Cleveland Browns receiver Josh Cribbs releases statement regarding contract situationSubmitted by admin on May 20, 2009 - 10:10pm |
JOCKlife.com has received the following statement from Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Cribbs regarding his contract situation with the team.
"I humbly and respectfully come to Browns’ fans and the Browns letting all know that I have given my all to this team, on and off the field for 4 complete years selflessly without regard to myself and my own family. I have sat by while good players came and went, either due to contracts or injury. I have witnessed a lot of families uprooted from their stable homes and forced to move wherever the money came in from. I realize that this is not a fair sport for the players, it is a business and we are products.
Contracts are one-sided in favor of the team, yet we as players are told to honor our contracts without the team honoring them. We are not doctors and lawyers, we don’t get paid for 25 years of work. If we are lucky, we get 10 years at best to make all the money we can to last the rest of our life. We sacrifice our bodies and our health to make our owners wealthy. I am not asking for nothing that I have not already earned and will continue to earn. This is not personal, but I have to be a man and take care of my family for not just a year or two, but for as long as I am walking this earth.
I have always given the Browns’ team and its fans respect and my loyalty. I have stepped into many different roles for the betterment of my team and have brought honor to
Cleveland, in the way that I play on the field, and serve in the community.
I have been blessed with this opportunity to be somebody and ask that I be treated and compensated on the level of my peers, fairly, according to my work completed, and on the promise that my future will brightly upheld in a manner gracious of this team and its fans.
I want nothing more but to wear the Browns’ logo on my chest until my career has come to an end, and I am deeply disappointed that the team I put my hard work, blood, sweat and tears in will just write me off as though I am collateral damage. I maintain that this is not personal to Coach Mangini, Mr. Kokinis, or Mr. Lerner, for this is a situation that I could not keep in any longer."
Writer title/position:
Contributor 
How can you?!
Josh,
I'm a Browns fan, I've always been a Browns fan, and I always will be. That being said I have enjoyed watching you bring a passion to the game, but while your desire to have more money is justified your approach is ridiculous. The city you represent and give hope to on a weekly basis (despite how much you guys have underperformed) is struggling more than the majority of the nation in these economic times. Jobs are lost and Cleveland's foreclosure rate is alarming, yet you want sympathy? I cannot wrap my mind around this. You received a college education and unlike many you don't have to start your career out in debt from student loans that bury you each month. If you felt you would outperform your contract you shouldn't have signed for so long or gone elsewhere, but a contract is an agreement without a clause that says you can demand more during. Go to camp and play your heart out for this team. You will find your reward eventually and you'll be able to live well above the standard of living that many hard working Clevelanders strive for, but don't you ever spit in this city's face like this again because a lot of Joshua Cribbs types will come and go, but this city will remain. You're a talented athlete, but athletics are not as important as you think.
Sincerely,
Matt from Cleveland
A terrible reason
Josh,
I do well in the real world. I make close to 6 figures a year and have worked my butt off at my job for a decade. If I'm lucky - very lucky - and save my pennies I might be able to make as much as you received in just your signing bonus. You will undoubtedly get at least one more contract in your career and that bonus will probably be 100 times or more what I make in a year.
While I think you deserve a slightly better contract this is a horrible approach to PR on your part.
There's nothing to keep you from working a nice, 5 figure job once you stop playing football. And if you're lucky you'll probably be making more. Enjoy your time at football but don't waste our time trying to tell us how hard you have it. I'd be happy to show you my balance sheet over the last 3 years if you want to know how hard an -easy- real-world life is.
Cribbs
Josh, As a Browns fan. I greatly respect you as a player. Having said that your holdout is not justified. You state that you need to make enough money to live the rest of your life during your career. Well the other 99.9% of society does not have the luxury of retiring 10 years after leaving college. I think your current contract of 6 millions dollars, should at a minimum provide for you for the rest of your life.
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