THE HOLDOUT

In July Sportslawtalk examined the holdout of pitchers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale in their joint effort to reach a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers before the 1966 baseball season. Koufax and Drysdale eventually came to terms with the Dodgers and were able to lead them to the World Series in 1966. Before 1993, the NFL had no system in place to allow for true free agency. There was the short-lived “Plan B” in the late 1980’s, and before that a plan that required draft pick compensation, that saw virtually no player movement. Wilber Marshall leaving the Chicago Bears to go to the Washington Redskins was a rare exception. So prior to 1993 veteran player holdouts were far more common than they are today.

One of the more interesting holdouts occurred in Chicago in 1985. Robert Ruxin, in his book An Athlete’s Guide to Agents, describes the holdout:

When the Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl in 1986, two starting veterans sat out the entire season in a salary dispute. Safety Todd Bell, who had been described by Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan as “the one guy we can’t afford to lose”, earned $77,000.00 in 1984. His agent demanded $950,000.00 for 1985, then came down to $750,000.00, and then $600,000. The Bears final offer was $1.6 million over four years. The other veteran was linebacker Al Harris, whom Ryan described as “the most underrated linebacker in the league.” He wanted a salary equal to first-round draft choice Wilber Marshall whom he beat out for a starting spot. After he reduced his demand from $493,000 to $482,000 the Bears countered with $825,000 over three years. Harris’s agent lost control of the negotiations when Harris’s father entered the talks. Harris told the Boston Globe during Super Bowl week that his refusal to sign had to do with “a moral stand.” He said he’d rather not discuss the negotiations: “I’m just waiting for God to open a new path for me.”

Were Harris and Bell foolish, or admirable, for giving up a year of playing in the NFL and a chance to be part of a Super Bowl Champion? Before free agency that was the way life in the league was.  Players had no leverage. The players could only withhold their services in the hope that the team would become desperate enough to increase their contract offer. In this case the Bears held firm, and Harris and Bell missed an entire season.

What would the repercussions be for Bell and Harris? Could they ever make up the money from the missed season? Furthermore, the 1985 Bears were a Super Bowl champion, and the money many players made off the field after the championship was substantial. Bell and Harris would miss many of those benefits.


Tomorrow: Part 2- the aftermath of the holdouts