Goodell deserves a speedy heave-ho
NFL commissioner has been a disaster with his decision making in crisis after crisis
Roger Goodell has been a disaster as NFL commissioner. He has been a disaster for the public relations and feelings of goodwill about the league. He is almost universally hated by fans, the players view him as an evil dictator and at least one prominent owner thinks he makes way too much money.
If something negative happens and the NFL needs to explain it or spin it in a positive way, Goodell always seems to find a way to make it far worse. His decisions on player discipline often seem arbitrary and his handling of crisis has been abysmal.
That’s why it is astounding that Goodell is about to receive a five-year extension from the NFL. This will keep him in place as the commissioner until 2024, assuming the league survives his form of leadership that long.
I keep hearing and reading that he has “made the NFL millions” and that’s why owners like him, but I have no idea what that means.
The NFL is a product that sells itself, and the money would flow in almost regardless of who is commissioner. The only thing a commissioner can do is ruin the golden goose with bad decisions that hurt the league’s image, and Goodell is well on his way to doing just that.
It is fair to ask what in the world this man has done that merits five more
years?
What possibly could be the motivation behind it, especially considering they will likely pay him about $180 million (if not more) over those five years?
Goodell’s NFL has some real problems that won’t go away. It is a league that is increasingly viewed as overpopulated with physical abusers, drug users and all-around bad guys. And now it has a public relations problem with respect to anthem protests, too.
There is also a growing attack on the actual sport of football due to concerns about CTE and other head injuries, and Goodell has been mostly silent or cryptic on the issue. Doctors are increasingly doing studies which suggest football is bad for your health and some fans have even begun to be turned off by it as a result.
Labor unrest is in the air, too, as the current collective bargaining agreement with the players association is set to expire in 2021. That may seem like a long time from now, but the players association is already preparing for a war and has even advised the players to start saving money because a work stoppage is probable.
These issues are real, and they aren’t going away any time soon. The NFL needs strong leadership to navigate through some choppy waters on the horizon. The NFL needs a visionary who is capable of uniting, not dividing, as there is a lot of healing that needs to be done.
Does Roger Goodell sound like the man to lead the NFL out of this funk? Does he sound like someone who players are likely to trust?
The answer is a resounding no, and that isn’t a guess. All you have to do is look at how he has handled some of the worst situations to understand he is clueless when it comes to doing the right thing and even more clueless when it comes to promoting goodwill.
The Patriots were caught blatantly cheating in Spygate and got off with a slap on the wrist, and then Goodell destroyed the evidence so nobody else could see exactly what was on the video tapes. Then Deflategate felt like revenge by Goodell, and it blew up in his face. He mangled the handling of Ray Rice, and fans in New Orleans would argue his handling of the bounty scandal was heavy-handed and arbitrary.
He has treated anthem protests as if they will go away if he ignores them. In fact, his answer to questions about Colin Kaepernick’s lack of employment is “I’m not a football expert.” This situation requires leadership, and he has offered none.
I’d argue that he is equally as clueless about how to run a league. It is amazing that the 32 owners haven’t figured this out yet, but my guess is they know and they just don’t care as long as the money keeps rolling in. They better be careful, though. Goodell’s gaffes are likely to kill the golden goose they all want to feast on.