Unselfish Weaver deserves halo
It has been some time since I rooted for a professional athlete. Not since Troy Aikman took his final NFL snap have I invested much emotion into an individual player, except to laugh at Brett Favre's texts.
It wasn't always this way. There was a time when I thought Steve Yeager could walk on water, give sight to the blind and drive out all the demons from Willie McCovey and his Giants teammates, all the while hitting a robust .228.
The Boomer was it for me as a kid. He wasn't very good, but that also meant a certain number was available when my Little League coach handed out jerseys each spring. I can still see good old No. 7 on the back, right below Bill Thomas Camera Photo Shop.
Today, I hope Jered Weaver wins the remainder of his major league starts in the next five years. Yeah. I'd like to see the guy go 170-0 between now and then, when he will make $85 million.
To suggest Weaver should be held to any comparable standard with those who save lives or defend flags or teach coming generations is ridiculous. He throws a baseball for a living. Pause for a dose of perspective.
But in agreeing to remain with the Angels and not jumping into a free-agent pool that could have earned him an extra $50 million or so more halos, Weaver snubbed what has been a longstanding reality in sports: There is no loyalty at any level.
The notion is fantasy, a romantic concept trampled over time and again the past several decades until Nick Saban finally found a home and paycheck to his liking and LeBron James a team (and beach) for his talents.
I'm not sure loyalty is even owed in sports anymore or to whom, but if there is such a thing as admiring an athlete for remaining with the team that drafted him and not chasing every last cent his talent would demand on the open market, Weaver is the exception to the Scott Boras Rule.
Boras is Weaver's agent and must be off somewhere in a fetal position, wondering who to fire for not making certain Weaver received the memo about top clients never signing early.
What in the Mark Teixera world has Weaver done?
"How much more money do you need?" Weaver said at a news conference Tuesday from Angel Stadium.
"There comes a point in time when you do have to deal with the business side of things, but I don't think money had anything to do with my decision. I could have gotten more, whatever, who cares? I'm here, and that's all I care about."
Tradition in sports hasn't won in some time when it comes to these things. Fans cheer for or against uniforms more than players now, because it's the only way to remain sane when bidding wars begin anew and keep plates of chicken and potatoes from flying through the air when Danny Ainge dribbles the length of the court to beat Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament.
But I digress
Big business knows no loyalty, and the only thing an organization should feel compelled to do at any point for fans is field the most competitive team it can from its particular fiscal state. Many do. Many are just plain cheap.
But everyone -- owners, general managers, players -- acts in their own best interest. Have for some time now. Babe Ruth, you might remember, was once sold and Wilt Chamberlain traded. This lack of loyalty thing has been around awhile.
I'd like to believe more athletes than not want to travel the same road as Weaver, born and raised in the Southern California paradise he will now remain. That they like their teammates and coaches and the city in which they play enough to pass on the temptation that is free agency. That they see value in perhaps gaining more by taking less.
I'd also like to believe that between Frank and Jamie McCourt, there exists at least half a conscience.
Some things are just too hard to fathom.
But one year and six weeks from being able to name his price, Jered Weaver offered some hope.
"It's the way I was brought up," he said. "If $85 million is not enough to take care of my family and other generations of my family, then you're stupid. I play baseball for the love of the game, for the competitive part of it."
Athletes utter those words all the time. This time, we can actually believe them.
Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.
