There's been a lot of debate about cleaning up the hard hits in the NFL by means of suspensions and fines. Commish Goodell seems very proactive in doing something about concussions. What do you guys think about the Commish? He's a businees man and his primary job is not to make the fans happy. I give him an A- or B+ so far. I'm may be in the minority here but I like Goodell and the job he's doing. He experimented with a few things such as the draft (going prime time) and the Pro Bowl but overall I give him a good grade. I like the fact that he's trying to clean up the image of the NFL by dealing with player's off field issues. It is a privilege to play football at this level and the players should see it that way too.
I think he's the worst shill in history. Everything he does he does for the owners (which is ok since they pay him). The only reason he is doing anything about these shots to the head now is because of the total lack of doing anything for all the injured and disabled vets that are laying out there in hospitals or dying before they reach 50. The owners and he in turn don't want to have to give any more money to them then they do now and with more long term concussion injuries they will.
5 of 10. The ridiculous suspensions for minor traffic/criminal stuff (Big Ben was suspended and was never even charged), trying to make the league 2 games longer much to the dislike of most of the players, the new BS devastating/head hunting is just way too much. Bring back Paul Tagliabue.
Remember the NBA between the Jordan era and Lebron/Kobe era? Yeah, that's the reason for all the personal conduct policies. And the reason the players don't want 18 game schedules is mostly money, something I couldn't care less about. I'll take 18 and 2 over 16 and 4. If it's not about money, and it's about career protection, then that makes your last point completely moot.
The National Footsy League is coming. I don't see suspensions helping, it's a bunch of lip service and legal wrangling to absolve owners and the NFL from any responsibility down the road. "Oh, you have to sue the player who hit you and caused the injury, we aren't responsible". Colliding with other players for an entire game is never going to be the recommended activity for brain health. Players understand this but they'd like some long term guarantees concerning health care. "Players make enough to take care of their own futures", this may be true but wouldn't it be wiser to have a mandatory pay in plan that would fund disabled players and retired players health costs that are NFL career related? Let the owners, the NFL and the players each kick in a third. When you step on someone's head when their helmet is off that is a pretty good reason to be banished from the game. We have too many rules that favor positions as it is. No one likes to see players injured but as someone in the media pointed out, this is a slippery slope and it started before the latest suspension frenzy.
This makes no sense. He is only doing things for the players because they got screwed over in the past by other commissioners. Yet he is the worst shrill in history.
Meriweather's hit was the only clearly intentional hit out of the bunch and all he got was a fine. Goodell is quickly setting this league up to be touch football. Hey then all the feminists could start playing NFL football.
It seems to me that Goodell had two main objectives when he became commissioner: 1) Make the professional game safer for the players. 2) Make it more difficult for "problem" players to achieve NFL stardom. I think he's done an excellent job meeting the second objective. Look at the derailed careers of Pac Man Jones, Tank Johnson, Mike Vick, even Santonio Holmes. If you're going to damage the NFL's marketability, the NFL is going to damage your earning potential. The first objective is where things get sticky. The new focus put on concussions and head injuries is tremendous. I have to believe that DeSean Jackson would be starting on Sunday if this were the nineties, or he would at least be pressured to start. A+ for instituting mandatory outside neurological approval. He's failed, however, in making the game a safer place on the field. The recent rash of rule changes and pressure put on officials hasn't made the game safer; it's merely damaged the quality of the product. Look at the enormous list of substantially injured players in the NFL in its seventh week and tell me that the game is safer now than it was in 2000. Protecting players' health is certainly as noble a cause to fail at as any, but in light of the upcoming "18 game season," it really doesn't seem like protecting players' health was as big a priority as protecting the NFL's marketability. It kind of seems like the the chance of injury needed to be reduced so that the NFL could afford more chances. Regardless, it's still precisely 11 months too early to declare a verdict on Goodell. The bottom line is this: if there's no product come next September, than Goodell's improvement of the product becomes moot. A work stoppage is a guaranteed F.
"Regardless, it's still precisely 11 months too early to declare a verdict on Goodell. The bottom line is this: if there's no product come next September, than Goodell's improvement of the product becomes moot. A work stoppage is a guaranteed F." There's been a work stoppage in the NFL before and honestly ... I couldn't tell you who the Commish was when it happened. A strike may or may not hurt Goodell if we look at the big picture of Goodell's tenure. Otherwise. you made some great points.
Goodell is a retard. I may sound a bit insensitive, but many viewers don't give a shit about player injuries. They want to be entertained.
he's done an excellent job of cleaning up the image of the NFL. He's a smart guy, and it's obvious when he speaks about issues. I think he's a great commissioner. something the NFL needed. Most people in football think he's a good commissioner. only the numb skulls on this site think he's doing a shitty job because they're looking at it for their retarded and jaded perspectives as opposed to what a commissioner is essentially supposed to do
Let's wait and see how Goodell handles the Farve scandal. So far, he's stalling. The League says that they are going to get tough on headhunters. Let's see if they walk the walk. So far, I'm not impressed by Goodell.
I don't agree philosophically with him. I don't agree on the idea of more is better. I don't agree with globalization of the game, which is what they are dying to do but aren't sure where the jackpot lies. I don't agree that the wheel needs new rims and tires... just keep air in it and keep it rolling. I just wish operating costs never went up.
My rating: [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V3CfD8TPac&p=0FABDDFFFA45E183&playnext=1&index=21[/YOUTUBE]
Goodell is a mixed bag for me. I think he's doing some things I like to see... and not so much in other areas. Cracking down on player conduct has mostly been a good area. Player safety is questionable. They make some progress and then I think some of the rules actually don't help. And extending the season isn't helping player safety... that is purely about money. That and launching teams overseas. You want to start a league over there - fine - but the U.S. side should be separate. And I swear it pisses me off with the no fun rules... like excessive celebration. No spiking the football. I think there is a limit to things and its been pushed, but some of that is going too far.
I give a shit about injuries because quite frankly, I don't find backups that damn entertaining (that aren't named Mike Vick). Sorry, I don't care to watch Woodhead and Ben Jarvis-Green-Ellis rush it 30 times because a LBer ripped off Brady's head.
