皮特·肯德尔（Pete Kendall）单膝跪在场地边，左手撑住下颌，远离他的队友，目光看向场外。

　　在纽约喷气机队一线进攻组练习时，这位进攻内锋没有出现在其中。由于合约纠纷，肯德尔已经向喷气机队提出了将他交易出去或者与他解约的申请。在早上训练结束后，他和媒体谈了20多分钟，其间无不透露了自己的沮丧和不满：“我的处境非常糟，我很郁闷。”如果肯德尔如愿，他将不会再呆多久了。

　　肯德尔有着12年的职业生涯，下个月就将34岁，他希望2007赛季的薪水能大幅度提高，但是喷气机队并不同意，因为他在去年就已经续签了一份为期4年的合同。他说：“我不想在这儿赢得一场口水仗，我只求能够得到合理的报酬。”

　　肯德尔由于上赛季指导新秀线卫德布里卡肖·法古森（D'Brickashaw Ferguson）和尼克·曼戈德（Nick Mangold）而得到教练埃里克·曼吉尼（Eric Mangini）的赞赏。他同时可以胜任多个位置，可以丰富球队的战术体系。另外，由于率直的性格，他也受到了队友的喜爱和媒体的欢迎。

　　这些天，肯德尔偶尔和一线进攻组练习，但是当他被降到二队时，他的位置常常被左护锋阿德里安·克拉克（Adrien Clarke）取代。

　　"这很尴尬，现在我在这里过得不开心。我猜球队里也有人不高我还留在队里。这实在太难堪了，我想现在我就是个二线队员了。"显然，肯德尔相信自己在NFL依旧是首发球员，而薪水也要按这个标准，“我认为以我的表现、我的作用理应得到高层的重新考虑。”

　　因此赛季间歇期，肯德尔和他的经纪人尼尔·施瓦兹（Neil Schwartz）开始与球队、曼吉尼教练、以及喷气机队的总经理迈克·泰伦鲍姆（Mike Tannenbaum）接触，告诉他们他想要更多的薪酬。“两个礼拜前，我和泰伦鲍姆谈过一次。”肯德尔说，“我告诉他我的要求并不是不合理的，他也认同我的薪酬过低。我觉得我们已经达成一致，只不过还没有签合同。”

　　但是，事实上却没有那么简单。“现在的情况让我烦心，麻烦不断。我在选秀前给埃里克（曼吉尼教练）打过电话，现在仍在等他的回电。我不知道怎么办了。他找过我的经纪人，我的经纪人让他直接打我电话，不过，我至今没得到回电。”

　　事实上，肯德尔在6月14号的晚上接到了曼吉尼的电话，不过，这通气氛紧张的电话只打了几秒钟。肯德尔说：“他想知道事情怎么会到了今天的地步。”而被问及此事，曼吉尼本人不愿再提，他说：“我和球员们的会谈都是内部事务。”

　　而球队经理泰伦鲍姆谈起肯德尔则是赞不绝口，并且表明经纪人施瓦兹代理的另一名球员--首轮被挑中的新秀达雷尔·里弗斯（Darrelle Revis）与此事无关。

　　谈到肯德尔时，泰伦鲍姆说：“我很尊重他，他为球队效力也有三年了，而且表现出色。他曾经帮助克蒂斯·马丁（Curtis Martin）当选冲球王。上个赛季他表现相当不错，对此我毫不意外。”

　　其实上赛季开始前，喷气机队曾经想弃用肯德尔，但给了他寻找下家的机会。不过由于其他球队开出的条件不理想，肯德尔选择了与老东家续约4年而不是1年。“我认为各方在去年已经达成共识，我的合同是一份1年期的合同。埃里克仍然对我在队中的位置存有严重的保留态度，但我们能达成一致。”肯德尔无奈地表示。

　　泰伦鲍姆则对现在的状况轻描淡写，并表示球队不会交换肯德尔：“去年，他签了一份在当时他觉得不错的合同，而且各方都对合同很满意。而且他现在正在参加我们的强制迷你营的训练。”

　　“世事无绝对，我也不能说双方无法再和解了，但目前看来我别无选择。”肯德尔说，“当我被告知我的要求是合理的、薪酬是过低的，我不知道还能说些什么了。”

原文

HEMPSTEAD， N.Y. (June 14， 2007) —— Pete Kendall was down on one knee on the sideline away from the rest of his teammates， his left hand cupping his chin as he stared out at the field.

