Like a number of NFL players, DeMarcus Ware is eligible to receive $60,000 in lockout payments over the next six weeks. The Dallas Cowboys All-Pro won't be cashing the checks, however.
The star linebacker said he feels the money could be better used by players who will need it more. Ware is in the middle of a contract that will pay him $40 million guaranteed.
"I think it builds a unity," Ware told ESPN Dallas. "[It] lets guys know there are players out there with you, who will give up their $60,000, that this is a brotherhood, this is a fraternity."
The lockout fund was created through union dues and is eligible to every player who was on an active roster for the entire 2009 and 2010 NFL seasons. The $60,000 payout is set to come during a six-week period of the lockout.
It's easy to sit back from afar and say that Ware made the easy decision. After all, what's $60,000 to a guy who recently signed a $79 million contract? I don't see it that way. Ware earned that money and nobody would have begrudged him if he took it. There's something uplifting about the fact that he passed up the payment. The lockout has been defined by greed and here's somebody looking past that, however symbolically.
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Shutdown Corner is an NFL blog edited by Matthew J. Darnell. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.
