Julio Jones and the Atlanta Falcons had been in a bit of a contract back-and-forth leading up to training camp.
That’s not unusual this time of year; NFL veterans only have so many opportunities for leverage, and as NFL contracts tend to be flexible in ways that hurt players (via non-guaranteed money), a holdout or even the specter of a holdout can sometimes twist that flexibility in their favor. However, some people tend to view that as inherently selfish behavior by players, even star players like Jones who have given plenty to the team and their fans, while also being so good at what they do that they could probably skip most of training camp and be fine for Week 1 anyway.
It’s not just fans who take that attitude, either. There are plenty in the media who have no patience for holdouts. On Tuesday, for example, FOX 5 Good Day Atlanta anchor Buck Lanford tweeted this to Jones:
As you may have guessed, the ratio on that tweet was a great one, for obvious reasons.
https://twitter.com/therealpaisant/status/1022149891454324737
Last night Julio Jones and the Falcons agreed to a contract adjustment that will see Jones in camp:
And while that could have been the end of it, the Falcons Twitter account went back for some shade:
That’s the good stuff. For his part, Buck seems to be taking it in stride:
The whole thing is a nice reminder that Twitter can, sometimes, still be fun.
About Jay Rigdon
Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.