April 1, 2009

I’m sitting around my new house waiting for the cable guy and it’s driving me crazy.

They tell you they’ll come on Saturday, then show up when you’re not there, or say they showed up when they didn’t, then they want to reschedule in four days. I’ve made six calls to Comcast and I’m still waiting. The Internet has become such a big part of my life, with all the sites I surf, it’s hard to deal without the Internet for 4 or 5 days.

Yep, we’re moving into new digs in the Bellaire section of Houston. I used to live in a town home near the stadium that I got when I first got drafted. It was a great community, but no lawn, no backyard, which was fine when I was a rookie. Now my wife and I wanted to get a place where our daughter could run around and eventually some more little ones could roam. With the five year extension I just signed it’s nice to know we’re going to be here for a while.

Of course, it would be nice if the contract were guaranteed. Football is the only sport without guaranteed contracts. Most people don’t know this but we get paid bi-monthly during the season so we only get about nine paychecks a year. I think every player should make sure they get some kind of financial advisor. We get taxed in every state we play. Texas and Florida have no state taxes, and that’s nice because you save a lot when you would have to take 5 or 6 percent off every paycheck. But after every road game, the state we just played in takes taxes out. It gets complicated.

Fines also come directly out of your paycheck. The way the league does fines is kind of stupid. It should be more of a percentage of your pay scale. What’s $10,000 to a Terrell Owens, or a big-name quarterback or big-time defensive end like Freeney? But for a rookie that same $10,000 could be a whole week’s paycheck.

Hey, I want to make sure everyone knows I’ll be signing autographs at the Shell Houston Open on Sunday at the Redstone Golf Club from 12 noon to 1.

Also, I’ll be on the air at 610 AM here in Houston for the first round of the NFL Draft April 25. We’ll be live at Reliant Stadium for a draft party so everyone should come on down. I’ll have to get my mock draft together by then.

More details to come, check back in with me and I’d love to see your questions or comments.

Eric Winston is a starting offensive tackle for the Houston Texans. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.ericwinston73.com.