First AJ comment

:"Although neither side will discuss specifics of the offer, it is known the Texans were willing to payRobinson like Carolina cornerback Chris Gamble." ... John McClain, Feb. 20http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/6273910.htmlMcClain went further on the radio and said that the offer exceeded Gamble's (in guaranteed money).I'm sure I wasn't the only one that heard it. p.s., Don't get fixated on total value. This isn't baseball. Report the guaranteed money and the years.Posted by: aj at April 3, 2009 07:37 PM

Richard Justice reply

: The devil is in the details, my friend. I've been around NFL negotiations long enough to know there's a front side and a back side to the contracts. One side can spin an offer tobe worth one amount, the other side another amount. I don't trust anyone's reporting except my ownon this. In Washington, Charley Casserly twice leaked me numbers that were lies. When I printed different numbers in the newspaper, he never objected. I don't believe Dunta Robinson would haveturned down Chris Gamble's contract, but I'm telling you I don't have the numbers nailed down. I'mnot going to guess or say I've got numbers in the neighborhood. At some point, I'll get the numbersand give them to you. It'll be interesting to see how it plays out. All I'm certain of is that Rick Smithhasn't handled this deal well. He told the player one thing and then did another.--Richard

Second AJ comment

:Gee, I didn't realize we were friends...I don't even know you. Along with others, I was just letting youin on what your co-worker had previously reported about Dunta's offer.

Richard Justice reply

: We're not friends. People like me don't befriend people like you. You havea column, right? You're a professional journalist, right? I'm more interested in what your reporting has come up with. Oh that's right, you haven't done any reporting. You steal from others and presume it's correct. Let me give you a basic journalism lesson, junior. Get out of your mother'sbasement and do some work of your own. If the only source you've got is someone else's work, then you should try another line of work. You people.--Richard

A comment from another commenter on Justice’s above reply:

Wow, I never thought I'd see a professional throw such a tantrum. I generally don't like or agree withyour Texans writing, but every once in a while you've got something good. And then your pompous,12-year-old-in-a-sandbox nature comes out and I question why I come back to read it.I get that you don't answer every post, but I would assume that you would at least limit your responses to things you can be professional about.I think you need to take a page out of John McClain's book. He isn't always nice, he isn't even alwaysfriendly in his blogs, but he's never been actively hostile to people like this. I wish the Chronicle hadhigher standards, and you should be ashamed of yourself for not having them, either.

Richard Justice reply

Be sure to sign up to follow me on Twitter. You'll like me better there. That'swhere my real personality comes out. I'm really a nice guy. I can't believe you wouldn't like my football stuff. I believe the building of a good team begins in three areas: O-line, D-line and QB.You don't believe in that? I'm sorry, but you sound a little peculiar. Anyway, I'm sorry for myoffensive and inappropriate language. If a young man is forced to sit in his mother's basement and surf the Net all day, it's probably because he's unemployed, and unemployment is no laughing matter. I should be ashamed of myself. Hey, what's the deal with announcing you're Mormon? Just between us, that's a little too much information. While we're breaking things down, the Astros have14 white folks, 7 Latinos, 3 African Americans and 1 Japanese on their 25-man roster. I know someof you keep up with that stuff. You're the ones that write in whenever I write about race to say you'recolor blind, but why aren't there more white boys in the NBA? You're the same ones that fought integration, not because you're racist, but because you thought it was a states-right issue. I wasraised a Presbyterian, but it's too hard to spell. I'm sure Mormonism is a nice religion and all, but I'm just not curious about your beliefs, that is, unless you think a baseball team can have too much pitching or Rick Smith is competent. At that point, you're in my wheel house, and I won't be nice to you, either.–Richard

Third AJ comment

: No, actually I'm not a professional journalist. I don't have a credential and can't get one. I do whatI do in my spare time because of the lousy local coverage we get for the Texans. To use a PaulKuharsyism, I cover the coverage, which at times (like this) is brutal at best.So let's sum up here. First you said the only guaranteed money in the NFL is signing bonus, whichis not correct. Then you said no one had reported that Dunta had received Gamble money - whichwas wrong. Now you throw jr. high girl-like hissy fits and insults my way for some reason.... yep,Houston sure is lucky to have 'journalists' like you.

Richard Justice reply

The signing bonus is the only guaranteed money. Now the first-year salaryand sometimes second-year salary can be represented as guaranteed money because of the salarycap hit, but it's not written into the contract as guarantee money. So you're wrong about that.Second, no one has reported the Texans' offer to Dunta Robinson. I've seen ''in the neighborhood of,'' but that doesn't tell you what the offer is. NFL contracts are complicated documents. The publicly reported figure frequently isn't accurate. I know agents that love leaking numbers toreporters when the actual value is far different. They're not lying exactly. They're spinning. Third, you represent yourself as a journalist, but you don't actually do any work other than read what others have and comment on it. Pretty good gig.--Richard