Philadelphia Liberty, A Polarizing Team

[Oles]

So recently there has been a lot of drama revolving around the Liberty, including 1 player holding out as his agency asked for money that was well above his pay grade, and another player who believes the Liberty should have listened to and done everything he said. This has led to some pretty interesting opinions on the Liberty from players, where you now have people arguing for each side in an environment of hostility. Some players on the team insist that the GMs have been transparent, open and honest about their intentions, while some players believe that the GMs are not good at what they do and should be fired. Now who do we believe, the two players who didn’t get their way, or the 20 players who are backing their GMs and teammates at all costs.

Let’s look at the first player, Matt James. Someone who held out after being instructed by his agency when the Liberty did not accept the offer sheet they put on the table, a product of a tantrum that may be the greatest in the league so far. He decided to make his problems public before contacting any teammates, leaving a bad taste that stuck in the locker room for the next few days. This holdout to each player was ridiculous, surely both sides couldn’t be so far apart that the best course of action is a holdout, right? Well that is where you would be mistaken, it has been reported that James and his agency were asking for upwards of 22 Million dollars over 2 years, a ludicrous amount of money for a rookie who was a mid-round pick in the draft. He was asking almost 6 times of what some rookies got, and a whopping 22 times what their first pick got. How someone who has never played a snap and is a mid-round pick deserves this is beyond me, and makes the player and his representatives look like a bunch of fools acting like children. No wonder the team and player were never going to agree on a deal, the player was never willing to take a deal with the Liberty. He’s already on record saying that he did not want to go to Philadelphia, and instead of communicating this with the GMs, who probably wouldn’t have drafted him, he did not reply to the team or communicate his desires prior to the draft. James has also made claims that even though he entered the locker room well after he was invited (waiting 2 days after the draft to join), that he did not feel welcome. Note that this was well after his article went public about his holdout, when the locker room was still upset that the only time James would make any effort to communicate with his fellow teammates was when he was basically telling his teammates and team screw you. He says he has no ill will towards his teammates, but I don’t believe that is true, I believe he is trying to save face after a ridiculous attempt to rob the Liberty, his teammates at the time, and future teammates who might be blocked from coming to Philadelphia due to his unrealistic deal.

Now let’s look at Kevin Cushing, a player I like and respect. He has made some interesting claims about the team, and has made it seem like he expected them to listen and do everything he said. A polarizing player in his own right, he has made his fair share of enemies and friends with his hot-headed attitude, his lack of a filter, and very outspoken attitude. He can be a bit much at times, and will not make any efforts to refrain from telling you how he feels, and he has made it clear that he is no fan of the Liberty, and multiple other teams, because he felt disrespected that they did not explain in depth why he did not get taken with one of their top 12 picks. This is something I don’t really understand, and his lack of filter has caused many players to not want to play with him.

So now that we have looked at the two players who may have started this whole situation on their own, let’s look at reports from the locker room. Players have stated that the locker room feels like a family already. I group of tight knit players who have immediately recognized each other as brothers as soon as they first entered the locker room. Players have told me that they have made jokes about everything in there, so James may be misinterpreting his awkward entrance, as the players were probably joking with each other all night before he joined. The players have made it clear that they are a team that wants to win, with multiple players taking lower contracts in order to help the team in the future try to acquire free agents and future draft picks. The salary cap is a real thing, and just because some players think they deserve all the money available, doesn’t mean the team is going to appease their demands in order to sign a mid-round draft pick.

So to me the situation is simple, these are two players who have either overvalued themselves, been extremely off-putting, or just players who don’t seem to put the team first. One of these players was not drafted to the Liberty, so I don’t know how he is doing as I have not contacted the Wraiths, but I hope that he is finding his place and learning to control himself. As far as Matt James, he is a player that seems to be so stuck in his own path and own desires that he does not seem to be putting the team first. I hope he finds himself as a part of the Wraiths because he was on the path to mediocrity before he was traded, as a player who would be the main attraction at a carnival with the attention and drama he demanded.

So where did the Liberty, an expansion team, become a team that was the talk of the league before their first season started? It’s simple, players who love drama got exactly that, and when called out on it internally one player doubled down, while the other who wasn’t drafted to the team kept making claims of hating the team. James would not try to contact his teammates, and couldn’t be helped by them, and never really seemed to be a part of the Liberty.

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[Noble]

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