"Fire a warning shot across her nose....Careful, you idiot. I said across her nose, not up it." -- Dark Helmet
Earlier today ESPN posted a story about Kevin Mawae not receiving any contract offers. It included this comment from Mawae:
"I am unemployed and hoping someone will call," Mawae, 39, told "3 Hour Lunch" on 104.5 in Nashville. "It's kind of befuddling to me that I just came off my eighth Pro Bowl and a 16-game season and I can't get one phone call.
"Alan Faneca gets cut two days ago and yesterday he signs a contract with another team. And not to take anything away from him, we have the same agent, we're friends. But something tells me that there is something going on beside me just being 39 years old.
"I've said in the past that I hope our management and the owners can look past the fact that I am president of the PA. But right now it's not looking that way. I'm looking for a job. I've made no secrets about wanting to be back here in Tennessee and I've yet to receive a call from anybody."
The NFL and the NFL Players Association have spent the past few months drawing up battle lines in advance of a potential 2011 lockout. It's still too soon to tell whether such a lockout will come to fruition, but it's not exactly the friendliest environment.
Given all this, this comment by Kevin Mawae, whatever was intended by it, cannot be viewed as a friendly query by Mawae. It is illegal to withhold employment from Mawae because of his union status. Of course, the problem is that something like this can be difficult to prove without a smoking gun, or a previous history of anti-union actions/animus.
At this point Mawae wants to go home to Tennessee where he would be a backup. Jeff Fisher indicated some interest, but things were put on hold until after the draft. If a deal gets done soon, this story might go away. However, the relationship between the union and the league does not appear to be moving in a positive direction.