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Porter reinstated to Raiders after serving 2 games of suspension
Jerry Porter was reinstated by the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday after the NFL and the players association agreed to cut his four-game suspension in half.
Porter was suspended Oct. 15 for insubordination a day after being kicked out of practice by coach Art Shell. The NFL Players Association appealed the suspension the following week, calling it "excessive."
Under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, union executive director Gene Upshaw and Harold Henderson, the NFL's executive vice president for labor relations can agree to settle the grievance without a hearing.
The two sides determined that a two-game suspension was warranted.
"We asked for four weeks. We got two," Shell said. "They decided two weeks was enough, so we move on. We live with that and we move on.
Porter was traveling back to the area and unavailable for comment. He was expected back at practice Thursday. The NFLPA declined to comment on the settlement.
Porter, Oakland's leading receiver a year ago, had been inactive the first four games before the suspension. Shell said he planned to talk to the receiver when he returned to the team but would not commit to using him in a game for the first time this season.
"He'll have to come back and work, abide by the rules and regulations that this team is under," Shell said. "Everybody on this team is under the same umbrella. We all have certain rules and guidelines that we have to abide by. I expect that he will do that. ... You can't have insubordination and those types things. They are uncalled for and won't be accepted."
Shell and Porter clashed almost immediately after the coach was hired in February over Porter's offseason workout plans. Porter made public a trade demand at the start of training camp and was inactive for the four games before the suspension.
Porter had been working with the scout team in practice before being kicked out following an argument with the coach on Oct. 14.
The Porter situation had led to some grumbling by players unhappy one of the team's best players wasn't being used. Oakland struggled offensively without Porter, losing its first five games before finally breaking through with a 22-9 victory last week against Arizona.
Defensive tackle Warren Sapp said he's happy to have Porter back but it won't really matter until he's activated for games.
"I like to have my second-best receiver out on the field, suited up and ready to make plays for me," Sapp said. "And that's not happening for whatever reason. But that's the one thing that, more than anything, would affect this ballclub, is him suiting up on Sunday."
Sapp said he's talked to Porter during the suspension and the receiver was ready to play for the team despite his earlier trade demands. The NFL trading deadline passed last week without the Raiders trading Porter.
Porter, in the second year of a five-year contract worth $20 million, was docked about $115,000 in pay for the two-game suspension.
"Anytime you get a situation where you're talking about taking food off a man's table, it's always good when you get some of it back," Sapp said. "But I mean, why not all of it back. It wasn't something that's never been done on a football field before, or anything that was egregious or anything like that."
Porter led the Raiders with 76 catches last season and had 942 yards receiving and five touchdown receptions in 2005.
Porter, a second-round pick out of West Virginia in 2000, has 239 catches for 3,215 yards and 24 touchdowns in six seasons with the Raiders. He has never reached 1,000 yards receiving in a season, missing the mark narrowly last season and with 998 yards in 2004.
"He comes to work every day," safety Jarrod Cooper said. 'He hasn't done anything wrong. You don't punish somebody for not doing anything wrong."
Source: AP
Porter was suspended Oct. 15 for insubordination a day after being kicked out of practice by coach Art Shell. The NFL Players Association appealed the suspension the following week, calling it "excessive."
Under the terms of the new collective bargaining agreement, union executive director Gene Upshaw and Harold Henderson, the NFL's executive vice president for labor relations can agree to settle the grievance without a hearing.
The two sides determined that a two-game suspension was warranted.
"We asked for four weeks. We got two," Shell said. "They decided two weeks was enough, so we move on. We live with that and we move on.
Porter was traveling back to the area and unavailable for comment. He was expected back at practice Thursday. The NFLPA declined to comment on the settlement.
Porter, Oakland's leading receiver a year ago, had been inactive the first four games before the suspension. Shell said he planned to talk to the receiver when he returned to the team but would not commit to using him in a game for the first time this season.
"He'll have to come back and work, abide by the rules and regulations that this team is under," Shell said. "Everybody on this team is under the same umbrella. We all have certain rules and guidelines that we have to abide by. I expect that he will do that. ... You can't have insubordination and those types things. They are uncalled for and won't be accepted."
Shell and Porter clashed almost immediately after the coach was hired in February over Porter's offseason workout plans. Porter made public a trade demand at the start of training camp and was inactive for the four games before the suspension.
Porter had been working with the scout team in practice before being kicked out following an argument with the coach on Oct. 14.
The Porter situation had led to some grumbling by players unhappy one of the team's best players wasn't being used. Oakland struggled offensively without Porter, losing its first five games before finally breaking through with a 22-9 victory last week against Arizona.
Defensive tackle Warren Sapp said he's happy to have Porter back but it won't really matter until he's activated for games.
"I like to have my second-best receiver out on the field, suited up and ready to make plays for me," Sapp said. "And that's not happening for whatever reason. But that's the one thing that, more than anything, would affect this ballclub, is him suiting up on Sunday."
Sapp said he's talked to Porter during the suspension and the receiver was ready to play for the team despite his earlier trade demands. The NFL trading deadline passed last week without the Raiders trading Porter.
Porter, in the second year of a five-year contract worth $20 million, was docked about $115,000 in pay for the two-game suspension.
"Anytime you get a situation where you're talking about taking food off a man's table, it's always good when you get some of it back," Sapp said. "But I mean, why not all of it back. It wasn't something that's never been done on a football field before, or anything that was egregious or anything like that."
Porter led the Raiders with 76 catches last season and had 942 yards receiving and five touchdown receptions in 2005.
Porter, a second-round pick out of West Virginia in 2000, has 239 catches for 3,215 yards and 24 touchdowns in six seasons with the Raiders. He has never reached 1,000 yards receiving in a season, missing the mark narrowly last season and with 998 yards in 2004.
"He comes to work every day," safety Jarrod Cooper said. 'He hasn't done anything wrong. You don't punish somebody for not doing anything wrong."
Source: AP