Roger Goodell’s job is on the brink.
His regime as commissioner has been marred with several black eyes for the league, culminating in the anti-American anthem protests.
Goodell recently spoke about the protests, and his words were infuriating.
Goodell recognized that fans don’t watch football to be lectured with a political message. And yet, he does nothing about it.
From Breitbart:
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell tacitly acknowledged the damage done by the politicization of football in remarks delivered on Wednesday.
“People come to our stadiums to be entertained and have fun,” the commissioner noted, “not to be protested to.”
The remarks came as part of Bloomberg’s The Year Ahead Summit and reflect a recognition of a ratings decline and criticism from some sponsors. Though Goodell held that he hoped to learn from the concerns of players, he reiterated his desire that they stand for the national anthem.
“I think that’s one of the things I think when we have a platform the way we do, people seek to find that division and I think that’s something we try to resist,” Goodell explained of the protests. “And in this case I’ve been very clear about this — the anthem, the respect for our flag is very important. So, I want to see our players stand.”
Despite the league’s endorsement last month of federal legislation aimed at reforming federal prisons and sentencing, Goodell maintained that “politics is not something we do.”
Goodell is one of the few people on the planet who could actually do something about the NFL protests, but he seems to be paralyzed by fear.
Goodell’s role as commissioner is to be a steady hand. Instead, he’s shirked his responsibilities.
That inaction could cost him his job.
More from Breitbart:
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones seeks to stop the National Football League from extending the contract of Commissioner Roger Goodell. The New York Times and ESPN’s Outside the Lines both report Jones hiring superstar lawyer David Boies — attorney for the defendant in Bush v. Gore, for disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, and for, yes, Roger Goodell’s NFL — in an effort to block Goodell’s contract.
The Times reported that “Jones said in a conference call last Thursday with the six owners — those of the Chiefs, Falcons, Giants, Patriots, Steelers and Texans — that legal papers were drawn up and would be served this Friday if the committee did not scrap its plans to extend Goodell’s contract.” When he informed those members of the compensation committee of his plans to sue the league, they reportedly asked him stay out of their group’s meetings.
ESPN’s Outside the Lines reports that its sources say “four or five owners” stand with Jones in opposing Goodell’s extension. ESPN noted the existence of about a half-dozen “fence-sitters” beyond the definite “no” votes. Given that the commissioner requires two-thirds of the owners to approve his deal, his job appears in some jeopardy. Jones need only convince those fence-sitters of Goodell’s incompetence, a service Goodell himself periodically provides for his critics, to stop the extension and shop for a new [commissioner].
Many are the crimes of Goodell against Jones’s franchise: lowering the team’s salary cap as punishment for excessive spending in an uncapped season, suspending Ezekiel Elliott six games after the league’s investigator recommended no suspension, and blocking the team’s effort to honor slain Dallas cops with a decal all come to mind. But Goodell’s weakness against the anthem kneelers, rather than any offense against the Cowboys, that seems to primarily motivate Jerry Jones.
Jerry Jones is arguably the most influential owner in all of American professional sports. If Goodell has lost his support, it may be prudent for him to update his resume.
Unlike Goodell, the owners won’t sit idly by and watch their billion-dollar investments go down the drain because the commissioner is afraid to act.