By the way, the overpayment occurred nineteen months ago.
Okay, let's stop this right here and lay out the facts:
1) Brian Westbrook is a great player, and arguably the most valuable player on the team.
2) That team is paying him millions to play sixteen football games, per the contract that he voluntarily signed. Whether he thinks that he is still underpaid, and therefore "disrespected and undervalued", is irrelevant. That's why God made contracts.
3) The overpaid money places the team in violation of NFL rules, and could result in significant penalties, such as loss of salary-cap room or draft picks. His teammates and coaches have every right to be disgusted with his behavior, for they are being adversely affected.
4) Negotiations involving the Eagles, Westbrook and his agent, and executives from both the NFL and the NFL Players Association are ongoing. The parties thought they had reached an agreement on re-payment, yet Westbrook inexplicably walked away, refusing to sign the document.
5) Most important, though, is that Brian Westbrook is, without a doubt, committing a crime. He is guilty of theft by taking, and should be held accountable. Special treatment because he is a celebrity athlete sends a horrible message to fans, other players, and children. A criminal act is a criminal act, period.
If you walk into a bank to withdraw fifty dollars, and they mistakenly give you one hundred fifty dollars, you are guilty of theft by taking the moment you realize the overpayment and don't return the money. What is there to negotiate? To the Eagles' credit, they are now withholding Westbrook's weekly paycheck, but that misses the larger point. Why didn't he repay the bonus immediately?
Is his problem that he spent the money? That's not the Eagles' problem, but if that were the case, then coming clean and arranging a payment schedule would be the honorable thing to do. But that's not what's happening.
To be fair, approximately 1.3 million dollars was withheld for taxes, so Westbrook has to petition the tax authorities to recoup that money. Since it was the Eagles' accounting error, no interest should be required on that sum. However, the remaining 1.7 million should have been repaid immediately. The fact that Westbrook refuses is reprehensible, so he should be charged two ways. The Eagles should charge him an interest rate on the unpaid balance, and law enforcement should charge him with a crime.
Most professional athletes are not the arrogant and greedy players that they are generalized to be. But all it takes is one situation like this to make all of them look bad, reinforcing the public's negative image of "millionaire" athletes.
What I can't understand is why the Eagles are allowing this situation to drag out, failing to leverage the upper hand that they clearly have. Why is he playing, and why is he still allowed to remain a member of the team? Why haven't the authorities been brought into the matter? No matter how good he is with a football, his actions have undoubtedly caused harm to the team, setting back the struggling franchise even more.
He has shown his true colors, preferring "money green" to "Eagles green". Westbrook is not reliable nor is he trustworthy, and no matter what happens from this point, that label is irreparable. Who wants a teammate who cares solely about himself? By definition, that isn't being a "teammate" at all. Anyone who places more importance on illegally begotten money than winning football games doesn't belong on that team, period. While football is big business, it's also about sportsmanship, team camaraderie, and leadership. Brian Westbrook fails on all counts.
If Westbrook's actions aren't in violation of the standard "moral turpitude" clause in athlete's contracts, I don't know what would qualify. Here's hoping that the Eagles have the courage and fortitude, so lacking in professional sports, to do the right thing.
Solve the problem. Punt Brian Westbrook.
