Even before Albert Haynesworth landed the most egregious of Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder's laundry list of inexcusably terrible contracts, one NFL general manager astutely noted that the 2008 Defensive Player of the Year only "played to get paid."
Former Redskins teammate Chris Cooley recently went a step further, accusing Haynesworth of being an "awful human being" who sought a monster signing bonus with the sole intention of getting released as soon as possible.
"His goal from the get-go was to take that money," Cooley said on WTEM-AM, via The Washington Post. "He also indicated to many players on the team that his new goal was to get released as soon as possible, sign another maybe $10, 12 million contract -- that's verbatim -- go somewhere, play for a year and probably get released, and keep that money, too. ... This was open (knowledge) among many players in this locker room: that his goal was basically to take money."
Cooley believes Haynesworth was motivated by the belief that NFL teams have no qualms about cutting players before their contracts expire.
As a result of that disillusionment, Haynesworth failed multiple physicals and endurance tests with the Redskins while often putting forth a laughably pathetic effort. After signing with the Patriots, he simply stopped competing altogether.
By all accounts, Haynesworth was a highly intelligent and principled professional athlete. Like many of that species, though, he's susceptible to falling into the trap of justifying a distorted viewpoint.
Armed with the belief that the league grinds up its players' bodies, only to casually discard them as part of a cold-hearted business practice, Haynesworth could have retaliated by attempting a thought-provoking expose along the lines of "North Dallas Forty."
One of the most disliked players in recent NFL history opted instead to strike back at management through negligence, placing a higher value on collectingexpensive toys than playing football.
Haynesworth was a blatant huckster. In another line of work, he'd be found guilty of fraud.
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