PHILADELPHIA -- Brian Westbrook has all the numbers on the
field that Oakland's LaMont Jordan has never come close to
matching.
What irks Westbrook, Philadelphia's Pro Bowl running back, is
how those stats haven't translated into the numbers he's really
aiming for: a nice fat contract like the one Jordan has.
While Jordan parlayed a career reserve role with the New York
Jets into a a five-year, $27.5 million contract with the Raiders,
Westbrook stews that his Pro Bowl season merited him only a
one-year, $1.43 million deal from the Eagles.
While Westbrook still wants a long-term deal from the Eagles,
he's not going to place any added emphasis on outperforming Jordan
when their respective teams play each other Sunday.
"I don't think I'm going to measure my performance comparing
what I do compared to what he does," Westbrook said Thursday.
One game won't matter, though. All Westbrook has to do is look
at the career numbers to show he deserves a comparable contract
(even if the Eagles aren't listening).
Jordan never started at running back in 62 career games with the
New York Jets. He never rushed for more than 479 yards or four
touchdowns in a season. He's never caught more than 17 passes in
four full seasons.
Jordan was a career backup, never asked to carry an offense,
catch the ball out of the backfield or become an explosive player
other teams have to scheme around.
Westbrook developed into one of the top all-purpose backs,
returning punts and often serving as one of the first looks in a
premier offense that relies more on the passing game.
"We have different styles," Westbrook said. "It's hard to
compare what he does for their offense to what I do for this
offense."
The versatile Westbrook is coming off a breakout season in which
he led the team with 1,515 total yards and was tops among NFL
running backs with 73 catches for 703 yards and six touchdowns,
despite sitting out the last two regular-season games.
This year, Westbrook has two TD catches and rushed for 136 yards
on only 27 carries. Because Westbrook is asked to do so much else,
he doesn't put up the consistent 100-yard games like the other star
backs, which he feels affects his value.
"That's one of the things we were having trouble with in my
contract negotiations," he said. "How do you rate a player that
runs the ball only 15 times a game to a player that runs the ball
20 times a game and doesn't catch any passes?"
When Westbrook skipped a week of training camp to protest his
unhappiness with the contract talks, Jordan's contract was often
cited as the one Westbrook was trying to get matched.
The Eagles refused to bite. In coach Andy Reid's pass-first West
Coast offense, Westbrook simply isn't going to carry the ball
20-plus times a game, making milestones and multi-millions
difficult to reach.
"It's difficult, but as a professional you just know that every
chance you get you've got to make the most of it," Westbrook said.
"If it's 10 carries a game or 12 carries a game, you've got to try
and get the most amount of yards in those carries. If you catch the
ball out of the backfield, you've got to make the most amount of
yards out of those catches, as well."
A third-round pick out of Villanova in 2002, Westbrook has never
been happy with his contract, calling his rookie deal "chump
change." Still, he says he's put the dispute behind him -- even
though Jordan's presence serves as a harsh reminder of the money
he's not getting.
"It's still not my No. 1 concern like it was before. I still
think about it, though, from time to time," Westbrook said. "I'm
not as concerned about it as I was before. It's still in the back
of my head. It's still my life, my future."