Goodell has too much power. He (and his staff...like Aiello) arbitrarily condemn and exonerate activity on whims which they back up with an "Because I said so" attitude. These guys and their capriciousness have to be severely curtailed, in my opinion. The owners might as well give them whips like the overseers during the slavery days. Their fairness and objectiveness is typified by their actions during the "Starcaps" saga. You remember...several players asked the NFL for permission to use the starcaps to help with weight loss. Permission was granted by the league because the formula contained no proscribed ingredients. The formula was changed and new banned ingredients were added, which the NFL was made aware of. Instead of sending out a memo to the NFLPA informing them that starcaps were now banned, the commissioner's office decided to "set up" the players by keeping that info secret and then targeted the players for drug testing to detect the banned ingredients...and then fined and suspended them. This was not only unethical...it was sinfully immoral.
I don't disagree with you Steve, but the flip is that the NFL was getting out of hand a few years ago, and that was threatening the NFL brand, not to mention actual humans and animals. Players routinely carrying guns, Pacman and Vick were out of control; somebody had to lay down the gauntlet. What RG has done the last few years amounts to what a governor would do in time of crisis, set a curfew, a moratorium. Is he going to far now? Its debatable, but you better believe the owners are in the loop, and, behind the scenes, are supporting all that he does.
You're talking about two different issues, though; violence on the field and violence off it. The two are mutually exclusive. Forty years ago, the rules of the game allowed for a totally different kind of on-field violence. Chop blocks, head slaps, leading with the head, hits to the head, and the list goes on. They were all legal at one point. I would argue that by outlawing such tactics, the league has been trying to make the game safer since long before Goodell came along, but the increases in size, speed and conditioning of the players have cancelled out a lot of those efforts. At the same time, sure you used to hear stories decades ago about players going out and getting drunk and getting DWI'd, or wrapping a car around a light pole. But you didn't hear about the absolute thuggary of the kind you pointed out. So controlling the field hasn't prevented players from getting out of control off the field.
Good points. I think you are ultimately right. But, I think some of the off the field stuff influenced RG to become more czar like. Maybe not. It sure seems the off the field stuff has lessened significantly under his watch, outside of dumbazz Plaxico shooting himself.
Goodell is trying to cover the league's ass from all the potential lawsuits from former players. They've known these guys are having problems from head trauma for decades and have done jack shit about it becuase the mighty dollar trumps all. The New Orleans Saints are the unlucky and unfortunate scapegoats, wrong place, wrong time. Public smear campaign. Take the focus off of the league itself and redirect it to negatively portray your "enemy". PR 101.
I couldn't agree more. Goodell just wants to look good in front of the judge, and point to all the work he has done.
So now we have the "whistleblower" denying ever blowing the whistle. Jimmy Kennedy former Vikings lineman is quoted by Goodell as the source of the original bounty allegation. He strongly denies this, citing 3 lies that Goodell has told. This stinks to hell. I hope these suspensions don't run their course without us knowing what is really going on. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8...gs-defensive-lineman-calls-roger-goodell-liar
And now apparently Darth Roger is OUT. At least in the player side. He's to be replaced by Paul Tagliabue. Don't know if Darth will still deal with coach/GM punishments. “@wwltvsports: RT @DeSmithNFLPA: I have been in touch with Roger. He has formally notified me that he will recused himself. Paul Tagliabue will step in.”
