Roger gets the blame, but who is really at fault

[eliland]

I laugh when i see the man crushes on Jerry Jones, and a few topics down, people bashing the Commish for the referee strike.

Roger answers to the owners... the people named Jones, Mara, Schnieder, Irsay, etc....

I doubt Roger really cares if the refs get a better deal... its not his money.

Time to put the blame were it belongs, on the greedy owners.

 

[utrunner07]

I laugh when i see the man crushes on Jerry Jones, and a few topics down, people bashing the Commish for the referee strike.

Roger answers to the owners... the people named Jones, Mara, Schnieder, Irsay, etc....

I doubt Roger really cares if the refs get a better deal... its not his money.

Time to put the blame were it belongs, on the greedy owners.

I am all for blaming Roger and the Owners for everything under the sun that is their fault; however, in this case, those truly at fault are the regular refs. They do a mediocre job to begin with and their demands in this negotiation are simply ridiculous, especially arguing about training refs to replace them once they retire.

 

[jday]

I am all for blaming Roger and the Owners for everything under the sun that is their fault; however, in this case, those truly at fault are the regular refs. They do a mediocre job to begin with and their demands in this negotiation are simply ridiculous, especially arguing about training refs to replace them once they retire.

This exactly. Nothing to add.

 

[Joshmil53]

The ref deal isn't just about money. The NFL wants to train backup refs for when the new ones retire but the current refs are worried about job security.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

I can see that to a degree.

But the fact is that as the commissioner, Goodell is hired by the owners, but his JOB is to look out for the best interests of the league.

Instead, he's been quite happy with becoming a sock puppet, yes-man for the ownership and it has quite frankly hurt the league. He has a history of being a terrible sock puppet for the league in a rather short term so far as commissioner.

Personally, I think the referee thing is media hysteria. The 'real' refs blow the same calls, don't even know the entire rulebook and I'm not so certain they make a different call on the Seattle TD. But, the announcers and media have carte blanche into making a point to rip the current refs because they have the 'replacement' or 'scab' label in front of them. However, they'll clam up and ignore the awful calls the real refs will make once they come back.

The problem is that even though I think it's very sensationalistic nonsense by the media, it's still a problem because that's the perception and often times perception becomes reality, whether we like it or not.

But, that's part of what the commisioner is supposed to do, foresee these types of disasters and convince the ownership to take action before it gets out of hand. And in particular Goodell, who cut his teeth in the league office in their PR department.

Instead, he has just been glad to have the position and being the sock puppet for the owners. So yes, he deserves all of the criticism he can get.








YR

 

[AbeBeta]

The ref deal isn't just about money. The NFL wants to train backup refs for when the new ones retire but the current refs are worried about job security.

Didn't the refs agree to that?

 

[jday]

The ref deal isn't just about money. The NFL wants to train backup refs for when the new ones retire but the current refs are worried about job security.

It's a part-time job on top of their full-time job that is likely also 6 figures. I'm not sure "job security" would be how I describe it. How about we call it their grandchildren's financial security.

 

[AbeBeta]

I am all for blaming Roger and the Owners for everything under the sun that is their fault; however, in this case, those truly at fault are the regular refs. They do a mediocre job to begin with and their demands in this negotiation are simply ridiculous, especially arguing about training refs to replace them once they retire.

I think the differences between the job done by the real refs and the replacements was painfully apparent over the last three weeks.

ALL refs miss calls. If you think the regular refs are mediocre, then you'd have to call the replacements absolutely atrocious.

 

[erod]

Roger is simply the mouthpiece for the owners in negotiations. He's not the person to be upset with. He couldn't care less about pensions for the referees; that's the owners' concern.

Where Goodell does have power is in enforcing the league rules as it relates to competitive balance and player/coach/franchise behavior and punishment.

 

[RS12]

Roger gets the blame

Not from anybody with a clue. 14 million a year jobs are hard to come by these days. I doubt he goes to the bath room without permission.

 

[eliland]

Not from anybody with a clue. 14 million a year jobs are hard to come by these days. I doubt he goes to the bath room without permission.

Really, did Clay Matthews tweet Jerry Jones' phone number, or Daniel Schnieders', or the Mara's?

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

You guys need to know how the NFL operates. All decisions are finalized by the NFL executive committee which is just a body made up of one representative assigned by each team.

They however delegate authority to groups of owners. Think how congress works with their committees.

And sure enough there is a labor committee.

The members of that committee are outlined i the USA Today article:

Labor committee members joining Richardson on Wednesday at the talks were Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys, Bob Kraft of the New England Patriots, Art Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers, John Mara of the New York Giants, Mike Brown of Cincinnati Bengals, Clark Hunt of the Kansas City Chiefs, Dean Spanos of the San Diego Chargers, Mark Murphy of the Green Bay Packers, and Pat Bowlen of the Denver Broncos.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/foot...ion-union-owners-cba-labor-negotiations_N.htm

Those are the guys that wen behind Jerry's back and hit us with the cap penalty. They are the ones that spearhead the labor negotiations. They have their law firms and negotiators etc but the executives for the day to day are those guys and Goodell. Mara is the chair.

I would imagine that more owners have gotten involved since the debacle that has been officiating has gotten worse but that is how the NFL is structured.

 

[CowboyMike]

I am all for blaming Roger and the Owners for everything under the sun that is their fault; however, in this case, those truly at fault are the regular refs. They do a mediocre job to begin with and their demands in this negotiation are simply ridiculous, especially arguing about training refs to replace them once they retire.

This.

 

[erod]

At this point, I put ALL of the blame on the refs. Their demands are ridiculous.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

At this point, I put ALL of the blame on the refs. Their demands are ridiculous.

Their demands are to play under the contract they initially had and the NFL agreed to. I would be interested to hear you say what you think their demands are.

This is not a strike. This is a lockout. Do you know what the difference is?

 

[WPBCowboysFan]

It's a part-time job on top of their full-time job that is likely also 6 figures. I'm not sure "job security" would be how I describe it. How about we call it their grandchildren's financial security.

Chris Mortenson said they put in 36 hours a week.

Thats kinda like Home Depot and other corp's having 36 hr work weeks so they dont have to pay benefits becasue the employee is only "part-time."

 

[Sonny#9]

Instead, he's been quite happy with becoming a sock puppet, yes-man for the ownership and it has quite frankly hurt the league. He has a history of being a terrible sock puppet for the league in a rather short term so far as commissioner.

You had mentioned previously that Goodell was a sock-puppet for Mara and Kraft specifically. Here is a bit more info on how the lockout ended:

A bloc of owners, including the Panthers' Jerry Richardson and the Jets' Woody Johnson, was adamant about not being leveraged by the substandard job of the replacements and continuing to negotiate with the officials with a hard line, according to Judy Battista of The New York Times. Battista further points to owners such as the Giants' John Mara and the Patriots' Robert Kraft as moved by the events of the Seattle-Green Bay game and pressing for resolution in the name of integrity and brand devaluation.

Link: http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8452632/roger-goodell-shields-owners-criticism-inherent-part-job