SANTA CLARA – Tarell Brown lost roughly $2 million dollars from his base salary this offseason for not showing up to OTAs. Brown spoke to Bay Area reporters about that after Thursday’s afternoon practice.
Q: A story broke today that you lost $2 million dollars in base salary for not showing up to OTAs. Could you explain what happened?
BROWN: Unfortunate situation. When you have somebody who advises you to do certain things and he doesn’t know certain clauses in the contract, you put too much trust into people. That’s what happened in this situation. It’s something I’ve always done, offseason at home, training and getting myself in shape. It had nothing to do with not wanting to work out, no contract problems, it just had to do with me wanting to go back home and train. It’s something I’ve been doing for the past few years.
Q: When did you become aware you lost that money?
BROWN: Today. I just found out today.
Q: How’d you find out?
BROWN: Twitter.
Q: What was your next step after that?
BROWN: Contacting my agent, getting everything situated with that and just talking with the team.
Q: What did you say to the team?
BROWN: There wasn’t too much I really could say. I tried to let my former agent talk to them and see what we could work out. It’s part of the process. There’s no love lost. For me, I always want to be a professional in everything I do. I think I’ve done that so far throughout my career and I’m going to keep doing that. I’m going to learn from this. I’ve been through a lot in my life. This is just another test. The biggest thing for me is to get through it and let my family know the situation.
Q: You parted ways with your agent, Brian Overstreet?
BROWN: Yeah, I parted ways with my agent. I no longer have an agent as of now.
Q: It’s your contract year? Is there a desire to make up that money with your next contract?
BROWN: Most definitely. No one wants to leave money on the table. If I had known the clauses on my contract – that’s what agents get paid to do, to orchestrate the contract and to let you know what you can and can’t do. That’s what he got paid to do. He didn’t do that, so in my opinion he has to be let go. We’re all held accountable for our actions. It’s just part of the business.
Q: Have you talked to the team about what you can work out? Do you expect to lose that full amount?
BROWN: No comment right now. Hope for the best. Pray for me.
Q: Have you talked about this with Coach Harbaugh?
BROWN: We’ll talk about it. I don’t want to make this the focus of camp.
Q: Was it hard to concentrate out there?
BROWN: Most definitely. It was hard to concentrate because my mind was somewhere else. But this is a business and I understand that and I have a job to do. The 49ers are paying me to do a job. I have to come out here regardless of what’s going on off the field or financially. I have to do what’s best for the team, and that’s go out here and practice.
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