I was a big Roger Goodell fan when he was first hired. Mainly because an acquaintance of mine used to babysit him and had family Christmas with Goodell and his extended family every year. I thought it was cool that she said "I've seen that man in his tight whities." And that she could get tickets to any game she wanted, even though she was in her late 60's at the time. I moved passed that quickly. The guy has to go. I appreciate the NFL trying to bring in player safety initiatives and I appreciate the struggle between balancing the profits, the owner's feelings, and the player's protests, but this week has been the tipping point. This man is bringing the game to the precipice of the ultimate downfall. Profits are down, viewers are tuning out, and now the Steelers - Bengals game has the chance to be the last straw. There is no way in hell that you can suspend Juju Smith-Schuster and George Iloka for the same amount of time as Rob Gronkowski. The three incidences compare in no way. Juju should be fined for taunting an injured player, for sure. That was not a good look. But to suspend him and Iloka is just laughable. They were playing football. Football. They were performing football moves. Were they penalties? Yes. Do they deserve a suspension? Absolutely not. They were playing the game the way they were taught, and I think to say that either guy was trying to injure someone is totally false. Juju's block was great. Ten years ago, it would have been heralded. Now, I understand it's a penalty, but if you're going to suspend him, suspend about ten other guys a week. Same with Iloka. He was trying to separate the ball from the receiver. Those that have never played football may not understand how fast the game happens, and how easily it is to go helmet to helmet without meaning to, because it's two people moving 100 miles and hour. Nothing wrong with it. Throw a flag and move on. Just one example - the hit that knocked Braxton Miller out was far worse than either of these two. It didn't even draw a flag. Nor any press. But, to trump it all, Gronk gets suspended for only one game. What he did was dirty. It was purposeful, wrong, and dirty. That guy deserves three games minimal. If the NFL is suspending these other guys for accidental high hits in lieu of trying to avoid concussions and injuries, how about we send a message when one of your star players hits someone WTH a cheap shot purposely trying to injure them - and succeeds. Gronk deserves 3-6 games. This is a terrible precedent to set. Suspending players for playing the game, and not suspending guys long enough for being dirty. I'm having a tough time as a viewer, especially after seeing so many of my players hurt. And I love football down to my core. This game will not be the same in five yesrs.
You must love football if you're willing to sit though 2 hours of commercials for a 90 minute game. That's why people hate the sport.
The NFL has been trying to cover up CTE and other brain injuries for a long time now. Goodell is the one who has had to actually deal with the fallout. The game, as is, is just too dangerous to be considered "safe". They will do what they can to minimize these brutal hits, but this is still a gladiator bloodsport.
This. Once you see yourself as contributing to a sport where people are shortening their lives and bringing on an avalanche of physical and mental problems, you just can’t really watch it anymore. And spare me the “these are grown ups getting paid millions of dollars and they know what they’re doing” bull crap. People used to duel or smoke cigarettes while pregnant. At some point energy drinks will also get outlawed or at least greatly diminished. You gotta learn to protect people from themselves and not take advantage just because you can.
These players know what they are signing up for. But the CTE class-action settlement was already doled out. They are doing too much damage control and are a wounded product right now compared to the NBA. That is why Cuban, Trump, (Powerful people with vendettas against the NFL) etc smell blood in the water.
I wholeheartedly agree with you. What you are witnessing is gross mismanagement. I was an administrator of a moderately sized organization, nothing the size or scope of the NFL, but public and complex. I ran it for over a decade and left to take another opportunity. It should be obvious to anyone who has taken Management 101 that Goodell is the highest paid clueless chief executive in the world. He is reactive, inconsistent, indecisive, plays favorites, and is either getting some amazingly bad advice or is just basically foolish. You can detail incident after incident during his tenure where he ends up making virtually everyone mad. From Ray Rice to Tom Brady: stupid, stupid, stupid. But this season, he has outdone himself. When "Pink October" first appeared, I thought "good cause/wrong venue." It was a glimpse of things to come. When you are selling a product that is already tainted by accusations of medical malpractice, it is especially important to steer away from causes, movements, and most of all politics. It is an entertainment business. Your potential audience is "fun seekers." Maybe they should be, but they are not interested in social justice, police brutality, or race relations. Once you identify with one side in a political debate you have offended half your potential audience. So, when you are in the entertainment business, keep it light and stay focused on fun. Even being reminded of "cancer" for a month isn't fun. Do the social stuff outside the stadium. He has created an almost unredeemable mess. If he is renewed for 50 million, let the suicide watch begin. The league will go down like Enron.
The only things I can absolutely say Goodell handled poorly: 1) Ray Rice situation 2) Early response to CTE/TBI discoveries (although that was very much an inherited problem on his part) 3) Reaction to league-wide anthem protests Everything else is kinda meh or no-win situations.
Uh, the Zeke Elliott suspension? He went out of his way to circumvent his own company's due process on the matter. The evidence against Elliott's accuser was pretty concrete.
Couldn't agree more. I actually told someone today that if they're worried about injuries and head trauma, they should go back to leather helmets and no pads. It'd be safer.
honestly, im all for big hits and all bc its football and thats going to happen but you could say theres a line between just plain dirty and unnecessary. obviously theres a lot of gray area there but we have a good idea of when a hit is dirty for the most part. some of those hits during the pitts/cincy game are extremely questionable
I'm not gonna dig up all the links right now but from what I understand happened, the NFL investigator recommended Elliott NOT be suspended and Goodell possibly still thinking back to the disastrous Ray Rice 1 game decided to dole it out anyway after assuring JJ it wasn't going to happen. The Rog just phoned up JJ out of nowhere without even a standard warning period and dropped it on him. JJ after a long pause finally basically says "I'm coming for your ass now. Kraft ain't **** compared to what I'm bringing."
The NFL is in steady decline and Roger Goodell is the perfect guy to continue the slide. Using a sports analogy, this is the equivalent of Microsoft giving Steven Ballmer a 10-year extension in 2013 instead of shoving him out the door and hiring someone else to turn the company around. I have truly hated the NFL as an organization since the lockout and almost want it to fail.
Just wondering, do you consider this a football move? I completely agree with you on Goodell in general but don't think it's as easy as saying 2 were football moves so they don't deserve suspensions. The game is changing and 99% of the players have changed with it. Sure there are just instances of bad luck but there are plays where guys are straight headhunting. Differentiating between the 2 is easier said then done but think the league can do a better job at it. And saying they were just playing the game they were taught is a terrible excuse.
These things are cyclical. Right now, it's MLB and NBA's time to shine. The NFL is hurting a bit and will take some time to right the ship. I don't think that Goodell is the man to take them back to prominence, though. The next CBA will have to take the power to punish out of his hands. Treating the Cincy/Pitt situations the same as the Gronk one is ridiculous. It's how the NFL handles the downturn in the next 5-10 years that will determine the long term future. They're still very profitable, even with the lower ratings and ticket sales. They have time...but I do believe it will have to be with someone else at the helm.
Goodell takes too much blame IMO. The owners are doing it to themselves. I never got the impression that he was brought in to do anything more than act as a puppet and appease the majority of NFL owners. Now they're paying him to keep doing it.