Steven "A Jerk" Smith Opens Mouth, Inserts Both Feet
Gary Cope, SkinsGridiron.com, Aug. 3, 2005

How Steven A. Smith got his job, I have no idea. Is it because he’s so loud and obnoxious? Maybe it’s because of the outrageous things he says that gets people like me so riled up and write about how obnoxious he is. Regardless, the guy’s a whack job and his recent comments during an interview on the Dan Patrick show only verifies his status as a jackass.

Steven A. came on to talk about his interview with Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who said that Packers QB Brett Favre was out of line talking about his holdout teammate, Javon Walker. Talk about he-said, he-said! The callers to the show agree that Favre, a respected veteran team leader and future hall-of-famer, has earned the right to speak his mind about situations like this. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, Green Bay wide receiver Javon Walker said he will not report to training camp until he gets a new contract. The problem is; he already has a contract. He just wants more money.

Favre was asked during a press conference what he thought about the situation and Favre said he thinks Javon should be in camp for the good of the team. It wasn’t a rip on Walker, it was just what a team leader should be doing, trying to get all his guys into camp.

McNabb was asked what he thought about Favre’s comments and McNabb said the Favre should mind his own business. Hey McNabb, try taking your own advice! Donovan is sitting there telling the world that Favre has no right to criticize his teammate, but here’s McNabb criticizing another player, from another team, on a topic he’s not familiar with! Hello kettle, pot here!

Oh, but it gets better! The show takes calls on the topic prior to Steve A.’s appearance and every single one of them says, “Yeah, Favre has every right to tell his guys to get into camp.” Even the host, or guest host in this case, Dana Jacobsen agrees, saying that this guy (Walker) signed a contract and should be in camp.

Then, the “Mouth” comes on the show and says, “with all due respect, you’re all wrong - Javon has every right to hold out for more money because the collective bargaining agreement is crap.” Okay, that may be, but it’s the CBA that the player’s union agreed to! They agreed to this arrangement, but when it doesn’t suit them, they just simply disregard it.

Steve A.’s reasoning was that the owners can tell players to take a pay cut, or be released from their contracts without having to pay the players a dime. And? He acts like that’s unheard of. I worked for TV stations that required me to sign a contract that said they could fire me at any time, for any reason, but if I tried to leave early, I’d have to compensate THEM. So, I guess I don’t really have any sympathy for athletes who apparently can’t seem to live on $7 million a season.

Which leads me to my next point of contention with the Mouth, who said that people often judge athletes harshly for wanting more money because the average Joe looks at his or her personal situation and says, “Man, I have to provide for my family on a salary that this athlete earns in one play of a game, why should I feel sorry for him?” Steve A. then said what probably ticked me off the most: “What these people don’t realize is that it’s all relative.” Oh…my…God. He’s kidding, right? Oh, no, I see, athletes have financial woes just like me? They live paycheck to paycheck like me, right? Oh, well, now I do feel bad for them. By all means, hold out for more money, make the owners raise ticket prices and keep signing your name to worthless contracts.

Steven A. Smith … shut … up!

Sure, it’s not fair that owners can cut a player with a contract, but that’s the situation the player’s union agreed to. If you, as a player, don’t like it, change it. But until then, be men and honor your contract. Because if you don’t, like I’ve said before, you can sit your sorry ass on the bench until your contract is over. You won’t make a dime during that time and you won’t be able to show other teams what you can do. Some day, a team will stick to their guns and tell a player, “No, you signed. You play. But we won’t renegotiate.”