That Don't Confront Me, Long As I Get My Money Next Friday

Well, maybe they're not as stupid as the score indicates. Regarding my last post, Michigan State has the second lowest WPT scores of colleges that qualified for the report. (you had to have had at least seven players take the test in the last 10 years) Michigan State comes in just a nose above the University of Miami, with MSU having an average score of 16.6. They also had the lowest graduation rate of any of the 38 schools on the list, with 41% of students graduating within six years of enrolling as freshmen.

But there's one MSU alum ( can you say that if they didn't graduate? ) that was smart enough to beat the system. He's earned over 16.5 MILLION dollars for ten days worth of work. So, yeah. Maybe it having smarts has nothing to do with it, but it helps being 6'5", and able to run a 4.4.

Charles Rogers left MSU after his junior year to go to the NFL as a wide receiver. He was drafted second overall by the Detroit Lions in 2003, and signed a contract that included a 9.1 million dollar signing bonus. He was paid a base salary of 975,000 for 2003 ( plus the bonus ), and earned a 1.2 million dollar salary for 2004. His second year also saw an "option bonus" for 5.3 million dollars. An option bonus is a salary cap term - it's just like the signing bonus, but is more salary cap friendly than the 'signing bonus'. The 2005 salary figures haven't been released yet, so that's why I left it at "earned over 16.5".

So if he signed in 2003, how do you figure only 10 days of work you ask? Well, his first two years, he missed a combined 26 games due to two broken clavicles. He only appeared in 6 games. This year, he has actually appeared in all four games so far this year. He was just busted for violating the substance abuse program in the NFL, so he will miss the next 4 games. He will keep getting paid though.

So if you're scoring at home ( or even if you're alone ), that's at least 1.6 million dollars per game for his career so far. He has a grand total of three touchdown catches, costing the Lions a mere 5.5 million per TD.

Prior to getting busted for the substance abuse, he was complaining to the media about his role with the team. The Lions spent the next two years first round picks on wide receivers. Rodgers was upset that the team didn't throw to him until late in the fourth quarter. He was quoted as saying something to the effect of 'well, I don't see them making an effort to give me a role here. maybe my time here is over'.

HEY DONKEY.... Maybe if you weren't made of glass the Lions could have figured out what to do with you by now. Maybe if you woulda stayed awake for even ONE class in college, you would have learned that drugs are bad, and that the NFL will catch you. They're the modern day mob dude. You don't cross the Don. Plus you freakin wet cardboard sally bitch...... you've made 16.5 million dollars in the last two and a half years!!!!!!! Shut your pie hole, put down the steroid needle (or crack needle), and do your job.

But he sure got his money. You didn't hear him bitching when he came into work every week and got his check. But he certainly didn't look any smarter by opening his mouth.

( funny side note about NFL checks.... the NFL collective bargaining agreement mandates that teams get one day off per week during the season. All the teams use Tuesday as the off day. But all teams pay their players every Tuesday. So this way, the players have to come to the team facility to get their check ( or physically sign off on a 'direct deposit' ). The teams figure as long as they come out to get the check, they might as well work out while they're there on their off day. Genius was the owner that had that logic )