Star Chargers safety Eric Weddle's divorce from the Chargers cannot come soon enough.
After the team placed him on injured reserve -- despite his insistence that his groin injury was not serious -- and refused to give him a seat on the team's charter to Denver for the season finale, and fined him $10,000 for staying on the field at halftime to watch his daughter perform during a show with the team's cheerleaders, Weddle started fighting back.
On Thursday, that meant running sprints at full speed in front of reporters during the portion of practice open to the media. It is a violation of NFL rules to put a healthy player on injured reserve.
Per ESPN, the action elicited some remarks from teammates on the practice field.
"We made the decision on what we thought was best for the football team this week, with what his injury was, what his diagnosis was and when we thought he could play again and be at full speed to help our team," Chargers head coach Mike McCoy said. "That's the decision we made."
The decision to place Weddle on IR was made after an examination by the training staff.
It seems like the right move on Weddle's part. He is a lock to bring home a premiere contract in free agency and doesn't want prospective employers worried about an injury he doesn't feel he has. By all accounts, he seems to be doing alright.
At this point, with the inevitable separation coming, it might be best for the Chargers to get on the right side of this and simply thank Weddle for the player he was on the field. Five All-Pro nominations and three Pro Bowls since 2007 is an incredible accomplishment, and one that will be quite difficult to replicate once he's gone for good.
