Part II- The Holdouts Al Harris and Todd Bell

It is fitting that on the day we learn that Michael Crabtree and the San Francisco 49ers have reached a deal, we go back into the NFL history books for part two of the lessons learned from the hold outs in1985 of Al Harris and Todd Bell.

In 1984 Todd Bell made it to the Pro Bowl playing safety for the Bears. On a team of fierce hitters that included Mike Singletary, Doug Plank, and Steve McMichael, Bell was second to none. Bell’s Pro Bowl status probably gave his agent Howard Slusher almost unrealistic expectations going into the contract negotiation with Bears general manager Jerry Vanisi. Al Harris was not coming off a Pro Bowl season, but was a vital cog in defensive guru Buddy Ryan‘s defense. Both players thought they would be missed. However, never forget the NFL is always about “Next Man Up” (if you have not already read the book by John Feinstein of the same title, we recommend it.) The Bears had Dave Duerson at safety ready to replace Bell, and Buddy Ryan was ready to use Wilber Marshall to take over for Harris.

Howard Slusher, the agent for Todd Bell, had always been about holding out until you get what you want. This was the tactic employed by Bell and Slusher against the Bears. Yet, with no free agency in the NFL, the Bears could wait out both Harris and Bell, and be comfortable that there were strong back-ups ready to take over. Once the season started and Bell and Harris had not reached deals, the Bears winning ways made it easy for the Bears to hold firm with their offers to the two. Jerry Vanisi and the Bears did not reach a deal with the two holdouts during the 1985 season, and of course we know the Bears went on to their much celebrated Super Bowl championship.

As the 1986 season approached, Bell, according to Vanisi, signed for little more than was offered in 1985. Harris did the same. So the two players were back in the fold for 1986, but they could never recoup the money they did not earn in 1985. Maybe even more significantly, they missed out on the endorsement bonanza that most of the 1985 Bears were able to enjoy. The two never regained the starting roles they enjoyed prior to their hold outs, and by 1988 Bell joined Buddy Ryan who had become head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. Harris likewise headed to Philadelphia for the 1989 season with Buddy Ryan. Both players ended their careers in Philadelphia.

Many years later Al Harris told the Chicago Tribune about Todd Bell and the hold out, “Todd never let 1985 go. He felt betrayed. I had that feeling, too, but after a while that’s life.”

Today in most major sports, holdouts like Bell and Harris are unlikely to happen with the advent of free agency. If there is anything to learn from this in a negotiation, it is that you should closely examine every possible scenario. Next make sure a player that you represent understands the upside and downside of any strategy that one may use in the negotiation. Next, understand what the team may have available to take up the slack from the player holding out. Of course you will also need to understand the team history in past negotiations. Finally, in the case of Harris and Bell, they were not irreplaceable. We did look at Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale in their holdout, Sandy Koufax may have been irreplaceable, but very few players are of the caliber of Koufax.