OWNERS MUST WORK ON WORKPLACE RULES
ORLANDO An agenda featuring ... respect.
Of course, with NFL owners and other power brokers gathered for their annual offseason summit this week, there will be the usual talk about generating revenue and tweaking rules.
Yet on each day of the threeday meetings that begin today, a component of the league’s Respect in the Workplace initiatives will be discussed with owners, GMs or coaches.
This is also called driving home a message.
After the messy Miami Dolphins situation and other assorted incidents that fueled questions about the NFL as a workplace environment — including the playing field, locker room and then some — Commissioner Roger Goodell has ramped up efforts to change the culture.
There are few, if any, operations that execute damage control quite like the NFL.
So it’s natural to wonder whether some of the measures being discussed — leadership training, a uniform code of conduct that would include banning hazing, educational programs — are reactionary.
Would this be on the docket if the Richie Incognito-Jonathan Martin case hadn’t been exposed?
Would the NFL look to tighten up workplace policies if Michael Sam had not come out as the first openly gay draft prospect?
Would the push to eradicate the N-word from the NFL environment be the case if not for Riley Cooper’s candid-camera moment and Trent Williams’ beef with umpire Roy Ellison?
No matter. All of those things happened, and it’s time for this to occur, too.
“It’s good for us to all be on alert, to protect people’s rights,” Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll told USA TODAY Sports.
“It’s the meaning of the words that you have to consider.”
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians
“Because of the Miami situation, your awareness is elevated. Your sensitivity is increased. It’s a good thing.”
I’d doubt many teams would need a major overhaul. There are coaches who run a tighter ship with less (or zero) tolerance for off-field shenanigans.
But standards are still needed.
Forget the argument about football’s culture over many decades. Things evolve. The locker room is less akin to a private club and more like an office — where federal, state and civic laws apply.
The Wells Report stemming from the Dolphins’ bullying/ workplace harassment allegations underscored some of the is- sues and left many in the league shaking their heads.
Arizona Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said Sunday that he has been in the NFL for 37 years and had never encountered — or even heard of — the type of bullying outlined in the report.
Arians said the Cardinals don’t allow hazing (except for haircuts) and he is in agreement with efforts for the league to cast a spotlight on such issues.
“We need to send the correct message,” Arians told USA TODAY Sports.
And that message needs to include language. Debate is intensifying over the use of the N-word, with some African-American players espousing the view that the historically insensitive slur is somehow a term of endearment.
“We all come from different backgrounds; we say different things,” Arians said. “It’s the meaning of the words that you have to consider.”
Owners won’t vote to ban slurs from the playing field — because they don’t have to.
Officials already can throw a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct for abusive language. Now it must be made a point of emphasis — like taunting was last year.
Then there’s the real-world scenario: Who’s there to report a violation that would lead to a fine if the all-pro shutdown cornerback or the stud receiver uses a slur in the locker room?
And in the NFL locker room world, you can hear so many offensive words blaring through the music, via boomboxes.
Censoring the music in an NFL locker room?
If it’s offensive and the league is serious about workplace respect, it should go, too — just as it would in many workplace environments across the country.
The NFL might need language cops. Or a lot of coaches and veteran players willing to become enforcement officers while in the midst of trying to win games.