Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Nov. 22, 2005, edition 1 / Page 18
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■nnHnii 2C SPORTS/irtt Clarlittt Tuesday, November 22, 2005 Brock seeks huge payday on pay TV Continued from page 1C Klitschko announced his retirement due to tom knee ligaments earlier this month. 'The WBC named Hasim Rahman the interim champion and selected James Ibney and Oleg Maskaev as top challengers. It’s possible that Brock, a West Charlotte High and UNC Charlotte greiduate, may chal lenge champions Chris Byrd for the IBF, Lamon Brewster for the WBO and John Ruiz for the WBA. If he does, he plans to bring the bouts back to Charlotte. ‘1 don’t want to go backwards, I want to go forward,” he said. “I want to go for world cham pionship titles. It felt absolutely wond«^ to have hometown support. It makes me want to come back and do it again with the world championship eind bring more bouts back here.” Wharton still adjusting to LT Continued from page 1C Wharton was the only rook ie ai the offensive line in 2004 where he played left guard. That line yielded only 33 sacks, the third-lowest total in Carolina history. Wharton also assisted running back Nick Goings in matching a team record with four,consec utive 100-yard rushing games in 2004 and helped quarter back Jake Delhomme eclipse the 3,000-yard passing plateau in 2004 for the second consecutive season with 3,025 yards. Tbammate Gross said, Wharton doesn’t make the big mistakes at his position that causes that quarterbeick prob lems. After the Jets’ game, Gross was quick to praise his teammate’s play “He’s a good player and the thing about left tackle is that there’s going to be a ^w bad plays and he’s really mini mized those,” Gross said That was until they played the Bears. Delhomme was sacked eight times versus Chicago and defensive line men blew past Wharton as if he wasn’t there. Tlie thiid year man admits that he had to adjust to play ing this position on the pro fessional level. ‘It’s different, I had to learn the technique going through training camp,” he said. Owens episode could have long-lasting impact on others By Gregory Moore BlACKAnUIl'E^’kT SAN ANTONIO. Ibxas - Just how far has Tbrrell Owens damaged his career and that of many other tedent- ed Afirican-American ath letes? Well, if you wjuit to put it on a monetary term, the exploits of the embattled wide receiver may have cost him a few mil lions, and it may have defi nitely cost other “troubled” athletes eight figures in end(»*sement deals. If this sounds like an off- base diatribe, let me assure you that in black America, perception is very much a real entity when being compared to the rest of the world. While Owens may have been just one individual, the mere fact that in the sports realm, African-Americans make up a good nifyority of the nation's football and bas ketball teams that are seen across the country On the professional level, black ath letes have the opportunity to be financially secure once they leave the game and a good example is that of Donovan McNabb. McNabb can be compared to Michael Jordan as he has transcended his sports of “faceless individuals wearing a helmet, and has trans formed himself and his family into the media darlings of Madison Avenue, But what does Owens’ antics have to do with McNaWt) and others? Simply put. as much as McNabb may be a positive selling agent for companies, these media buy ers are very wary of using ath letes who have “questionable” work practices, behavioral issues or societal dilemmas. Owens faUs into the latter cat- egMy because media buyers have also doaunented every thing he has done to disrupt the team. Tb get a better understand ing let’s use Owens in an example If Owens was the shy kid fixou Alabama and that persona was where he was always conge nial. always manageaUe and respectful, he would have some very good endorse ments. although not very lucrative. The “nice” Tbrrell may have his own food com mercial, several print ads in magazines of him endorsing fitness fttoducts and even a car dealership deal. His esti mated worth of such deals for the good TO.? An estimated $1 million to $3 million could be possible. Let’s say that Owens is just a shade under his “destruc tive” self but has some of the good TO. qualities when it comes to dealing with people. Becaxise this persona may have an edge to him, this Owens may have lost a food deal here and there, but he could still get some m^jor fit ness deals, some guest appearances in a few small screen projects like sitcoms, dramatic series and even music videos. He could even gamer some m^or endorse ments on cars like a Dodge \^per and the like, and be seen in magazines like VIBE endorsing the urban culture. His estimated worth could possibly have been $3 million or $4 million if that was his actual self However, the currait TO. loses out on any of the afore mentioned scenarios because he is now considered an advertising risk. Character flaws such as combativeness with teammates or manage ment play a humongous role in whether companies will use athletes to endorse their prod ucts. Owens’ nature during the past few months has cost him millions in off-the-field salary So how does this equate to other Afiican-American ath letes who may have very sim ilar patholc^cal profiles? It affects them in the realm of acceptance and the ability to be a team player in the corpo rate worid. If an athlete, especially a minority, is deemed to be a prima donna, the chances of him getting an endorsement deal are slim Afiican- American athletes who are playing professional sports most definitely need to adhere to being social butterflies. It is not too hard to loc^ at such players as Milton Bradley, Owens, Latrdl Sprewell and others who have been defiant individuals coi the court and see whether or not they have lucrative endorsement deals. By no means is this column suggesting that black athletes need to kiss butt in order to make outside money What is being suggested is that maybe it is time to truly understand the worth of your career out side the chalk lines of the placing field. Agents are sup posed to do that assessment for you, but you should never just rely on someone that you are paying to represent you. Owens’ actions has giouped quite a few talented but ^o- tistical Afiican-American ath letes as being troublemakers and that may not be a fair assessment by endorsement dealmakers. Fortune 500 companies pay big dollars to athletes to sdl their products in national advertisements. Tliese companies want team players and not renegades that could give the company a negative image to their buy ing public. Players of Owens’ ilk don’t understand that con cept, but it is a lesson to be leame^ Your source for black college sports Charlotte OBSESSED WITH QUALITY 05 CTSs from $27,988 04 CTSs from $25,988 03 CTSs from $21,988 OVER 5 MILLION IN FRESH TRADES AVAILABLE. PALIVI E R RE-OWN ED EAST llSlDEF>ENDEISIOE F>irslE\/IL.I_E 2005 Cadillac SRX AWD. 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