NFL players may hate Roger Goodell, but he’s their biggest ally
Roger Goodell and NFLPA head DeMaurice Smith: Who speaks for the players? (AP photo)
Weird. Even as the players’ association seeks to curb Roger Goodell’s power, the NFL commissioner is turning into the players’ best friend. The NFLPA just argued — and lost the argument — that Goodell lacked the authority to punish four New Orleans Saints in the egregious bounty program. In its defense of those four, the NFLPA overlooked a key detail:
The folks those Saints were trying to injure? They’re NFL players, too.
The Saints might not have been the worst offenders in the history of professional football, but they’re the best example available at a difficult time. The NFL is facing a torrent of lawsuits from former players who claim the league was negligent in its safeguarding of their health. Which leads us to note that the safeguarding of its membership’s health is usually the job of a union.
These class-action suits have the potential to damage the NFL in a way no strike/lockout ever has. Regarding pro football, we on the periphery have long been cognitively dissonant: We know the game is dangerous, but we watch because all those collisions are vastly entertaining. (To us, if not the men involved.) Hearing the details of former players’ declining well-being could make us reconsider whether our momentary enjoyment is worth the non-negotiable price they’ve paid.
In the attempt to get on the good side of a bad issue, Goodell has made a crusade against unnecessary roughness. Not that his definition of unnecessary would have flown in the days of Deacon Jones and his head-slap or Jack Tatum — title of his autobiography: “They Call Me Assassin” — and his head shots.
Somebody should have been looking out for the recipients of those hits back then. Nobody was. The NFLPA has long been the weakest of the sports unions. Its stock in trade is to decertify itself whenever its players get locked out and try to win in court what it cannot at the bargaining table. Sports fans bemoan the power that the baseball players’ union has come to wield — heck, Ryan Braun just got a steroid ban overturned — but nobody can ever accuse the MLBPA of not looking out for its members.
It’s easy to say that there would have been fewer concussions over the decades if the NFL players had hired Marvin Miller, who helped rid baseball of its oppressive “reserve clause,” to represent them, but it’s also true. The NFL has never had a Marvin Miller or a Donald Fehr to stand up for his players and to face down a powerful commissioner. (And the NFL, it must be noted, has nothing but powerful commissioners.) The odd part is that Goodell, who delights in flexing his authority in a way that even Pete Rozelle did not, has become the players’ chief ally.
The players he has fined/suspended don’t see it that way. (Their kneejerk response: Goodell is trying to sissify what used to be a man’s game.) But no player could fail to feel a chill when hearing that Junior Seau, among the fiercest players ever, had killed himself at age 43.
Let’s stipulate that the baseball players’ union did little to curb the apparent-t0-almost-everyone-else rise of steroid use, and that it resisted proposals for effective drug testing until it became clear that drug testing had to be done. Still, there’s a difference between injecting a steroid into yourself and slugging someone else in the head with a bat, which is the rough equivalent of what NFL players do to one another on a weekly basis. Taking steroids was a personal decision. The brutality of pro football is a corporate concern, and soon there stands to be corporate liability.
Alas, not soon enough. There’s no way to redo the ’60s and ’70s and equip those players with stronger helmets and better padding. (Incredibly, the NFLPA isn’t sure it wants the NFL-mandated thigh and knee pads.) There’s only tomorrow, and the blunt-spoken Goodell is making it his business to see that the players of today don’t face the same grim tomorrows that too many former NFL’ers have.
Yes, it’s odd. It’s as if the push for seat belts had been led not by the consumer advocate Ralph Nader but by the car manufacturers themselves. It’s as if Big Tobacco had said, “Know what? We do put too much tar and nicotine in these things.” I’m not sure we’ve ever seen any captain of commerce try to do as Goodell is doing, but bully for him.
By Mark Bradley
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62 comments Add your comment
waynester
June 5th, 2012
1:56 pm
The ONLY reason Goodell is pursuing this is the survival of the League. The Owners wouldn’t be going this expensive route if their lawyers hadn’t concluded that they were vulnerable to suit. Despite their penchant for corporate privacy the NFL operates in a public and political spotlight. All this is coming at a sensitive time for Blank and the Falcons, too. They’ve got to move forward with this stadium deal, at the urging of the league, at a horrible time economically and politically. AB & Co. need a Super Bowl victory in the WORST way right now….
Really!?!
June 5th, 2012
2:56 pm
AB & Co. need a Super Bowl victory in the WORST way right now….-waynester
As opposed to not needing one in any of the previous 45 seasons? Are the Falcons in danger of being shipped to LA? Goodell wants new stadiums without regard for the economy or actual need. The Dome Authority has refused to work out an equitable deal with Blank so that the team can financially benefit from their partnership. Ego and stupidity have culminated in the Falcons potentially wasting a billion dollars to accomplish what a few million can deliver (i.e. more luxury suites for corporate sponsors). None of this has anything to do with this ridiculous “Win Now” attitude that permiates a fan base that has no right to be so demanding. Blank has the organization on the right path. Running a team is Chess, not Checkers, and Chess takes time.
As for the NFLPA vs. NFL…
Regardless of Goodell’s motivations, MB is on point that the end result inherently benefits the players (as do hefty penalties to curtail boneheaded criminal behavior). His actions are indeed in the interest of the owners and the league as a whole because, without a league and owners, there are no players to be aggrieved.
The NFLPA’s stance (much like Vilma’s) comes from a place of wanting to avoid personal responsibility and recrimination. It defends the transgressions of the few at the expense of the vast majority who managed (somehow) to not be involved in such blatant violations of the code of conduct. Who cares why he’s doing it if he’s right?
