Phillips Won’t Receive Full Pay, Beathard Says

The Chargers have decided to keep nose tackle Joe Phillips on the reserve/non-football injury list for the remainder of the season. They reiterated their position that they will pay him 50% of his 1990 salary.

Phillips said Wednesday he would have no immediate comment, but said he and his lawyers would have a news conference in the next day or so.

“The team is not obligated to pay anything for a player who is in that category,” General Manager Bobby Beathard said. “We made the decision to pay him 50%.”

The Chargers said they were responsible to pay Phillips four game checks for four weeks of active duty. The team has given him seven weeks of pay with an indication an eighth will be forthcoming. If the club pays Phillips half of his salary, he will earn $157,500.

Phillips started the first three games for the Chargers and then suffered a beating Sept. 26 outside a Mission Beach restaurant. Last week, he received medical clearance to return to practice but refused to practice until he received up-to-date full pay.

“From our standpoint, Joe can’t play football for the Chargers this year, and it deprives him an opportunity to earn a living,” said David Morway, one of Phillips’ attorneys. “Joe was hoping to play and help the Chargers win, and now he’s real frustrated.

“Bobby has indicated to us from the outset, that when he told Joe he would be paid, he never indicated how much that would be. Our whole argument is that was clearly an implied promise to pay the entire salary. Any individual, who was in the situation Joe was in at the time in the hospital, would have understood the same thing.”

Beathard said he did talk to Phillips in the hospital, and said there may have been a misunderstanding. He said he was willing to discuss the situation, but nothing has been acceptable to Phillips and his representatives.

Phillips, in the final year of a two-year contract, has had contractual difficulties with the club in the past. It’s believed the Chargers wanted to reach agreement on a contract for next season at this time to avoid any possible holdout problems next summer.

“Joe really had hopes after the injury to remain a San Diego Charger and have a long prosperous career here,” Morway said. “But at this point I’m really not sure where this leaves us.

“We have very specific reasons, legally and otherwise why he should be entitled to full pay. There are much more fundamental reasons why we have run into a roadblock than what the Chargers have defined for the public. It’s something we’d rather not talk about now, but in the next 12 to 24 hours we will have a press conference.”

Morway said reports that Phillips had sought his release from the club were not accurate.

“Joe simply indicated to the Chargers that if they were not going to allow him to play and earn a living, they might as well release him,” Morway said. “It’s a misinterpretation that Joe would rather be released. He would much rather be with the Chargers, and be on the practice field with an opportunity to earn a living.”