Falcons Head Coach Mike Smith said General Manager Thomas Dimitroff and his staff are working to get any disagreements resolved and have wide receiver Roddy White in training camp for future practices.
The Pro Bowl wide receiver officially started a holdout Friday night when he did not report to camp.
“It’s not a distraction,” Smith said after the team’s opening practice. “I’m not angry. How can you be angry when it’s the first day of training camp and the first day of the 2009 season? This is my favorite day of the year. I’m not angry at all and I don’t believe it will be a distraction. You can’t concern yourself with guys who aren’t here. All we can do is coach the guys who are here. Our job as a coaching staff is to prepare our team for 2009.”
http://video.atlantafalcons.com/video/134003/134003_2009-08-01-111248.flvWhite set a Falcons single-season receiving record with 1,358 yards in 2008. He recorded seven touchdowns and seven 100-yard receiving games (also franchise records).
According to the collective bargaining agreement, the Falcons are allowed to fine White for unexcused absences during training camp.
Smith said those “mechanisms” are in place and he’s concerned with coaching players in camp. That included 78 faces on Saturday morning (minus White and cornerback Glenn Sharpe, who was excused for personal reasons).
“As far as our practice today, I thought the guys came out with a lot of energy and worked extremely hard,” Smith said. “It was a good start. It was also nice to have all eight of your draft picks out here from the very beginning.”
The Falcons have a practice scheduled for Saturday afternoon. Sunday morning the team will wear shoulder pads for the first time.
“We’re not going to do a whole lot different,” the coach said when asked about changes from ‘08 to ‘09. “We’ve evaluated everything we’ve done as a coaching staff and made some subtle changes in how we present things but, as far as the sequencing of practice, our main goal is to get to the opener as healthy as possible… We’re going to work hard but we’re also going to work very smart.”
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41 Comments
Roddy get your money and get into camp.
This is the last thing we need. I agree with Freddie.
Come on! We need you White!
Dam baby! This isnt what we need now, get in there and catch some balls the money will come. In this economy just be happy you aint layed off like millions of americans, spoiled brat you signed your previous contract now full fill it!
Arthur Blank and Thomas Dimitroff need to get this resolved IMMEDIATELY. They knew this was coming, and they’ve had an entire off season to resolve this.
GET WHITE SIGNED AND LET’S GET ON WITH 2009.
Roddy we understand you want a new contract and you’ve earned it. But damn don’t go bout like this, the Falcons got a chance to do something special this year and we need ya big dawg.
White has not, to my way of thinking, yet eared the big money. Still too many drops. He’s racked up the big yardage, but that’s partially, at least, a function of Ryan throwing more than a third of his total passes to him. We’re really deep in receivers right now. Watch out this year for Douglas and Bergeron, especially. If Roddy wants the big money, maybe we can trade him to someone who will pay it, and put the $$ into some support for the DL or secondary.
gfweis u r dumb. Do u know how long it has taken for the falcons to get a WR like Roddy? Forever. Roddy u deserve ur money and Mr.Dimitroff needs to give it to him. GO FALCONS!
uhhhh the Falcons have always had decent wrs going back to the 70s , it just looked like we hadnt have any when Vick was our qb…
remember the Falcons have had multiple pro bowl wrs in, A Jenkins, A Jackson, A Rison, M Haynes, E Metcalf, T Martin and T Mathis, dif was they had S Bartkowski, C Miller, J George and C Chandler throwing them the Ball and not M Vick …
let me tell ya now, we have 2 solid starters without white in Jenkins and Douglas throw fin in and then Gonzo… even without White we still look solid, thats whats really scary huh…
pay him he is under his rookie contract if im not mistakin lock him up for the feature and ryan throws to him a third of the time cuz they got a connection and why lose that this could be years of ryan to white like manning to harrison not to mention white has gotten better every year top 5 wide out in the league i think
This is just the business of the game. Fans should not take Roddy White’s holding out personal. This is a game of numbers, and last year Roddy White put up he numbers.
