Credibility will be on line at Goodell’s State of NFL
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. – Credibility figures to be the word of the day when Roger Goodell holds his annual State of the NFL press conference on Wednesday.
From ensuring that the league’s concussion protocol is followed, to en- forcing the spirit and letter of the law with the Rooney Rule designed to boost diversity in the head coaching and executive ranks, to explaining just how in the world Colin Kaepernick still doesn’t have a job as the NFL conceivably supports the players’ right to protest, to knowing exactly what does or should constitute a catch, Goodell’s NFL clearly needs an upgrade in the credibility de-
partment.
The Commissioner will get another chance to face the music on these and other key issues.
Here’s to hoping he doesn’t dance, wiggle, deflect and deny.
Ok, maybe that’s hoping too much. But if Goodell, whose term as the chief executive at NFL headquarters was recently extended through 2024, wants to develop the respect that needs to flow from the top of the nation’s most popular sports league, it is far beyond time to give the impression – supported by action – that there’s someone in charge to make sense of it all.
Because the messaging has been so off.
“There’s too much confusion,” Brian Mitchell, a former NFL running back, said Tuesday, between segments of the radio talk show he co-hosts on ESPN 980 in Washington.
Mitchell cited a lack of clarity when it came to officiating the product on the field, including the controversial hits that can lead to fines and suspensions and, of course, the catch.
The act and definition of a catch has been such a thorny subject for NFL followers that Goodell, acknowledging his “concern” this week during an interview with Fox’s Colin Cowherd, promised that once again the league’s competition committee will review the controversial catch rule during the offseason.
Haven’t we heard that before. Two years ago, Goodell formulated a “catch committee” that studied the rule and various applications for months … and came back with no fundamental changes.
Then a play happens like the one in Pittsburgh in mid-December, when Steelers tight end Jesse James appeared to score a go-ahead touchdown against the Patriots by lunging to break the plane of the end zone – only to have the score overturned because by rule he didn’t “survive the ground” after, well, making the catch.
Must be tough, trying to make a living as a receiver these days.
“There were probably five or six calls this year that flat-out don’t make sense,” Eagles receiver Torrey Smith said. “They are clarifying their definition, but sometimes it doesn’t make sense. Like the play in the Steelers game. I don’t know how that’s not considered a football move.
“It’s tough. I’m just glad I’m not the one making the call.”
The NFL’s use of instant replay conceivably is in place to settle the debates, but it has proved to be such a doubleedge sword as high-definition images that can be viewed in split seconds add to the confusion.
Still, the debates on the field represent on a portion of pressing matters that cross Goodell’s desk.
Take the Rooney Rule. Goodell recently concluded that the Oakland Raiders complied with the mandate that teams must interview at least one minority candidate for head coaching vacancies, when it hired Jon Gruden.
The issue wasn’t the hiring of Gruden. It was the appearance that Raiders skirted the rule when the team interviewed two minority candidates in the days after team owner Mark Davis struck an agreement with Gruden – with Davis publicly disclosing the timeline.
The NFL investigated the matter and determined that the Raiders complied.
But it sure appeared they took some liberties, which is why the Fritz Pollard Alliance, which monitors minority hiring, pushed for an investigation.
If there’s a rule, it needs to be enforced.
That same theme has come into question with the league’s concussion protocol. For all of the efforts and ad- vancements the league has made on the issue of head injuries — in the wake of increasing awareness and a massive concussion lawsuit settlement — it is fair to wonder how Texans quarterback Tom Savage can lay on the turf quivering after taking a blow to the head and not be immediately entered into the protocol.
During the playoffs, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton stumbled to turf after taking a severe hit but was cleared to return to the game after a brief evaluation. A subsequent review found the Panthers did not violate the concussion protocol as Newton was being treated for an eye injury.
Still, the protocol stipulates when a player falls to the turf after a blow to the head he is to be taken to the locker room. And that didn’t happen in this case.
A rule’s a rule. Furthermore, coach Ron Rivera revealed that Newton was instructed to fall to the turf to buy warm-up time as backup Derek Anderson entered the game.
Shoot, that move should have been disciplined in itself.
Yet sometimes, in Roger’s NFL, you never know what will be enforced and what won’t – and when.
Thus, the Commissioner is the face of a credibility problem that keeps getting worse.