Roger Goodell took over as the comissioner of the National Football League prior to the 2006 season. Goodell has done some good things over the course of his tenure so far, such as instituting a personal conduct policy which made players responsible for their own actions. However, Goodell seems to be concerned about one thing now-a-days: Suspending Pat and Kevin Williams.
For those of you who don't know, Pat and Kevin Williams were among the 8 players who were suspended 4 games for using the banned diuretic StarCaps. In StarCaps there is an ingredient that is considered illegal by the NFL. However, this ingredient is not listed on the label by StarCaps, a huge mistake by the company. To make matters worse, the NFL knew about this banned substance. However, when the players went (6 others were suspended including Saints DE Will Smith and RB Deuce McAllister) to their trainers to double check that this was OK, the trainers said, "This stuff is sweet!" Then, the NFL had their hotline say that StarCaps is OK. Again, the NFL knew about this banned substance.
6 of the 8 suspensions related to this substance have been enforced, the remaining two are in the case of the "Williams Wall." The NFL tried at great lengths to enforce these suspensions, but the Williamses have taken this to court. The Minnesota courts have filed an injunction against these suspensions from happening. However, the NFL is hellbent to make these two pay. Here's my question for Mr. Goodell. Don't you have better things to worry about? Take this into consideration
- The majority of the NFL is facing blackouts for all of their home games because they can't sell them out.
This is a byproduct of the economy. People don't want to shell out for season tickets anymore. Not only that, but take into considering that aside from the 50 dollar upper deck ticket to go to a Vikings game, but it also costs 30 bucks to park (or more), 15 for a hotdog and coke, and that's even worse if someone wants to enjoy a beer. This blackout rule needs to change or else nobody will be able to watch any game period. Oh wait, the NFL had tried to make this better by allowing fans to watch the blacked out games online....after midnight. So in effect, that's like taping a game. Do you realize how many times I hear about the score of the game before actually seeing the game when I tape the game? Truth is, by the time I can sit down to watch it, I know everything about the game. That's an absolute joke. Maybe, Goodell should try and use some energy on this.
- The CBA expires in 2011.
This may not seem like an absolute emergency, but think about it this way. If there is no agreement for a CBA in place by next season, there may be no salary cap. If there's no salary cap in 2010, there may not be another capped year for a really long time. This is because if a team starts throwing out money like Pac Man Jones at a strip club and all the sudden there's a salary cap in 2011, there's going to be a lot of players cut. Players cut means that they lose a ton of money and money drives the NFL (see the blackout rule). This would also be disasterous for small market teams. It would turn the NFL into baseball, and the Green Bay Packers would never be competitve again. (Hey, that wouldn't be so bad actually!) I say this because the big pocketed owners (Dan Snyder, Jerry Jones, hell, Zygi Wilf) will dominate the league, while the stingy (The Ford Family) and/or poor owners (Packer fans [look at a future post about this]) will post perennial 2-14 doormats. The worst part about this is that Goodell and NFLPA president DeMaurice Smith have already begun pointing fingers at each other and they haven't even talked to each other yet.
I'm sure there are other issues that Goodell could focus his energy on, but instead he has decided on focusing on giving weak penalties to those who violate his conduct policy and smashing a bag of puppies with a sledgehammer and laughing. Oh, by the way, doesn't he look like Aaron Eckhart from the Dark Knight. Harvey Dent runs the NFL!
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