I agree with white I mean hes top notch in the Tory Holt mold when he can catch 1200 yards reciebveing with Joey Harrington, Byron Leftwich and Chris Redman throwing the ball….COME on I mean he makes QBs look good unless youre a Running BACK playing QB(NUMBER 7).
Will, I hope you’re right. I don’t want White to get a big head and turn into a prima donna. He deserves the money, don’t get me wrong, but I believe at this point the focus should be on the team, and not his paycheck. It’s definitely in the best interest in the team to lock him up for the future, but I think he should still be at camp and work a deal out this season.
Hopefully this gets resolved soon. I want to see him getting reps so we can be ready for Week 1.
i mean..really?..white knows his blockbuster contract is on the way after this season..he just doesnt wanna do two a days lol.
I remember some big catches but I remember some big drops as well. Roddy still loses concentration at times. Bottom line he has a contract through this year. He needs to honor it and come to camp. This may not be a huge distraction but it does not help the passing game. How fortunate he is to have God given talent. How selfish he is to not be a part of the team that has helped him attain his goals.
@ReidAdair
No, I disagree, Roddy White, you are still undera viable contract. Fulfill you obligation show you are worth the bucks and then let the front office decide what value you present to the team. With this kind of behavior, tou son are losing points every minute…
The last time a big name heldout on the Falcons he got hurt in week 1 and never was important after that. Jamaal Anderson (RB) held out and then messed up his knee against dallas when nobody even touched him.
Roddy’s had a couple of good years after a couple of awful ones. While he is deserving an upgrade, he shouldn’t shoot himself and his team in the foot by holding out. I’m sure he knows management will take care of him. Probably has an agent calling his shots for him.
“Get your money man”.As soon as they can’t use you your gone!He deserves more money he is the #8 reciever in the league.
While it’s true that Roddy had a very good season last year (still too many drops), the fact remains that he’s under contract now. Show up for work! The addition of Tony Gonzalez, the rising star of Harry Douglas, the steady play of Michael Jenkins and the depth at the position with Finneran, Chandler Williams (watch this kid, he’s going to be good – he was catching EVERYTHING at this mornings practice), and the other young, talented WRs – Roddy’s bargaining position is far less than he and his agent apparently are willing to believe. He needs to be in camp preparing for this season. The contract will come or it won’t. Either way, he’ll get paid in the end (by either the Falcons or some other team).
Look let’s be serious …. Roddy White has had one good season and one pro bowl year…. There are alot of Other WR out there. He better be practicing to o the same this year and than worry about a new contract.
Ok Roddie great season last year…Keep acting funny and you will be in Arizona or Denver!! We can use Anquan Boldin or Brandon Marshall!!!! Get yo ass in camp!!
Man I agree with that last guy…… Personally I’d get rid of Roddy White and Michael Jenkins for Brandon Marshall if I had that chance….. I really do believe Roddy is letting the agent call the shots on this one….
rOddy white is due to have a big year with matt in his second yr and hopefully jenkins can step up and show his first round potential look at douglas to progress under roddy with gonzolez falcon are going to she ship if the defensive secondary pick up da slack
See, this is why they have never had back to back winning seasons because they always do somthing stupid. Enough is enough! You gave an unproven quarterback and running back money just on hope and potential alone. Roddy has shown that he deserves this money. ARTHUR BLANK, STOP BEING STUPID AND PAY THIS MAN BEFORE HE WANTS TO LEAVE!!!
come on dont do that u havent even put in work like that u dropped a balll against arizona tightend up
Roddy White, this is your home-boy talking to you, you have modeled the mere image of humbleness since being drafted into the NFL. I read that, we live by what we do. Your life story will be made up of three main components. What do you say about yourself, what do others say about you, and what have you done? Roddy you’re a go-getter type of guy. Having made the Pro bowl, dude you’re quite naturally looked upon as a team leader, and leaders should be the mirror of the standard. Wise man told me that meakness isn’t weakness, it’s strength under control…Go hard #84…DB
Roddy will get his money. The front office had to sign Peria Jerry first and now they can worry about White’s extention. Bro I wish you would just go back out and practice. You are a big playmaker on the offense and the rookie corners could use you to teach them for this season. Nothing would be better for them than to go against a pro bowl WR.
yeah..roddy was one of my favorite falcons before this happened. go to wr’s are a dime a dozen, the only teams without one is tenn..and maybe baltimore, its just frustrating because he wont get a deal before week 1 so this will just all be a waste of time that he could be getting his timing down with the O in training camp.
