Friday, October 1, 2010

Haynesworth Didn't Deposit His $21 Million Check Right Away

Because he's a nuanced man prone to attacks of conscience and introspection, Albert Haynesworth(notes)didn't immediately deposit the $21 million bonus check he received from the Washington Redskins in April.
The NFL's most famous malcontent shared this news with ESPN's Sara Walsh on Thursday:
"Yeah, the check sat at my house for a couple weeks before I cashed it," Haynesworth said. "I was weighing my options about what I should do. ... Do you want to take this? Do you want to commit yourself to playing a 3-4 [defense]? Do you want to go somewhere else and try again?"
In my younger days, I was a nationally ranked badminton player. My grandfather invented the Slip-N-Slide. I once met Bob Dylan at a Shoney's in Winston-Salem, N.C. See? I can make up slightly believable stories too.
Why should we believe Haynesworth? Everything he's done during his Redskins career suggests that he's the exact opposite of a person who would care about the value of earning a paycheck. He showed up to camp out of shape. He whined about the 3-4 all offseason. He demanded a trade after he allegedly cashed the check. But now, six months later, we're supposed to buy the fact that he thought long and hard about whether he deserved to hand that check to the teller? I'm not buying it.