The National Football League might be in trouble not too far down the road. That was the underlying message Roger Goodell sent out yesterday.
We've watched the NFL slowly deteriorate over the past 30 years into a league of showy, me-first, self promoters. We've watched as the inmates have taken over the assylum, as escalating salaries have undermined coaches' authority to run their teams. Basic human decency and expectations have been lowered to a standard not fit for general society. The police blotter is filled with NFL names on a regular basis, and the conduct on the field is disgusting at times.
The league has devolved into too many prima donnas, thugs, drugs, cheap shots, and general lawlessness. Too many players don't respect each other, their coaches, or the fans anymore, and most importantly, they don't respect the game itself.
And as we found out yesterday, neither do too many coaches and front offices in the league either. Blurried rules and complete disrespect of the opponent and the game of football ran rampant through Sean Payton and his staff. Ego gone wild. I fear that is far more common than we even know, as in, it's everywhere.
Holy moly, that was a beatdown that Roger Goodell gave the Saints. I knew it would be a heavy hammer, but that surpassed my wildest expectations. That was a loud message from Goodell to 32 coaches and GMs to "STOP IT! STOP IT RIGHT NOW OR YOU'RE NEXT, AND I'M NOT #$%^ING KIDDING!"
Good on Goodell, I say.
Players can no longer complain about Goodell's heavy handedness toward them. He just pounded coaches and GMs with suspensions at an unprecedented level, on top of hitting the Commanders with a $36 million salary cap charge along with the Cowboys' $10 million. Yes, Belichick got off light, but that clearly won't be happening anymore.
Truth be told, I think Goodell and the league are worried about the future of the NFL. With so much attention on concussions and safety, and now with paid thuggery in the light, how many parents will begin to hold their kids out of football? Why not play other "more respectable" sports? Goodell wants to nip that in the bud, so the talent pool a decade from now is still there.
Yesterday made me re-think the $10 million salary cap hit Goodell gave the Cowboys last week. I think Jerry should now just accept it and move on. What Goodell is doing will ultimately benefit the Jones family down the road, too.
Goodell is clearly trying to re-position the league for the future, so that the path is changed and the greatness of the league can be upheld. He doesn't want to see the competitive balance go the way of Major League Baseball, nor does he want to see football go the route of boxing, which is being overtaken by the neanderthal sport of UFC.
Integrity of the game must be upheld on all fronts.
My hope is that the league can keep its affairs in order, so that rules committees can continue to tweak the game itself. It's too offensive oriented, most of us agree, but once the rules are fine-tuned for illegal hits, perhaps they can be give back some of the advantage to the defense again. Very difficult process if you put yourself in Goodell's position.
People, including me, get agitated with Goodell and his god-like actions at times. But perhaps we're not seeing the big picture through his eyes. He's not just a figurehead commissioner like so many, and you have to respect him for that.
The league could be facing multiple lawsuits over concussions if steps aren't taken. Same for colleges and high schools, and if one or two cases win at the high school level, school districts will start shutting down football altogether. No way will academicians and city councils risk entire school budgets over a silly sport. So imagine the NFL without a talent feed from the high schools.
Likewise, the competitive balance of the league is what makes the NFL so great, and that must be protected. Green Bay and Seattle have the same opportunity to compete as New York and Dallas. Goodell knows that is a big reason the NFL is so much more popular than baseball or basketball, and he wants to stearnly uphold that, too. Thus, the punishment doled out to Dallas and Washington.
In this overly litigious world we live in, where everyone has their hand out at every turn, the NFL and its billions of dollars are a prime target, especially when everyone has an agent/attorney to take pot shots at that pile of money.
And so, I believe we should strongly support and celebrate Goodell's efforts, and yes, accept our measly salary cap fine and move on.
I want to be watching football in 15 years. Do you?