Really!?!
June 5th, 2012
3:14 pm
AB & Co. need a Super Bowl victory in the WORST way right now….-waynester
As opposed to not needing one in any of the previous 45 years? I realize that finally have a consistently successful team can give rise to elevated expectations. That’s a good thing. It means Arthur’s on the right track. But this ridiculous “Win Now” racket from a Falcons fan base that has no right or reasonable historical expectation to demand anything? That’s what will push Arthur into making increasingly poor decisions. He’ll get us there. If you can’t wait for it, there’s plenty of other bandwagons to jump on.
As for the NFLPA vs Goodell…
Is Goodell motivated to act in the best interest of the league and the owners. Yes. Are those actions in the best interest of the players (i.e. stiff penalties for criminal and unethical behavior that undermines the integrity and marketability of the NFL)? Yes. The players would be working at QT or selling insurance if there were no owners/league, so the question becomes “why does it matter whose interest Goodell is working in if the end result benefits the whole?”
The NFLPA’s actions here are to shield players from personal responsibility and recrimination. How is that in the best interest of the vast majority of players that embarass themselves, their fans, their teams, or the league with criminal and unethical behavior? Go Roger! And keep it up MB!
crackbaby
June 5th, 2012
5:02 pm
Mark,
Has there been ANY evidence that the Saints violated NFL rules during the games where these incidents occurred? I don’t recall penalties for illegal hits. My point is, all the hits put on opposing players by Saints defenders were done within the rules during plays before the whistle blew.
So, why don’t some of you sports “journalists” opine on the fact that nobody broke any NFL rules on the field of play?
crackbaby
June 5th, 2012
5:04 pm
Goodell’s actions don’t protect any players on the field. He is protecting the league’s coffers from lawsuits.
Firsttimer
June 5th, 2012
8:00 pm
It amazes me how reporters and writers continue to sneak Seau’s suicide in their articles and comments about the results of prior player’s concussions. Again, there is no medical evidence published that states concussions led to the suicide death of Seau. So why is it continued to be reported as fact? As far the lawsuits that these players are bringing forth…football did not begin in the 60’s. 70’s 80’s or 90’s. It is funny how those guys who did not even have face masks for protection and wore leather helmets did not cry about concussions and brain related injuries. Think about that one, folks! Maybe it is some of the crap that today’s players are injecting into their body.
CaliDirtyBird
June 5th, 2012
11:33 pm
@Crackbaby
Yes- Goodell is protecting NFL coffers but the end result of also protecting the players is a benefit to the players in two ways. The current players should have less health issues and there will be money for the NFL to give back. It’s just smart business, are you critiquing him for being smart?
The point is unlike the players union he’s being less duplicitous.
You comment about legal hits is just plain dumb. A bounty system in and of itself is expressly prohibit by the NFL. It’s like saying yeah I conspired to commit murder but I didn’t actually succeed so I shouldn’t be arrested. Conspiring to commit murder is illegal and although the bounty participants won’t likely end up answering to a judge, because the Saints are so beloved in LA, they should. And if they played in NY they probably would!!!
Just ask Plaxico Burress! They don’t even want you shooting yourself in NY! LOL!
That's Mularkey!
June 6th, 2012
8:29 am
How can he be the player’s biggest ally when he works for the owners? I’m sorry but his best interest is that of the owners.
Matt "CHOKE" Ryan
June 6th, 2012
5:47 pm
Really!?!
June 5th, 2012
1:24 pm
Of course the WHOLE world knows what the 22 year old Mike Vick did in Lambeau that no other qb in NFL History ever did……..Beat the Great Brett Favre and the Packers in their own back yard.
_____________________________________________________
You want some W-H-I-N-E with that cake?…….HA HA HA
The bottomline is this:
0-3 in the playoffs……………….
0 Points in 2011 playoffs…………………..
7 total offensive points in last 6 quarters in playoffs………………….
HA HA HA
Really!?!
June 8th, 2012
12:24 pm
You want some W-H-I-N-E with that cake?…….HA HA HA
The bottomline is this:
0-3 in the playoffs……………….
0 Points in 2011 playoffs…………………..
7 total offensive points in last 6 quarters in playoffs………………….
HA HA HA – Matt “CHOKE” Ryan
Not sure what I was whining about…I’ve got a real QB that does nothing but give my team a chance to win. Every. Single. Year.
He’s done it with a questionable O-line, marginal receiving talent (TG being the exception), and sub-championship-calibre defense.
He’s durable, intelligent, and capable of making the right decisions both on and off the field.
He hasn’t won a playoff game (yet) but he keeps getting to the postseason. So the likelihood that he’ll win a couple of meaningless non-Super Bowl playoff games (and thus ending the dumbest criticism ever leveled at a single player in a team sport) is pretty good.
So keep hating from the sidelines, wearing your little outdated number 7 jersey yearning for the days where we’d only get 2 playoff berths in 10 years instead of 3 out of 4. Have fun gritting your teeth when Matt finally wins 3 playoff games in….wait for it….THE SAME POSTSEASON (which is the minimum you’d need at any one time to win a Super Bowl which, after all, is the actual goal here). Most teams have to learn how to walk before they can run. I’m a Falcon fan, I can wait.
And who was that on the sidelines with an ice pack on his head while Matt Ryan was rallying past Philly last season? Two-time playoff game winner Michael Vick. Cest la vie
Stepchild
June 11th, 2012
12:09 pm
Garbage blog!!! the AJC’s blog monster eats so many comments its pathetic. The level of filtering & screening of comments is ridiculous. Get with the program AJC!!!
Stepchild
June 11th, 2012
12:10 pm
sad blogmonster