When the free-agency period opened in the NFL last week, the biggest name on the market was Albert Haynesworth. Last season for the Titans, Haynesworth went to his second straight Pro Bowl on the strength of 8½ sacks in 14 games.
Not bad, but not exactly Reggie White, either.
Meanwhile, in eight NFL seasons, Haynesworth has never played in 16 games and his Tennessee Titans teams have gone to the playoffs four times with high water mark an appearance in the 2002 AFC Championship game.
Again, good. Not spectacular.
Most notably, though, Haynesworth is best known for his violent acts on the field as opposed to his work as a defensive tackle. In 2006 he was suspended for ripping off the helmet of a Dallas Cowboys player so he could dish out a more violent stomping.
The victim, Andre Gurode, received 30 stitches near his right eye as well as blurred vision and headaches that lasted a month.
The bad behavior continued in 2008 when Haynesworth was fined for slamming running back Maurice Jones-Drew to the ground. That incident occurred after a training camp outburst in which Haynesworth kicked teammate Justin Hartwig in the chest before teammates could rush in to hold him back from dishing out more violence.
Nice guy, huh?
The icing on the cake was a warrant for Haynesworth's arrest in 2006 stemming from a traffic incident in Tennessee. The charges in the case were tossed by a judge because of a technicality.
So yeah, Haynesworth certainly has put his name out there for all to see. Though hardly the NFL's most well-known player or even its most notorious, Haynesworth apparently is talented enough on the field for the Washington Redskins - a team that charges its fans for parking and admission to summer training camp sessions - to sign him to a $100 million contract in which a league-record $41 million is guaranteed.
In other words, Haynesworth just might have received the best contract in the history of the NFL. He could go out and get injured tomorrow and still have $41 million on the way.
Top that, Power Ball.