The New York Jets' first-team offense ran through drills while the veteran offensive lineman barely appeared to be a part of the team. If Kendall gets his wish， he won't be for much longer.

Kendall has asked the Jets to trade or release him because of a bitter contract dispute， and his frustration and anger were clear as he spoke to the media for more than 20 minutes after the morning practice at veteran minicamp.

"My situation's just become a circus，" Kendall said. "I'm very unhappy."

Kendall， a 12-year veteran and an offensive co-captain who'll be 34 next month， is looking for a big raise on his 2007 salary， but the Jets haven't budged. That's because he re-negotiated his contract last year， signing a four-year deal.

"I'm not here to win a spitting contest，" Kendall said. "I just want to be fairly compensated."

Kendall was praised throughout last season by coach Eric Mangini for mentoring rookie linemen D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold. Kendall also adds versatility on the line and can play a number of positions. He's also well liked by his teammates as well as the media， in particular for his candidness.

On this day， Kendall occasionally practiced with the first-team offense， but was regularly replaced by Adrien Clarke at left guard while he was relegated to second-team work.

"It's awkward. I'm not happy to be here，" he said. "I suspect there are people in the organization who aren't happy that I'm here. It's very awkward. I guess now I'm second team."

Kendall， obviously， believes he is still a starter in the NFL —— and deserves to be paid that way.

"I think my play and my performance and my contributions warranted reconsideration，" Kendall said.

So Kendall and his agent， Neil Schwartz， approached the Jets， Mangini and general manager Mike Tannenbaum in the offseason and told them he wanted more money.

"I had a conversation with Mike Tannenbaum two weeks ago，" Kendall said. "I said what I'm asking for is not unreasonable， and he agrees that I'm underpaid. I think we have an agreement， we just don't have a contract."

What they do have， though， is lots of hard feelings.

"The situation bothers me，" Kendall said. "It's just one thing after another. I placed a phone call to Eric right before the draft and I'm still waiting for a return phone call. I don't know how to take that. He talked to my agent， and my agent told him， 'Call Pete.' I still haven't gotten a phone call back. I guess you take it for what it is."

Kendall actually did receive a call from Mangini sometime the night of June 14， but he said it lasted only seconds and was far from friendly.

"All I know is he wanted to know how this was going to go down today，" Kendall said.

Mangini quickly brushed off questions about that conversation.

"All meetings that I have with the players are really internal meetings，" Mangini said. "That's not just this meeting. It's really all meetings."

Tannenbaum was complimentary of Kendall， and said the fact Schwartz represents first-round pick Darrelle Revis has no bearing on this situation.

"I have all the respect in the world for him，" Tannenbaum said of Kendall. "He's played for this organization for three years， came in and played at a high level. He helped Curtis Martin to a rushing title， he played hurt the next year when we were 4-12. Last year， he played well， which did not surprise me."

Before last season， the Jets were set to cut Kendall， but gave him the chance to shop himself around to find a new deal with another team. When the offers were not as good as New York's， Kendall chose to sign a four-year deal —— not a one-year contract —— with the Jets.

"I think all parties went into last year with the understanding that it was a one-year deal，" Kendall said. "Eric had serious reservations about keeping me on the team， but we were able to come to an agreement."

Tannenbaum downplayed the situation， and added that the Jets are not trying to trade Kendall.

"Last year， he signed a contract he felt comfortable with at the time and that was a good one in everyone's interest，" Tannenbaum said. "And he's here at a mandatory minicamp."

But for how long？ Kendall didn't participate in voluntary OTAs during the past few weeks， saying he was working on a continuing-education program. As for training camp next month， Kendall isn't sure if he'll be there.

"You never say never and I wouldn't say the bridge has been totally burned， but it doesn't seem like there's any room to give，" he said. "When I'm told that my request is reasonable and there's agreement that I'm underpaid， I don't know what else to say."