| | By John Clayton
ESPN.com
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Money doesn't solve everything. Antonio Freeman held out 15 days last summer to make the point that he's a $6 million receiver. Finally, the Packers consented.
Life in the penthouse wasn't as pleasant as he expected. The bitterness
of having to fight for his riches left Freeman much less than being a $6
million receiver. He had 74 catches for 1,074 yards and six touchdowns. With Brett Favre at quarterback, those aren't $6 million receiving numbers.
|  | | Antonio Freeman is ready to fulfill the expectations from last year's contract. |
Freeman was in a free fall.
"I look at last year and the first thing I think about was my
holdout," Freeman said. "I look back at the bitterness I had sitting at
home, wondering if I was going to get a deal I should get. I was feeling
salty."
He apparently didn't come in salty from perspiration of overdoing
his conditioning workouts.
"I don't think I prepared as hard as I could to be the best
player," Freeman said. "I definitely didn't come in the best shape I could
have come in. I think a lot of it was attitude. It took me a while to get in
the swing of things. With my body not being well-conditioned, I had those
nagging injuries through the year."
The humble Freeman, who began his career as a quiet third-round
choice, reported to camp in better shape and with a better attitude. So did
halfback Dorsey Levens, who held out into the season in 1998.
Success has its price and the Packers offense definitely paid. Reaching contract agreements with its two best skilled players
ruined two seasons.
Quarterback Brett Favre is optimistic because this is the
first time since the Super Bowl years he has Levens and Freeman in camp
together from the start.
|
“ |
I
don't think I prepared as hard as I could to be the
best player. I definitely didn't come in the best shape I could have come in. I think a lot
of it was attitude. ” |
|
|
— Antonio Freeman, Packers wide receiver |
"We are all together," Favre said. "Mark Chmura isn't here. But
at least we are starting from scratch. It's not Chewie getting hurt the
first game and we have to adjust. We are all together. We are ready to go."
Said Freeman: "Look at Dorsey Levens coming in the second game and
then getting hurt and he's out for 10 weeks. I'm glad we are all in
together. This year, my weight is under control. I don't have any overhead
right now. I feel real good about myself."
Freeman hated himself and his situation last season. He didn't like
his switch from split end to flanker. The job got worse when Chmura suffered
injuries.
"You take Chmura out of the equation and defenses would roll their
coverages to me," Freeman said.
First-round choice Bubba Franks can help the cause if he settles
into the offense quickly and becomes a big threat down the middle. The
quicker he does that, the quicker Freeman will forget about last year's
nightmarish season.
"Last year was a wakeup call for us," he said.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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