Eddie Johnson might still be on D.C. United’s roster, but probably not for much longer.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that MLS has voided Johnson’s contract due to the forward’s current heart ailments. Johnson has yet to play this season due to athletic heart syndrome, a heart condition that will reportedly signal the end of his career.
“A lot of people are looking after Eddie and trying to figure out what’s the next move for him. It’s never easy,” D.C. United head coach Ben Olsen told The Washington Post. “What’s next in an athlete’s life? It’s a tough thing for people to feel sorry about sometimes because athletes make money, but the reality is, when they stop playing soccer, there is a real adjustment.”
The decision to void Johnson’s contract was reportedly made by MLS, freeing up a roster spot, Designated Player slot, and the $436,250 that counted against the cap for D.C. United.
The club was reportedly unaware of Johnson’s ailments prior to signing him and they were only discovered before last year’s playoff series with the New York Red Bulls.
Johnson scored seven goals in 22 games in 2014 with D.C. United, his first season with the club after previously featuring for the Seattle Sounders for two years. He nearly signed a deal with Puebla prior to that, but the Liga MX side chose not to sign him after deeming him not fit enough.
What do you make of the report regarding Johnson’s contract? What do you expect D.C. to do with the extra spot and money?
Share your thoughts below
Isn’t there a difference — legal and/or moral — between job-related injuries and medical conditions like this one? It seems really unfair to void a contract or cut a player because of an on-field injury, but I have a harder time blaming a team if they do he same thing because the player is simply unable to perform due to his own medical issues.
Of course it’s different. And since no one here has any clue what’s in his contract, or what a voided contract technically means in MLS, all this speculation is utterly ridiculous.
I think EJ knew about this for a while, which is why he started asking for money in Seattle. He wanted to stick around long enough try to play in the World Cup and pick up one last big paycheck. He didn’t make the World Cup squad but he did get a DP contract, and so after a few games this year he quit and voided the contract (getting to keep a good sum from it). I don’t blame him, there’s not much else he can do at this point to make money.
Now MLS is equally evil as NCAA.
For such communist/socialist system: rather dirt bag move for MLS.
Payoff Johnson take him out D.C.’s salary cap.
This stinks. I promise only ever to pirate MLS games, even if their on public networks
Are we sure he isn’t still getting paid? The article says he DC is still responsible for $200k. Maybe voiding the contract just allows DC to use the salary cap space and DP spot?
The article you are referring to is the linked article, and I don’t think many people went to it. But yes, it looks like he is still getting paid, at lease some of it. I do know that DC does now have that money to use, and the DP slot if they want it – not that it’s that big a deal, it was the only one of three they were using anyway.
One of two, Espi’s a DP this year.
And the league didn’t void this deal without being pretty sure they could prove at least bad faith.
What? No discount for the 6 games he missed?
Get well GAM.
One the best moments I remember with EJ was him coming into a Nat team game and my son saying, sweet they are putting Eddie in on a corner. He will score. Of course he did. He was a beast in the air, as close to unstoppable as you can get in a defensive sport like soccer.
Thats why get your dollars while you can. Loyalty to team is all fine and dandy when you are fit and needed, and thats just the reality of the game. When you have a career ending issue, or get older, the team will do what is in it’s best interest. So when you are IN DEMAND do what is in YOUR best interest…..Nyugen I hope you are listening buddy
that is not always true. Holden for instance. Bolton is doing everything they can to do right by him and then some. I think it has alot to do with who you are as a person, and the teams you choose to sign on with. There is so much more than just the money to consider when you change teams.
Holden is that one in a million case……
Regardless of how EJ represented himself when he was younger I feel compassion for him and his family. This is a tough, tough turn of events. I pray that he will see this as a new beginning rather than an end.
We don’t have all the information to judge the situation– Players may get some sort of disability insurance or career transition assistance from the league (it’s not like he’s hindered from working as almost anything, except pro athlete, he just had to retire a few years early). “Voiding” the contract as far as freeing DC up might not mean the league is cutting him off immediately from all income. It’s even possible Johnson himself had some idea about his physical issues and hid them. We just don’t know.
I hate to see any player have to leave the game not on their own terms. Johnson was an interesting player. I pulled for him when he started to make a name for himself in MLS and with the Nats. But when he got that big contract with KC you saw his attitude change. There was a pretty revealing article in SI about him. Then not making it in Europe set him back (not financially). He did well in Seattle and I was surprised they sent him to DC. But didn’t he want more money again? I didn’t follow that too closely. When he left I started pulling for him, wanting to see him do well. Bummed for him and hope he gets the medical care he needs to live a long, healthy life.
He did want more money, and he got it. Somewhere between $600 and $800K per season. I’ve seen different numbers reported, it’s always tough to figure out actual MLS salaries.
