he becomes a #1 receiver. I don't know how they will manage to measure whether he becomes such a receiver, but I imagine it is stats driven.
If Fanhouse writers like Wilson and Smith think that Hester was in the right to complain about his old money situation, then those two guys are not in tune with the rest of modern civilization. It's that simple. It's pretty hard to sympathize with anyone making over $445,000 a year, and when they complain that such a sum is not enough, they look foolish... but not as foolish as those people who defend them.
We can debate till the cows come home the reasoning for paying someone $30 million to play a position they suck at (WR), but what is not debatable are Hester's comments made last week. Kree was right to bash Hester for those comments, and Fanhouse tools Wilson and Smith were wrong to defend Hester.
To swing this back around to something Colts related, it makes me feel good to know my team's president pays players good money because they can actually play their positions well. Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne make a ton of bread playing WR because they have proven they are elite WRs. And you very rarely, if ever, hear Colts players complain they don't make enough money.
I'm off to drop another $65 bucks on a gas fill up.
UPDATE: Well, when you look at this chart, then it seems pretty clear Hester did get elite WR money. The guaranteed $15 mill is the crazy part. Some of the bonus money has conditions, but even without that, this is still an elite WR-like contract. I still think it is pretty stupid to sign a kick returner to this much money. But whatever, Hester doesn't play for my team. And his comments last week were still dumb.