Show ME The Money

“Money, it’s a hit;
Don’t give me that do goody-good bullsh!t.”

--Roger Watters of Pink Floyd from “Money,” from the LP Dark Side Of The Moon, 1973.

This is for all of the Bear fans and Lance Briggs. I want you to know that I personally relate to Lance Briggs, because like Lance, I am in a contract settlement this year as well.

So I am being honest (as honest as Eric Sweetwood can be) when I note Lance hold out for all of the money—our situations are so similar.

Here I am, fighting like a madman for a 3% raise of my $69,850 salary. I teach 10 months a year (We are done first week of June and go back in MID-August), and like you, I have pressure.

There you are, fighting like a madman when the Chicago Bears only promised to give you $7,200,000.00 when the year before you made $720,000.00 and that was after they offered you over $5,000,000.00 per year for five years last season. You play seven months a year (Beginning in June and usually ending in December or January), and you have enormous pressure because Hunter Hillenmeyer is a bit small, and everyone keys in on Urlacher.

So I understand—we are practically the same.

Except, Lance Briggs, here is a slight difference. You see, I have been offered to teach at other schools; as I remember about ten or twelve years ago, my district accepted my wish to teach full time in Social Sciences—the Superintendent offered, my principal agreed, my assistant principal agreed, and I moved into the department I enjoy today—while at the same moment, I had an offer from a school district closer to home to start fresh and teach three classes: Psychology, Sociology, and AP Psychology—all college-bound kids. The money was comparable and eventually I might have made more if I moved—but I stayed: and I will tell you why: loyalty and teamwork.

I felt my district was rewarding me for years of service. They could have hired a coach or someone that offered to fill other roles, but they did not—they offered the position to me. This is how a TEAM works. Since then, I have never regretted the decision.

I, also, Lance never turned my back on my team and felt I was above the rest—I worked with the folks I teach with because I believe in what we are all trying to do. I respect the fellow teachers on my team in that the Vocational people are offering life skills, the Music and Art people are offering culture, the Math people are offering precision, the English folks are offering proper techniques, the PE folks are offering practices for good health, the Science folks are offering discovery, the Foreign Language folks are offering global skills, the Special Education teachers are offering hope and support, and we Social Science folks are offering civic duty and social awareness. The administration, (my coaches if you will) support us, correct us, instill a sense of teamwork to us, and take the heat when the heat comes to the place.

As a History teacher, Lance, let me remind you of some historical Bear figures, since I want to give you a “lesson” in social awareness. Three names from the Chicago Bear past are folks in a similar situation as you are: Warrick Holdman, Rosie Colvin, and Wilbur Marshall. All three were Pro-Bowl players with the Bears; all three followed a trail of money; and all three were really never heard from again.

You have examples on your team—Brian Urlacher offered to take a cut to keep you—and he is arguably the best defensive player in the league. You see, Mr. Briggs, he “gets” it—he is a team player.

When you turned down the money last year, Lance, your TEAMMATES benefited from it—Kruetz, the fore-mentioned Hillenmeyer, Manning, and others. One could safely argue that Olin Kruetz is also the best in the league as a center—and he thought of his team as well as accepting the reward.

Maybe Lance, you and I are not so much alike. In retrospect, maybe I am like Olin Kruetz—we are both fighters, obnoxious, do the best we can, offer a pursuit of excellence, fight for the team, and accept the rewards as they come. We also like where we are at.

So, Lance, go join Holdman, Colvin, and Marshall as they wander through obscurity and mediocrity and ignore the sense of teamwork and excellence exhibited by others that you work with on the Bears. Remember the choice is yours. Just do the rest of us a favor; go quietly because we do not want you to continue to rant, cut down, and knock our team.