ALAMEDA, Calif. (Oct. 25, 2006) -- Jerry Porter returned to the Oakland Raiders after the NFL Players Association dropped its appeal of the receiver's four-game suspension and the team reduced the punishment to two games.
The Raiders announced the settlement and said coach Art Shell would address it later in the day on Oct. 25. The team did not know if Porter would report to the team that day. Phone messages left with the NFLPA and Porter's agent were not immediately returned.
Porter was suspended Oct. 15 for insubordination a day after being kicked out of practice by Shell. Shell and Porter clashed almost immediately after the coach was hired in February over Porter's offseason workout plans. Porter made public a trade demand at the start of training camp and was inactive for the four games before the suspension.
The union appealed the suspension, calling it "excessive," but the two sides reached a settlement before a grievance hearing was held.
"The Raiders are reinstating Jerry Porter after the NFL Players Association dropped its appeal of Porter's suspension," Raiders senior administrator Artie Gigantino said. "The NFLPA agreed with the Raiders that a two-week suspension was appropriate. Porter will return to the football team and must adhere to team rules."
Porter, in the second year of a five-year contract worth $20 million, was docked about $115,000 in pay for the two-game suspension.
Porter led the Raiders with 76 catches last season and had 942 yards receiving and five touchdown receptions in 2005.
Porter, a second-round pick out of West Virginia in 2000, has 239 catches for 3,215 yards and 24 touchdowns in six seasons with the Raiders. He has never reached 1,000 yards receiving in a season, missing the mark narrowly last season and with 998 yards in 2004.
