Hard to look away from anthem debacle
starts at the top and this is an example of poor leadership.” A Navy veteran very publicly turned down a chance to be honored by the New Orleans Saints. Even lovable, venerable, iconic Vin Scully jumped in, saying, “I will never watch another NFL game.”
So how is your day going, Mr. Goodell?
Add Tony Dungy, who is regarded as a voice of reason on all matters football, to those making a headache for Goodell and the owners. On NBC’s “Football Night in America” Sunday night, Dungy called for the Texans to sign Kaepernick to replace injured Deshaun Watson. This was after former Pitt quarterback Tom Savage played horribly Sunday afternoon in Houston’s 2014 loss to Indianapolis.
“You don’t have good quarterback play,” Dungy said. “When you have a mobile quarterback, your offense looks different. There is a mobile quarterback out there to get.”
Earlier this season, Dungy said bringing in Kaepernick and his talent wasn’t worth his baggage. Goodell and McNair must have hated Dungy’s change of heart. Kaepernick has filed a charge of collusion against the NFL and its owners, his attorneys saying “they have colluded to deprive Mr. Kaepernick of employment rights in retaliation for Mr. Kaepernick’s leadership and advocacy for equality and social justice and his bringing awareness to peculiar institutions still undermining racial equality in the United States.” According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Goodell, McNair and several other owners will be deposed and asked to turn over all cellphone records and emails in relation to the case.
What’s fascinating is that Goodell appears to be on the players’ side with the anthem protests. The players long have detested Goodell for the heavyhanded way he runs the NFL, but Trump’s grandstanding did what was believed to be impossible by bringing the two sides together.
“I’m proud of our league,” Goodell said of the players’ reaction to Trump’s initial divisive comments.
Goodell later said he wanted all players to stand for the anthem. He’s a businessman, first and foremost, and sees the damage the protests are doing to his $15 billion-a-year operation. But, to this point, Goodell hasn’t ordered the players to stand. He knows it isn’t smart to back them into a corner the way Trump and McNair did. He wants a negotiated resolution to the situation.
That position could end up costing Goodell his job.
“There’s no question the league is suffering negative effects from these protests,” Dallas owner Jerry Jones said.
Jones, like Trump, has played to his fan base by saying he will bench any player who sits or kneels during the anthem. That includes Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott, he said. Sure it does.
Is it just me or is it outrageous that the same guy who signed defensive end Greg Hardy despite his history of domestic abuse is so against peaceful protests by the players?
But Jones is the NFL’s most powerful owner, a man who almost always gets what he wants. Reports have indicated he is behind the delay in a contract extension for Goodell. It’s about Elliott’s never-ending battle with the league over his domestic-abuse suspension, sure. But it also has to be over Goodell’s handling of the anthem issue.
Goodell’s days are about to become much worse.
Trump doesn’t figure to back down, although he has been relatively quiet about the NFL since he ordered vice president Mike Pence to walk out of the San Francisco-Indianapolis game Oct. 8 if players protested during the anthem. That might have been his worst moment of grandstanding. Trump knew before the game many of the 49ers were going to kneel.
More NFL dirty laundry is about to be exposed for all to see because of the Kaepernick collusion case. Who knows what’s in those cellphone records and emails? It’s going to be fascinating to find out.
No further formal communication between the players and owners has been scheduled, although the players have requested formal mediation to help resolve the anthem issue. Representatives of both sides met Oct. 17 in New York with no progress made. The owners cancelled a second meeting last week. Stay tuned. In a sad, perverse way, I can’t wait to see what comes next.
Ron Cook: rcook@postgazette.com and Twitter @RonCookPG. Ron Cook can be heard on the “Cook and Poni” show weekdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 93.7 The Fan.