It what ultimately could be a hollow gesture given that his team’s season has ended, the UFL has suspended Hartford Colonials running back Lorenzo Booker in the wake of his decision to boycott the regular-season finale due to the league’s decision to enforce a $150,000 “transfer fee.”
That said, it wouldn’t surprise us to learn that the league is taking the position that Booker still “owes” the Colonials one more game, and that the league would try to hold Booker’s rights beyond the expiration of his contract on February 28, 2011.
That said, it’s safe to say no one in the NFL wanted Booker even before his boycott. He’d been out of the NFL for two years after playing only two.
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Have y’all ever seen Caddyshack? Remember the part when the rich golfers are hiding in the bushes, and betting ever more and more money on whether the fat kid they are spying on will pick his nose and eat it?
The rich golfers hiding in the bushes are the NFL owners.
The fat kid picking his nose and eating it is the UFL players.
If one or more teams want one of the UFL players, $150K won’t even be a speed bump to trying to sign him.
Booker’s attempt to be the Curt Flood of the UFL appears to have failed.
this guy is a classic case of a guy who thinks more of himself then his actual work. no sizzle in this steak.
An update to this report, Booker has been fined one game paycheck, which equates to $37.41 after taxes. The guy must be devastated.
The UFL missed a perfect chance here. From the very beginning, the league should have insisted that every player contract include a buyout clause. That way, an NFL team can take advantage of the “farm system” that is the UFL, but this buyout clause would be needed for the minor league’s financial stability and the major league’s convenience.
By making it a part of the player contract would have made the “transfer fee” less likely for boycott or protest.