Cortland Finnegan just sent out the following tweets:
"My absence had nothing to do with a holdout yet a personal matter that Titan officials were aware of. I am grateful for being a Titan. I am also thankful for my current contract and direction of team. It's obvious media had no idea of why my absence took place. I have spoken with coaches and teammates and will resume all things asked. Sad to see media made this out to be about money when I'm happy with all that has been given so forgive me Nashville for media making it seem that way. Media gets paid to report never knowing but one side of a story. My personal issues needed attention and I will be out there playing ball. Look forward to answering questions Tom at practice. Titans officials were aware of my absence but disappointed I was not there very different due to Personal matters. I am human. My absence had nothing to do with contract or holdout. I will resume all activities with team.. Very happy with current situation. Who and where did this all stem from.. Let me guess a tweet then Wyatt jumped to conclusions with no real story. Media gets paid to do a job. Being absence from a team function doesnt mean holdout or your unhappy. Family issues come up. I'm human thank you Nashville for understanding."
I'm not buying it. You can see my reaction after the jump.
Let me say, first off, I respect Finnegan's family matter, and I hope everything is okay with him and his family.
What I see happened is that he walked out without even informing his agent. His agent then scolded Finnegan and asked him what he was thinking, and then told him to write a statement to save his job. I don't think his agent had much input in this statement however. He says that "Titans officials were aware of my absence but disappointed I was not there due to personal matters". Hmm... Both Mike Munchak and Mike Reinfeldt seemed extremely surprised when asked why Finnegan wasn't there. “We’ve tried to call him, and we have not been able to get in touch with him, Reinfeldt said, "We were totally surprised he left camp.” You can watch the videos online. I think it's safe to say that Finnegan did not mention any sort of a personal situation. What would Munchak and Reinfeldt gain by lying? And if not the head coach and general manager, which Titans officials would you choose to notify?
It's also very low-blow to call out the media by name. First of all, Jim Wyatt didn't break the story, Jason Cole from Yahoo did. What exactly is the media supposed to do? Yes, the "media gets paid to do a job." Wyatt and Cole did their job, so I don't really see what Finnegan is trying to say there. If Finnegan was telling the truth, why would his agent not return The Tennessean's calls? If he felt this was a misreported situation, why did it take him so long to explain himself?
Finnegan did the same thing to me earlier. Blaming the media for misquoting you by misquoting what the media said? Not cool. Blaming the media is not a cure-all. It was reported that he wants to be traded, I imagine to a better, possibly big-market team. How would he handle the media in, say a New York or a Philadelphia? Blaming them like this would not work. Finnegan has said he wants to be a leader this year, and being a leader requires you to take responsibility for your actions.
So in my view, Finnegan should not immediately be forgiven for his absence. Then again, I am biased. I am willing to change my opinion after he answers some more questions tomorrow. But for now, nice try Finny. You've got some explaining to do.