All i would like to say is Roddy white is a good reciever but he is not a great reciever he is not a randy moss or larry fitzgerald.I mean roddy white has had 2 very bad years 1 good year an 1 pro bowl year.Out of 4 years roddy white has about 3,536 total reception yards and 16 td’s now when you put up the rec yards and td’s of other top recievers in their first 4 years in the NFL against roddy whites numbers white’s numbers do not stack up if he gets another pro bowl this season I would argue that he should get more money. I am a Falcon fan but when you have elite recivers like larry fitzgerald in his first 4 years putting up over 4,400 rec yds and over 25 td’s or randy moss in his first 4 years 5,396 rec yds and 53tds roddy white just needs to go to camp improve his game and become an elite reciever.
everyone that says play one more year and then get paid what if he has a career ending injury this season his rookie contract was for like 7 millon or so a pretty good reciever ends his career with 7 million id say pay me now too why not pay him now sorry mike jenkins and harry douglas are not 1s and 2s how can u say he isnt a moss or fitz he hasnt had brady or warner throw balls to him look at moss in oakland id take roddy over that all day and that was with some scrub qbs no better then oaklands roddy has a good attitude on and off the field
and everyone that says they want marshall over roddy go cheer for denver that guys a loser and boldin is good but he gets hurt alot and also had fitz on the other side might not be so hot when he is the number 1 and boldin will want alot of money too why not pay our man the money and look him up
Falcons need to get this done. This is Roddy White’s last year on his contract and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and we could loose him. Get him sign!!!!
I know we need roddy but come on people have you forget about brian finneran. He still has what it takes. All he needs is time to play. Look back at some of the catches he made before he hurt his knee. I think we need to give him more chances.
dude you guys gotta relax the falcons got room to make a deal with roddy, they just havent gotten it done yet. it’ll happen
Regargless Of All The Drops And Everything.. Roddy Is One Of The Best Players On Our Team.. He Lead The Nfl With Receiving Yards On 3rd Dwn Last Season.. I Still Think He Shud Still Show Up.. Hes Going To Get The Money Its Only A Matter Of Time.
this is typical training camp stuff.trust me when i tell u this will get worked out. roddy is an exceptional reciever, all he wants is the falcs to commit to him just as they want him to commit to them
@matt
regardless if roddy white had scrub qb’s throwing to him I have still seen roddy white drop alot of key passes I mean wide open key passes more than an top reciever in the nfl should.Don’t get me wrong roddy white is a good reciever I said he’s not a great reciever and if you go back with randy moss to his first 4 years in the nfl when he played with the vikings he put up almost 5,000 yds with Dante Culpepper as his qb and culpepper sucks Randy moss made him look better than he was.Roddy white should get paid but he may be asking for more than he is worth maybe thats why this deal has not gone thru yet.
Yea I agree but don’t need the distraction. This could have happend in private.@Ulysses Bernard
WOW you really dont have a clue do you? He needs to honor the contract he has already signed and worry about an extention later. Its the UNPROVEN QB that helped him get those numbers hes playing now. The UNPROVEN RB as well. He is very talented but needs to qiut pulling a T.O. move.@DRU
I hear you Rick, but the NFL is different from most pro sports contractually. The Falcons can cut White after a subpar season, even if it’s due to an injury he’s recooperating from, no matter how long his contract is . The Falcons should have offered an increase after his 2nd 1100 yard plus season, the first with 3 different QBs!!! I can’t knock him for trying to get the most he can, while he can still ask for it. Remember Rick, it is a business, and it can all be over in one play.