Big Lead Sports Bar

1/13/2009

UPDATED: SHADY IS UNDECIDED



In case you've forgotten, there's more going on in the Pittsburgh sports scene beyond our beloved Steelers. And one of the ongoing storylines of the past week continues to steam ahead, as Shady McCoy remains undecided about where he will play football next year:

It is the second time in four days that McCoy has delayed his decision and that has given the coaching staff at least a glimmer of hope that he is legitimately having second thoughts and might stay in school. According to a source close to the situation, McCoy is struggling with his decision because he is being pulled in a lot of different directions by many different people with conflicting agendas.

We've discussed this ad nauseam over the past few days, but it's clear that the lure of having a lot more money in his bank account this spring is dancing in his head. On the other hand, the bank account could potentially grow even bigger should he defer his decision to leave for one more year. Then again, something could happen during the course of the season (such as an injury) to make the payday shrink from where it's at right now.

It's a high-stakes decision, and there are a lot of people in this guy's ear: agents, advisors, coaches, teammates, and most of all, family. Shady needs to think about what's going to make him the happiest, because sometimes the obvious answer (money, money, mo-ney.....money!) isn't so obvious.

McCoy Again Weighing Options [PG]

Update:

A new report from KDKA based on sources close to McCoy say that Shady wants to stay, loves Pitt, and loves college life, but is being pressured to turn pro. The report describes McCoy as "an emotional wreck". Unfortunately, the situation sounds as tense and dramatic as I feared, given all the back-and-forth we've seen.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't it getting pretty common these days for these guys to get multi-million dollar insurance policies to cover them in case an injury prevents them from receiving a pro payday should they stay in school?

I remember seeing the story on ESPN a few years ago when Leinart decided to stay. His dad took out a policy, but wouldn't disclose it's value or premium. They got in depth with some other athletes who did the same and even a linebacker from Florida who actually received a payoff when he tore his ACL his senior year.

Chip said...

Man, I must be Nostradamus. This is what I posted in your last "Shady is undecided" post that kinda got buried over the weekend:

"I don't know Shady but I suspect he wants to stay but is being pressured by money grubbing relatives who see $$$$ and want the money now.

The sad thing is, I really don't think he's going to be a 1st round pick. Unless his combine numbers are just unreal, he's behind 4 other backs (at least). Meanwhile, if he has a good junior year at Pitt, he could easily be a top 10-15 pick in 2010.

So in this case his greedy relatives are probably costing him a good $4-5 million.