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Pastimes : Green Bay Packers -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SE who wrote (596)	8/14/1999 12:39:00 AM
From: C	Respond to of 1150

Anxious Freeman reports to camp wiser, hungrier By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -- Antonio Freeman couldn't wait another minute, not even if it meant missing out on millions of dollars. The Green Bay Packers' All-Pro wide receiver held out through the first two weeks of training camp while seeking a new contract that would make him the highest paid receiver in the game. But with negotiations moving slowly, Freeman decided this week to sign a one-year tender offer with the Packers. That deal allows him to report to training camp while his agent and the team continue to negotiate a long-term deal. ''I was antsy. I wanted to be in camp,'' Freeman said Friday. ''Home was not really the best place for me to be. To stay consistent and to stay steady, you have to practice.'' Freeman will be on the sidelines Saturday when the Packers open their exhibition schedule against the New York Jets. He will participate in workouts for the first time on Monday. He said he didn't worry about hurting his negotiating position by reporting to camp before a long-term deal was completed, adding that he is fully insured by Lloyd's of London. ''My reason for being here is I'm a football player,'' Freeman said. ''This is my job. ... I need to get to work, and me and my teammates need to reunite so we can start this drive for another Super Bowl.'' Still, Freeman was noncommittal when asked whether he would play in games for the Packers without a contract in hand. The one-year tender offer will pay him $3.531 million this season. ''I'm not sure,'' he said when asked if he would play in the Packers' Aug. 22 exhibition game against Denver. ''I think that's to be determined.'' The Packers and Freeman's agent, Joel Segal, have been negotiating for months. Though the two parties are in agreement on several issues, they are reportedly still far apart on the amount of the signing bonus Freeman should receive. Segal is said to be seeking a bonus of more than $10 million. Still, both sides have said they hope to have a deal completed some time next week. Last season, Freeman also signed to play for the Packers' tender offer, which was $1.153 million. Freeman then set career-highs with 84 catches for 14 touchdowns and a league-best 1,424 yards despite breaking his jaw late in the year. He played in the Pro Bowl for the first time last winter. His holdout was much shorter than the one staged by running back Dorsey Levens last season. Levens stayed away from the Packers until the week of the final exhibition game, and though he got the contract he desired, he struggled while trying to get into shape and had a subpar year. ''I could go a lot of other places and be paid crazy, crazy, crazy money and not be happy,'' Freeman said. ''I'm happy here. I have the best quarterback in the NFL. ... I realize that I do have it good here, and I can't take that for granted.'' Freeman will need as much time in camp as possible. In addition to bringing himself into game shape, he must adjust to being the Packers' only top-flight receiver after Robert Brooks' retirement two weeks ago. ''It hurts to see a guy like Robert leave this game,'' Freeman said. ''Now it's my job to store in those (younger players) some of the things that Robert did for me.'' In addition, offensive coordinator Sherman Lewis has added a few new wrinkles to the Packers' offense which Freeman will need to absorb. ''We've changed a few things ... but it shouldn't take any time for him to pick it up,'' Lewis said.