ST: NFL Trying to Fix Past Mistakes

[Montanalo]

http://www.star-telegram.com/sports/nfl/dallas-cowboys/article172993571.html

Quote from NFL VP Joe Lockhart, “We believe that our players should be held to a high standard, and when they meet that standard, we celebrate them. But when they don’t meet that standard, we both educate, give the tools to not make mistakes like that again or to violate the policy, and we discipline them to hold them accountable,”

Lot's of material in this short quote to discuss. Maybe I am old-school, but there was a time when I thought our athletes should be held to a higher standard, but so much anymore. Growing up, Olympic athletes, football and baseball stars garnered the same sort of respect reserved for the police or military.

As much as I love the game of football, there is little doubt (at least in my mind) that the modern day NFL (and professional sports in general) has transitioned from exclusively sport to entertainment. I certainly don't hold Hollywood entertainers to a higher standard -- I go to the movies, watch the TV shows, but I don't get life-lessons from them or follow what they do off-set.

Quite simply, I would prefer we simply hold our athletes (or entertainers, or politicians) to the same standard expected for the rest of society. This is a rather long-winded way of saying, I have trouble with Lockhart's position. I have no issue with the idea of educating and providing tools when mistakes are made or policies violated. I make a comparison with the corporate world I left recently. In the case of an employee randomly testing positive for alcohol or drugs while at work, there is a step process involving education, mandatory testing and discipline (meaning, promotions, pay raises suspended, etc) followed by termination if the issue persists. Employees were not held to a higher standard; they were just expected to comply with laws, regulations and society norms. Period.

In hindsight, I shouldn't let one little quote from a bureaucratic talking head affect me to the point of venting on a Dallas Cowboy fan site... ok, I am back to normal now.

 

[BrassCowboy]

Very well said , when does it go too far as to say we are being hypocritical, to say we don't make mistakes in life so why do we believe they can't either.

Create a standard that can fit all players, such as if they are arrested and charged in real life then yeah that would carry over but if not then not in NFL either. That allows the NFL to not have to be the policemen of the world and stick to the game they are good at.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Should the NFL leave jurisprudence issues to local law enforcement and get out of the investigation business completely?

If Goodell is the judge and jury, hell yes.

 

[TheHerd]

The NFL policies do not seem to have any interest in really helping players. It's always about the $$$, which means sponsors, which means PC main stream media.

 

[JoeKing]

...yet they keep making mistakes. The commish's jumping to the defense of Michael Bennett after he made false accusations about the LVPD is just one example.

 

[shabazz]

Sounds all to familiar. Trying to fix past mistakes by punishing the current occupants. How bout just a common sense solution instead of this over the top retribution.

 

[SultanOfSix]

You don't fix past mistakes by railroading innocent players. Two wrongs don't make a right. You fix past mistakes by changing policy if it is wrong or unfair and having all parties agree to it, and/or implementing policy consistently and judiciously, not arbitrarily and not by ignoring the spirit of it.

 

[sbark]

should the NFL construct programs to change the culture of these kids back in h.school/college.......at that point they can help alot more than just the very small percent of indiv. that actually make the NFL level.

 

[Bullflop]

NFL players should be held to the same standards that other workers in America are held to. They should also be afforded the same rights in any court to be assumed innocent until proven guilty -- not the opposite, like Commissioner Goodell would prefer.

 

[jrumann59]

Just remember who Lockhart used to be employed by. His comments are boiler plate PR junk.

 

[jrumann59]

...yet they keep making mistakes. The commish's jumping to the defense of Michael Bennett after he made false accusations about the LVPD is just one example.

Has this been proven? If it has Bennett should be suspended, seriously it is conduct detrimental to the league.

 

[Montanalo]

should the NFL construct programs to change the culture of these kids back in h.school/college.......at that point they can help alot more than just the very small percent of indiv. that actually make the NFL level.

Exactly. Combined with other groups and organizations (like the police), this could really make a difference. Think of the campaign in our schools against smoking.

 

[JoeKing]

Has this been proven? If it has Bennett should be suspended, seriously it is conduct detrimental to the league.

His fear of police may be ligament yet unwarranted at the same time. He was visibly shaken over the incident but yeah, his representation of the police's behavior is something that should be investigated and if found to be premeditated and false then IMO, it would fit in the category of conduct detrimental to the league. But the commish cut that possibility off by refusing to investigate, even after the LVPD welcomed that course of action.

 

[CowboysRule]

I am all for disciplining players who get arrested for a crime. Or even those who have committed a crime but the victim chooses not to press charges. I am not for deciding a player did something, hold an extended investigation trying to prove that, then ignoring all the facts and then disciplining them. That does not educate anyone.

 

[superonyx]

The NFL wants to hold its player to a "higher standard ". How about holding themselves to a standard just above having a federal judge smack you down publicly for railroading your own employees with vicious life ruining labels.

 

[JoeKing]

I am all for disciplining players who get arrested for a crime. Or even those who have committed a crime but the victim chooses not to press charges. I am not for deciding a player did something, hold an extended investigation trying to prove that, then ignoring all the facts and then disciplining them. That does not educate anyone.

What disturbs me is they(the NFL) hired an investigator to interview all party's involved and make a recommendation of punishment based on those interviews. The investigator recommended no punishment to EE yet they(the NFL) ignored that recommendation and apparently attempted to hide it. The only reason that recommendation found the light of day is because of Jerry Jones as an owner having access to that information.

 

[Sydla]

What disturbs me is they(the NFL) hired an investigator to interview all party's involved and make a recommendation of punishment based on those interviews. The investigator recommended no punishment to EE yet they(the NFL) ignored that recommendation and apparently attempted to hide it. The only reason that recommendation found the light of day is because of Jerry Jones as an owner having access to that information.

That's where this goes off the rails for me too.

They hired people to SPECIFICALLY HANDLE matters like this and conduct thorough investigations so they get these things right. And yet in the EE case, their investigator gathers all the evidence, interviews the accuser and witnesses and concludes there is nothing here and that EE shouldn't be suspended.

And yet the league ignores her. Why? Because they had already predetermined they were going to make an example out of Elliott for PR purposes. Unfortunately for them, their expert investigator, hired to take care of these matters, didn't want to go along with the plan.

 

[JoeKing]

That's where this goes off the rails for me too.

They hired people to SPECIFICALLY HANDLE matters like this and conduct thorough investigations so they get these things right. And yet in the EE case, their investigator gathers all the evidence, interviews the accuser and witnesses and concludes there is nothing here and that EE shouldn't be suspended.

And yet the league ignores her. Why? Because they had already predetermined they were going to make an example out of Elliott for PR purposes. Unfortunately for them, their expert investigator, hired to take care of these matters, didn't want to go along with the plan.

Correct. The investigators testimony at EE's appeal hearing was damning to the NFL's case.

 

[Stash]

They can act as 'noble' as they want, nobody's buying what they're selling. Of course they would never admit that this railroad job is in direct response to their mishandling of every other case. They never admit ever being wrong. Look no further than this expedited appeal. They were admonished about as strongly as possible, but do they realize or admit their mistake? Of course not, "we're the NFL!"

The fact is that they're in over their heads here. They're trying to do something - go above the law - that they're not authorized to do and not capable of doing. And it's clear to everyone other than them.

 

[CapnCook]

Maybe their (the League administrators') hearts are in the right place? It's where their head is. That's the problem. I present...

The Goodell Award