Thread: Give Campbell a little more respect

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shu...rn=nfl-wp10138

Jason Campbell found out about Palmer trade via television

Because nobody from the Oakland Raiders bothered to tell him about it, Jason Campbell(notes) found out the team traded for Carson Palmer(notes) while watching television.
The Raiders starter, who broke his collarbone during Oakland's Week 6 victory, learned of the blockbuster trade on Tuesday while recovering from surgery. He didn't speak with Raiders coach Hue Jackson until Friday.
Campbell told 95.7 FM in Oakland of finding out about his replacement:
"I was halfway still on pain medicine. It was kind of a moment of silence. My fiancée looked at me to see if I was gonna say something. There's different things that go through your mind but you don't want to fill your mind with those thoughts."
"I started receiving these text messages and everything about, you know, 'Hey what's going on?' and 'There's been a trade' and everything, and 'They've just given up a first round.'" [...]
"As a player in this league, you can't worry about the things that go on from a business side of it, the political side of it. You know what you're worth, you know what you've done to help the franchise you've got here, put us in the position we're in now."
Campbell handled the situation with the optimistic weariness he's had to show countless times during his football career. It's not so much the lack of instant communication about Palmer that's bothersome. I can understand that. Stories like that get broken in real-time by reporters and there may not be enough time to stop and think, "oh, somebody should call Jason." But Jackson waiting until Friday to talk to his quarterback? Unless there's some other explanation for it, that seems lack a slap in the face.
The Raiders may not owe Campbell anything more than a paycheck. He deserved a little more respect.