Every sport is different when it comes to injuries. MLB has it the best for players as all contracts are guaranteed for their entirety, same with the NBA. NFL contracts can be terminated by a team so the only guarnteed money is the signing bonus. Not sure about MLS, that’s pretty bad deal for the players if a contract can be voided at any time with no compensation but with a weak union it wouldn’t surprise me.
I am glad a team is putting a players health first, it would be sad if he got worse and died during game. Recently in CA a child died playing pe so I’m a glad a league put them first others sports need to follow ex.
Plenty of teams cut their players and not pay them and “support” their recoveries….just not financially
name them
LA Galaxy is paying for Bryan Jordan’s physical rehab…
Wow! Thats low. Thats why every player absolutely has to push for every extra dollar.
thats heartless!
It says they VOIDED his contract. So not only can he no longer play soccer, but he doesn’t even get paid out on his Contract? That is a rough week. Is this normal for soccer contracts and injuries?
It is common in any contract for a professional in athletics (Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, etc…). Most professional sportsmen insure themselves against career ending injuries or health conditions in order to recoup at least a portion of the potential earnings they would lose. Case in point about 10 years ago a University of Miami running back insured his legs just before a Bowl Game as he was being projected as a top 10 NFL draft pick.
The alternative would be allowing a player with a known health condition play out their contract and potentially die on the field/practice. This would open the club/owners/coach/doctor, etc. to a civil suit for wrongful death.
This stuff only happens in North America. The NFL specifically.
Its heartless, its immoral and just relentless.
I understand the draft pick that never played for your team and gets injured but for the veteran who was part of changing your club from last in the league to one of the top teams is heartless.
I hope they give him something where he’s at least able to support his family for this year and next.
Tooshway, You are sure Eddie didn’t request this?
Because if I was insured and had money coming and knew I was never going to play again, I would.
haha, yeah right!
That’s a good point, T. In a typical blue-collar or white-collar job, you can’t get paid disability insurance money if you’re still getting paid by your employer. So, maybe there’s a similar thing here. In any case, hope he’s OK physically and financially and had after-soccer plans already lined up.
only happens in the NFL where there aren’t guaranteed contracts. Never ever ever happens in soccer. MLS is soccer not American football.
MLB has guaranteed contracts so doesn’t happen there
Exactly. In MLB, pretty much unless a player formally retires, the team is on the hook for that player’s salary no matter what. It’s why the Mets were stuck paying Mo Vaughan for like 3 years even after he stopped playing due a knee injury (and too many doughnuts).
Normally it’s the team (or in this case the league) that takes out insurance. The player might take out insurance to protect him with respect to future earnings in the event of an injury like this but not for the contract itself.
If it’s a pre-existing condition, voiding isn’t unheard of, especially if he knew about it.
Remains unclear whether there was a settlement or not. The report doesn’t make that clear, but there is some language that suggests he will be paid something.
Is Athletic Heart Syndrome similar or the same as “athletes heart”. Athletes heart is a NORMAL occurrence that affects most endurance athletes. I was diagnosed with it years ago when I was a competitive cyclist. It’s simply an enlarged heart due to increases in aerobic capacity. It recedes after de-training, but not back to the original size. It is not the same as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, an enlarged heart due to disease.
In fact if you were to look for this same syndrome in the rest of the MLS player, you would find the same syndrome in the MAJORITY OF MLS players.
In short Athletes Heart is not dangerous, it even may be advantageous to aerobic athletes.
The way this is being handled is very poorly. You do not end a career on soly Atheletes heart unless it manifest itself in other physical problems.
In fact after my cycling career ended (due to finishing college and after a few years getting a real job) I was once denied a job position, as the physician handling my pre-employment physical, misdiagnosed my “athletes heart syndrome” as a cardiac myopathy/., ie hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. I filed suit after being denied the position and in discovery the physician admitted his mistake, after reading up on it. A brief filed on my behald by several doctor at the Colorado Spring Olympic Trainig Center all concluded the the enlargement was NOT a diseas, nor a sympton of a disease, but a natural occurance with highly trained athletes. The case never went to tral as I received a nice settlement, but the case was ealed and nor published. One outcome was that doctors who look at odd or irregular hear symptom must also look at other facts, such asking him, if he was an endurance athelete and perform some more tests.
Want more info:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1829849
10 Reasons Why a Large “Athlete’s Heart” is Usually Not Dangerous
In closing, I feel that there is more here that just an “athlete heart syndrome” case. as I do not believe the MLS could be as stupid or silly to believe that this is a serious career ending medical condition.
PS. I competed for 4 more years after being diagnosed with AHS as a competitive cyclist, including a year long period in France, where I was even offered a pro contract, and my AHS was never considered by anyone to be harmful, as most cyclist I knew at the elite level had an the same condition
http://www.evidencemag.com/athletes-heart-2
10 Reasons Why a Large “Athlete’s Heart” is Usually Not Dangerous
Yup, I’m sure you know more about EJ’s condition than he, or the DC United medical staff, does.
Let’s talk about Nguyen’s contract now.