Is Roger Goodell Good For the NFL?

[sportscurmudgeon]

Originally Posted by mlmpetert

Again I believe the question posed by the op and what I am answering to (and what most besides you are answering to) is “is roger goodell for the nfl…. the sport” not is he good for the business. Roger was elected by the owners, his interests are intrinsically in line with the owners. Theres very little players or the players union, or as smootsmack pointed out the fans can do, to remove him from power.

So again sure he may be fabulous for the business side of the NFL but in my opinion, humble and somehow immune and irrelevant to his power, think hes bad for the nfl…. the sport. I would also go as far to say that most players, formers players, coaches and fans also think his modifying of the game is also bad for the sport.

You do understand that Roger Goodell does not - - and cannot - - change any NFL game rules by himself. Not a single one...

Any and all chages to the rules come from a process that includes the Rules Committee (made up of owners, coaches and - - at least in the past - - former players too), followed by approvals of 3/4 of the owners and a concurrence by the NFLPA. There is probably some input here from game officials too regarding the ability to enforce any proposed rule change but I honestly do not know if that is a formal part of the process or just some kind of advisory note from the officials.

So, with regard to his "modifying the game" (your words) by changing the rules of the game to the detriment of the game - - - he didn't do it because he couldn't do it even if he wanted to.

As to how badly most of the players and former players hate him, the current players had their chance to show that about a month ago. They had to vote on the new CBA and in that CBA they would have to live with Roger Goodell as the arbiter of their behavior for the next ten years. Yet the current players voted OVERWHELMINGLY in favor of the CBA - - keeping this guy you assert they hate in charge of them. Or maybe you think that the players were too focused on the "business matters" to worry about how much they dislike the Commish in that vote... If that is the case, then maybe the emphasis that the owners and players have put on "business matters" might convince you as a fan that the "business matters" are pretty damned important...

As to how much the coaches hate him for meddling with the game, it is a highly prized and prestigious assignment for a coach to named to the Rules Committee - - where that coach gets to work with folks in the NFL Front Office including the Commish. I do not know of a single coach in the history of the Rules Committee who has begged off because the Commish was a hateful figure.

Roger Goodell is NOT the person to blame for changing any rule in the NFL just as he is NOT the person to blame for the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. If you want to blame him for taking a hard line on enforcing rules that have been on the books for a long time and exacting more stern punishments for such violations, you can do that if you want. But that is a far more narrow set of indictments than you have been handing out here.